Assembly Election 2022: Congress to go without CM face in state polls

The Congress party on Sunday released the list of candidates for the Goa assembly elections.  For the Pernem constituency, Jitendra Gaonkar has been named candidate. For the St. Cruz constituency, Rodolf Louis Fernandez has been named as a candidate. For the Cumbarjua constituency, Rajesh Faldessai has been named as a candidate. For the Valpoi constituency, Manisha Senvi Usgaonkar has been named as a candidate. 

Covid vaccination certificates issued in the 5 poll-bound states will not have Prime Minister Narendra Modi's photo since the model code of conduct has come into force there, an official source said. The Union Health Ministry will apply necessary filters on the Co-WIN platform to exclude Modi's photo from the vaccine certificate, the source said. Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa will be held between February 10 and March 7 in seven phases with the counting of votes on March 10, the Election Commission announced on Saturday. READ MORE

Dehradun DM R Rajesh Kumar imposes Section 144 of CrPC, barring gathering of 5 or more persons at public places except for at bus stations, railway stations & some other places The order will not be applicable on door-to-door visits of Assembly candidates. 

BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi on Sunday hit out at rival political parties claiming that the Samajwadi Party (SP) has to save ground in Uttar Pradesh and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has to save its honour in the upcoming state assembly elections. He was speaking to reporters at the party office here.

"The SP has to save its ground, while the BSP has save to its honour. The Congress is in the electoral arena to make its presence felt and parties like that of (Asaduddin) Owaisi are in the fray only to set fire," Trivedi said.

PM Modi's security was breached in Punjab by some people, who possibly were there on the orders of the Punjab government. Today, we gave a memorandum to the President through our Governor demanding strict actions against the people involved, Himachal Pradesh CM Jai Ram Thakur said.

The Aam Aadmi Party has proved that the government can be run honestly and has given hope to the country, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal said on Sunday as he asked his party workers to immediately start canvassing in poll-bound states. In a virtual address, he instructed his party workers to start door-to-door campaigns showcasing his government's work in the national capital and asked them to follow all COVID-19 safety protocols. The motive behind the entire exercise is not just to gain power by winning the elections but to bring “a fundamental change” in the "dishonest and corrupt” system. He also asked his party workers to start campaigning for the elections on social media, saying the AAP government with its work in Delhi in education, healthcare and other sectors has shown that “change is possible”.

Amid the third wave of the pandemic, political parties are in an intense race to reach out to voters through social media campaigns. BJP has a definite edge in the situation. In fact, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav also urged the Election Commission (EC) to release funds for virtual campaigning to political parties that do not have the “digital infrastructure to compete with the BJP”. Read to know more 

AAP releases 9th list of 5 candidates for Punjab polls

The BJP has its task cut out in Uttar Pradesh –- to break a jinx under which no party has won two consecutive assembly elections in the state after 1985. Spread over seven phases, moving sequentially from the west to the east of the vast state, the 403-seat polls will have a major bearing on the 2024 parliamentary elections, when the party hopes to return to power in Delhi under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

Independent MLA Prasad Gaonkar on Sunday resigned as a member of the Goa Legislative Assembly, a month ahead of the elections. He is set to join Congress. The Sanguem MLA submitted his resignation to the Goa Assembly Speaker. With his resignation, the strength of the 40-member House has been reduced to 33.

After limiting fund collection from abroad, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) may face a financial crunch for campaigning in four of the five poll-bound states it is contesting in the February-March elections. Earlier, the NRI wing of the party, which was considered very strong in Punjab, used to donate crores of rupees to the party's coffers. During the 2017 Punjab elections, NRI Joban Randhawa was the Youth Deputy Convener of the NRI cell of the AAP. As many as 30,000 NRI supporters had registered themselves with the party for campaigning and around 2,000 NRI supporters reached Punjab that year. However, the support for the party in Canada, California, New York, New Jersey is not very aggressive this year, giving rise to a financial crunch.

BJP, which has often backed the idea of "a double engine government", is constantly putting forth the issues and agendas related to Hindutva along with the development work. According to party sources, the BJP leaders will try to woo people on the basis of this strategy.

In the upcoming five state elections, Congress has decided to go without declaring the chief ministerial face despite having an incumbent face in Punjab as a chief minister. 

Ahead of the upcoming assembly elections, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday addressed the party workers and encouraged them to carry out door-to-door campaign by adhering to the guidelines laid down by the Election Commission.

Punjab's Chief Electoral Officer Dr S Karuna Raju has tested positive for positive

The Samajwadi Party (SP) has written a letter to the Election Commission of India, seeking the removal of two IAS and two IPS officers in order to ensure free and fair elections in Uttar Pradesh. The letter sent by SP secretary Rajendra Chaudhary alleges that these officers were working like "BJP workers".

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National Convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will address party workers across the country through virtual mode at 4 pm on Sunday. The address comes a day after the Election Commission announced poll dates for five states.

Authorities have begun removing hoardings and posters put up by political parties across Uttar Pradesh as the model code of conduct has come into effect with the Election Commission announcing polls dates for the state. The commission on Saturday announced seven-phase voting in the state starting February 10. Counting of votes will take place in March, along with four other poll-bound states.

Phunchok Stanzin has been appointed as the President of Ladakh unit of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) unit on Sunday.

