Assembly Election 2022 Updates: BJP accuses Congress of spreading hatred in Punjab

Ahead of Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, BJP National President JP Nadda held a meeting with party leaders of Nagina, Bijnor and Muzaffarnagar in Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh. The ruling BJP in the state is contesting the polls in an alliance with Apna Dal and the Nishad party in teh upcoming assembly polls. Elections for the 403 Assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases starting February 10.

Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu on Saturday said the party high command will decide the chief ministerial face for the upcoming State Assembly elections that are scheduled to take place on February 20. "Congress takes decisions after analyzing the qualities of every leader. I have full faith in the party. There is a party high command to decide CM face. Whatever the party high command will decide, we will accept the decision," Sidhu told ANI when asked about the Congress CM face in the assembly elections.

Punjab Congress Chief Navjot Singh Sidhu on Saturday said that the raids conducted by Enforcement Directorate (ED) at the house of Chief Minister Charanjit Channi's relative house seem to be a part of the political agenda of Aam Aadmi Party as State Assembly elections are approaching. Sidhu, in an exclusive interview with ANI, said, "It looks like a political agenda because Punjab polls are coming. It seems that the Delhi government is taking action against our government."

Apna Dal leader and Union Minister Anupriya Patel on Saturday said that talks with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regarding seat-sharing for the upcoming assembly polls are underway and her party would soon declare the exact number of seats that it will be contesting. "Right now we are in talks with BJP on seat sharing and very soon we will come out with the total number of seats we would be contesting", said Patel.

Union Minister and Punjab BJP election in-charge Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has demanded action from the Election Commission, accusing the Congress of creating an atmosphere of hatred in the state ahead of polls. Sharing a video of Mohammad Mustafa, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has made many allegations, targeting Congress and its state president Navjot Singh Sidhu in a series of tweets.

The Election commission of India (ECI) on Saturday extended the ban on election rallies and road shows till January 31 due to the Covid surge. EC had banned all physical rallies, roadshows, and padyatras owing to the surge in Covid-19 cases in parts of the country. On January 15, the commission extended the ban until January 22. It had, however, granted a relaxation for political parties to hold indoor meetings with a maximum of 300 people or 50 per cent of the capacity of the hall.

Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan filed a plea in the Supreme Court seeking interim bail to campaign for UP Elections. Azam Khan also said that the state is delaying prosecution against him so that he can't be part of upcoming polls.

Shivpal Yadav will contest from Jaswantnagar seat in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly elections on the Samajwadi Party ticket

Putting the spotlight on the issue of alleged “exodus” of Hindus from Kairana before 2017, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday visited the affected families who have since returned here as he began his door-to-door election campaign in western Uttar Pradesh.    Accompanied by party workers and leaders wearing saffron caps and stoles with the BJP election symbol, Shah treaded the rain-drenched lane in the winter chill and distributed pamphlets mentioning the achievements of the BJP government, amidst intermittent shouts of "Jai Shri Ram' and 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'. This is the first political programme by Shah in Uttar Pradesh after the assembly poll dates were announced and the choice of Kairana is significant as BJP leaders had alleged that a large number of Hindus were forced to migrate from the area due to threats during the Samajwadi Party rule, making it a big poll issue in 2017.

I've come to Kairana for the first time after Jan 2014. After 2014, PM Modi took the axle of UP's development in his hands. In 2017, after BJP govt was formed here, Yogi Adityanath became CM & further sped up the development: HM Amit Shah in Kairana

The reinduction of Harak Singh Rawat and Yashpal Arya into the Congress is being seen as a major gain for the party ahead of the February 14 assembly polls in Uttarakhand. There was a dearth of big faces in the Congress after the exit of prominent leaders from the party following a revolt against the Harish Rawat government in 2016. While Harak Singh Rawat, a prominent leader from the Garhwal rejoined the party on Friday, Arya, a major SC leader from Kumaon division returned to the party along with his MLA son Sanjeev in October last year. Both Rawat and Arya are experienced leaders whose re-entry into the Congress comes as a major boost for the party ahead of the comping assembly polls.

