Late CDS General Bipin Rawat's brother Colonel Vijay Rawat (retired) joins BJP ahead of Uttarakhand polls.
The stage is set for Assembly elections in five states -- Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Goa and Punjab. While the first four are ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party, the last one has a Congress government. The Election Commission has already announced the dates and all the political parties have started flexing their muscles in the poll-bound states. Uttar Pradesh, the country's most populous and one of the most politically crucial states, is already witnessing marathon rallies by top politicians from both the ruling and opposition parties. From Congress' side, its senior leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is spearheading the campaign. She is addressing rallies across the length and breadth of the state, promising to bring a change if her party forms the next government. Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav and BSP supremo Mayawati, both former CMs of Uttar Pradesh, are also leaving no stone unturned to woo the voters.