BJP leaders, including Home Minister Amit Shah and party president J P Nadda, on Saturday expressed confidence that their party will emerge victorious in the assembly polls in five states with a big majority, soon after the Election Commission announced the poll schedule.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Sunday that December 26 starting this year will be observed as "Veer Baal Diwas" as a tribute to the 10th Sikh guru Gobind Singh's four sons who were executed by the Mughals. The Modi government has been taking a number of measures to reach out to the Sikhs, a community which was perceived to be upset with the ruling BJP after three farm reform laws were enacted. The prime minister recently announced the repeal of the laws.

The announcement of Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh has hurtled major political parties into a race for the victory post. The parties have already started releasing posters on the social media, where most of the campaigning will now take place. The BJP poster has a photograph of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath waving to the crowds and the caption says: "Raj tilak ki karo taiyyari, 10 March ko phir aa rahe hain Bhagwadhari".

The BJP claims that Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress is 'not able to find Goans to distribute party pamphlets' in the state. West Bengal's ruling party is making its electoral debut in the coastal state through the February 14 Assembly polls. Leader of opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari shared a video on social media in which the Trinamool volunteers said that they are not from Goa and get money to distribute the pamphlets.

The Uttar Pradesh government has banned any increase in school fees across all the boards for the upcoming academic session (2022-23) because of the prevailing pandemic situation. The schools will continue to charge fees as per the 2019-20 session.

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday slammed the TMC for taking an "anti-Congress" stand ahead of the Goa Assembly polls, and claimed the presence of the Mamata-Banerjee led party in the coastal state will help the ruling BJP the most. In his weekly column 'Rokhtok' in the Sena mouthpiece Saamana, Raut said the TMC has roped in "unreliable leaders" from other parties, including the Congress, and such an attitude does not suit West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is herself fighting the BJP.

The former national president of the BJP and the Union Home Minister, Amit Shah is considered a skilled strategist of electoral politics. The reason for this is not only the party's back-to-back victories in elections but also his expertise to assess the voters as well as the leaders and the workers. Shah, after holding election rallies in various districts of poll-bound Uttar Pradesh throughout the day, chooses a particular area and stays there at night to hold meeting with party leaders. BJP leaders term it Shah's 'night meeting'. These meetings are the most important agenda of Shah's election campaign. In these 'night meetings', he interacts directly with the in-charge of the Assembly constituency and takes feedback on several matters. Now, these meetings of Shah are giving sleepless nights to those BJP MLAs who were not much active in their areas or have failed to extend the benefits of government's schemes to the people or have failed in establishing better coordination with the organisation.

The BJP campaign for Uttarakhand will focus on the importance of having a 'double engine' government for the development of the state. The campaign will also mention how absence of a double engine government in Punjab has deprived people of development projects worth over Rs 42,000 crore after security of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was breached in the state on January 5.

Following the announcement of the Assembly poll dates in five states, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) came into immediate effect and several cities in Uttarakhand were quick in implementing it as they removed the hoardings and posters of political parties.

Uttarkashi Municipal Corporation was seen removing hoardings installed by political parties soon after the announcement of Assembly election dates by the Election Commission of India.

Congress is likely to release its first list of candidates for the Uttarakhand assembly polls within a week as the party's screening committee is scheduled to meet on Tuesday to finalize the names, said a party source.

According to the source, consensus on more than 45 candidates has been reached during the last screening committee meeting. The announcement will be made once the party's central election committee (CEC) gives its nod to the list.

"Party has started planning a virtual campaign for Uttarakhand. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is likely to address virtual campaigning for Uttarakhand by next week," said the source.

Following the Election commission's announcement of the schedule of state Assembly polls and related COVID restrictions, Punjab Minister Raj Kumar Verka on Saturday said that the Congress party will promote its election manifesto via social media, TV and other mediums in the state.

"Congress welcomes Election Commission's instructions. We wanted the Commission to impose strict rules on COVID guidelines, which they have done. I am sure Punjab will vote in big numbers. We will promote our manifesto via social media, TV and other media forms," the Punjab Minister said. 

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday exuded confidence of returning to power with a thumping majority after the Election Commission announced the schedule for five state assembly elections.

"Under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh has been progressing on the path of development in the last five years. We welcome the festival of democracy in New India's Naya Uttar Pradesh. The BJP will be successful in forming in the government again with a thumping majority when results for Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections are announced on March 10. There should be no doubt about it," Adityanath said.

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As many as 1,722 polling stations will there in Goa Assembly polls slated to be held on February 14, said the state Chief Election Officer on Saturday.

Goa Chief Electoral Officer, Kunal said, "Goa is going to vote in the second phase. The date of notification is going to be January 21 and the voting is on February 14. With the announcement of the polling schedule, the Model Code of Conduct has come into force. Our teams have started removing political hoardings, posters and banners."

Slamming the Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Uttar Pradesh chief Swatantra Dev Singh on Saturday said in the BJP's rule people live in peace and harmony and Akhilesh Yadav wants riots.

"The workers of BJP work for the development of the nation and the welfare of the poor. BJP only believes in nationalism and does not believe in casteism and family politics. During the COVID times, BJP workers stood by the people. BJP government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will come back to power with an overwhelming majority," Singh said.