A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to seize the election symbol or de-register a political party that promises or distributes “irrational freebies” from public funds before elections. It said there should be a total ban on such populist measures to gain undue political favours from the voters as they violate the Constitution and the ECI should take suitable deterrent measures. The plea urged the court to declare that the promise of irrational freebies from public funds before elections unduly influences the voters, disturbs the level playing field and vitiates the purity of the poll process. The petition filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay has, as an alternative, sought a direction to the Centre to enact a law in this regard.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday flagged off BJP's 'campaign vans' for next month's assembly polls and said the "double engine" government of the party has fulfilled all its promises. The BJP government has ensured development of the people while following the mantra of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas', he said during the programme at the party's headquarters here.

There is no weightage in Congress &there is a severe leadership crisis in the party. Congress does not have time to look back at the state for 5 years, they only come here before elections. People in UP are ready to welcome BJP to power again: Aditi Singh, BJP Raebareli candidate

ED raids on the residence of a relative of Punjab CM Channi proved that corruption is going on under Congress' rule. ED recovered Rs 10cr cash & gold. Instead of acting against it, Congress high command is complaining to ECI: Shiromani Akali Dal MLA Bikram Singh Majithia

BJP fields party's state chief Ashwani Kumar Sharma as its candidate from Pathankot for the upcoming Punjab assembly elections

Aam Aadmi Party's (AAPs) Bhagwant Mann has challenged Punjab CM Charanjit Channi for a direct face-off from Dhuri Assembly seat in the upcoming state Assembly polls. 

AIMIM has announced alliance with Jan Adhikar Party, Bharat Mukti Morcha for UP polls

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday said his party will provide jobs to 22 lakh youths in the IT sector if it is voted to power in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls. At the press conference, SP general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav also made a formal announcement that Yadav will contest the upcoming assembly election from Karhal seat in Mainpuri. Mainpuri is the Lok Sabha constituency of SP patriarch and Yadav's father Mulayam Singh. The SP will work to provide 22 lakh jobs to trained youths in the IT sector after coming to power, Yadav said.

BSP president Mayawati on Saturday released the second list of 51 candidates for constituencies going to polls in the second phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly election. According to party sources, the candidates declared include 23 from the Muslim community and 10 from Scheduled Castes. A total of 55 seats will go to polls in the second phase on February 14. The BSP list contains candidates for seats in Saharanpur, Bijnor, Moradabad, Sambhal, Rampur, Amroha, Badaun, Bareilly and Shahjahanpur districts.  Mayawati also released a new slogan 'Har polling booth ko jitana hai, BSP ko satta mein lana hai.'

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi announces his alliance in Uttar Pradesh with Babu Singh Kushwaha & Bharat Mukti Morcha. "If the alliance comes to power there will be 2 CMs, one from OBC community & another from Dalit community. 3 Dy CMs incl from Muslim community," he said.

Akhilesh Yadav will contest the upcoming assembly polls from Mainpuri's Karhal seat in Uttar Pradesh. READ STORY

As many as 24 legislators in Goa, which is 60 per cent of the total strength of the 40-member state Assembly, have switched parties in the last five years, a report by an organisation has said. The Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) said in its report that with this, Goa has set a unique record, which is "unparalleled" in the history of Indian democracy. READ STORY

Former Goa chief minister and senior BJP leader Laxmikant Parsekar, who was denied ticket by the party for the next month's state Assembly elections, on Saturday said he will resign from the ruling party. Parsekar currently heads the BJP's manifesto committee for the upcoming Goa elections and is also a member of the party's core committee.

Utpal Parrikar, son of late Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar, who quit the BJP and announced to contest next month's Goa Assembly elections from Panaji as an independent, has said that quitting the party was the "most difficult" decision, but he is ready to withdraw from the poll race if the saffron party fields a "good candidate" from the constituency.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Saturday declared the list of 51 candidates for the second phase of the upcoming UP polls. 

Ziya-ur -Rehman, the Samajwadi Party candidate from Kundarki seat in Moradabad, and 50-60 others were booked for violating of Model Code of Conduct and COVID protocol, police said on Saturday. Rehman is the grandson of Samajwadi Party MP Shafiq-ur Rehman Barq. A case has been registered against Rehman and 50 to 60 others for violating MCC and COVID guidelines during his election meeting and movement of convoy in Sambhal Kotwali area late on Friday night, Superintendent of Police Chakresh Mishra said. Rehman alongwith his supporters had gathered huge crowds with their convoy at Chandausi intersection violating the code of conduct. They were neither wearing masks nor maintaining proper social distancing, the SP added.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has expressed "surprise" at the "low-profile campaign" of BSP in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections and said its campaign has not picked up expected pace even though the state is in the middle of the polls.

