Politics

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and opposition Congress are gearing up for a high-stakes contest in the upcoming municipal polls in Panchkula, Ambala, and Sonipat, likely to be held in April this year. State Election Commissioner (SEC) Devinder Singh Kalyan issued a notification on Monday, announcing March 27 as the date for the final publication of electoral rolls for the three civic bodies, paving the way for a direct BJP-Congress showdown. This will be the first major electoral face-off between the two parties since Congress’s surprise defeat in the 2024 Assembly elections, where the BJP secured three consecutive victories in the state. Officials said the ward-wise final electoral rolls will enable the SEC to issue a formal notification to kick-start the election process. The state government has already approved conducting the long-awaited polls. Bye-elections in these constituencies were held along with eight other municipalities in January 2025, where the BJP swept the mayoral seats, consolidating its administrative vision at the Centre, state, and local levels.

Cong stages dharna against trade deal in Ambala, Kurukshetra Nitish Sharma Tribune News Service Ambala, Updated At : 04:00 AM Feb 17, 2026 IST Follow usConnect with us Congress leaders protest in Ambala on Monday. Advertisement Congress leaders on Monday staged a dharna and raised slogans against the BJP government, accusing the government of compromising the interests of the country in the India-US trade deal. The Congress leaders said the trade deal was signed under pressure from the United States, which would cause significant losses to the country’s farmers. The leaders stated that the farmers, labourers, the elderly and the youth were suffering the most due to the government’s wrong policies. Ambala City MLA Nirmal Singh stated that the country’s farmers and small businesses would bear the direct brunt of the wrong decisions being made by the Central Government under foreign pressure. The BJP government was pursuing anti-farmer policies and the Congress Party would fight at every level to protect the rights of the farmers.

President Droupadi Murmu will take a sortie in a Rafale fighter aircraft from the Ambala Air Force base in Haryana on Wednesday, Rashtrapati Bhavan announced on Tuesday. “The President of India, Droupadi Murmu, will visit Ambala, Haryana, where she will take a sortie in Rafale,” a statement said. Former presidents A P J Abdul Kalam and Pratibha Patil had undertaken sorties in Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter aircraft at the Air Force Station, Lohegaon near Pune on June 8, 2006, and November 25, 2009, respectively. On April 8, 2023, Murmu, the supreme commander of the Indian armed forces, became the third President and second woman head of state to take a sortie in Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter aircraft at the Tezpur Air Force Station, Assam. Manufactured by French aerospace major Dassault Aviation, Rafale fighter aircraft were formally inducted into the Indian Air Force in September 2020 at the Air Force Station, Ambala.