There is a growing clamour within the Punjab Congress over the need to declare a chief ministerial candidate for next month's assembly polls, with many senior leaders throwing their weight behind Charanjit Singh Channi, the state’s first chief minister from the schedule caste community. Though the Congress high command has so far maintained that the party will fight the February 20 elections to the 117-member assembly under a "collective leadership", many leaders in its state unit are seeking that the air surrounding the issue be cleared at the earliest. The party had declared its chief ministerial candidate ahead of the elections in 2012 and 2017, senior leader and minister Brahm Mohindra said, adding that Channi has proved himself in the role in just three months.

Denial of tickets has left powerful contenders in the BJP seething with discontent with several of them either preparing to cross over to other parties or enter the poll arena as independents. While a number of those left out are sulking as the party has preferred Congress defectors over dedicated party cadres on many seats in its first list of 59 candidates, a few have come out in the open with their wounded feelings. The most notable of them are the sitting MLA from Tharali Munni Devi Shah and Dwarahat MLA Mahesh Negi.

Congress has finalised the names of all 70 candidates who will be contesting for the upcoming polls in Uttarakhand. Speaking to ANI after the Central Election Committee meeting late on Friday evening, AICC In-Charge of Uttarakhand Devendra Yadav said, "A very fruitful discussion took place regarding candidates on all seats. The list of candidates would be released on Saturday." On the induction of expelled BJP minister Harak Singh Rawat, Uttarakhand Congress chief Ganesh Godiyal, who was also present at the meeting, said, "He wanted to serve Congress selflessly and everybody agreed to give him a chance. He will play an important role in strengthening the party."

BJP's national spokesperson Shazia Ilmi accused the former Punjab DG Police Mohammad Mustafa, who is also the principal strategic adviser to Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, of trying to incite violence and disturb communal harmony by giving provocative statements ahead of the Punjab assembly polls. A purported video of Mustafa, where he can be allegedly heard threatening of 'creating a situation that cannot be controlled if a particular community was allowed to hold their events near his events,' was shared by Chiranshu Rattan, spokesperson of BJP Punjab Youth Wing and is making rounds on social media.

Atanasio Monserrate, who is a BJP candidate on Panaji seat, said on Friday that the party tried its level best to convince Utpal Parrikar, son of former Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar, requesting him to contest from any constituencies. Speaking to ANI, Monserrate said, "The party tried its level best to convince him (Utpal Parrikar). I am sure that if his father (former Goa CM Manohar Parrikar) was alive, he would have never allowed this thing to happen." Utpal Parrikar has decided to contest the election as an independent candidate and resigned from the party.

Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav's close relative Hariom Yadav, who recently switched sides from Samajwadi Party (SP) to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), will contest the upcoming assembly polls in the state from his current seat of Sirsaganj in UP's Firozabad.

Ahead of the seven-phase assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, a draw to decide the timings of campaigning by political parties on Doordarshan and Akashvani was taken out on Friday. Additional Chief Electoral Officer, Dr Brahm Dev Ram Tiwari said that all political parties have been allotted a total of 1,798 mins for broadcasting.

Punjab BJP President Ashwani Sharma will contest the upcoming Assembly polls in the state from Pathankot, the party has announced. The BJP announced the candidature of Sharma while releasing the second list for the polls late Friday night. Issuing a statement, party national general secretary Arun Singh said that BJP's Central Election Committee has decided to field Sharma from Pathankot. After being nominated, Sharma tweeted: "I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party's national president J.P Nadda, party's state election in-charge Gajendra Singh Shekhwat and the BJP family that they trusted and fielded me from Pathankot."

The Election Commission of India is scheduled to hold a virtual meeting with the Union Health Secretary and the Chief Health Secretaries of the five poll-bound states on Saturday. The five states going to polls are Manipur, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa. According to sources, the review meeting is regarding EC's ban on election road shows and rallies.

Punjab BJP chief Ashwani Kumar Sharma has been fielded from Pathankot for the February 20 state Assembly polls, said the party in a statement released late Friday night. Sharma is a former MLA from Pathankot. 

On the instructions of the Election Commission of India (ECI), Director-General (Information), Dehradun had instructed the concerned authorities to provide postal ballot facilities for the ECI authorized mediapersons to exercise their voting rights. This facility will be available to mediapersons who are autorised by ECI for election coverage and hence, would face difficulties in exercising their voting rights from their respective constituencies.