Assembly election: Over Rs 1000 crore worth of cash, drugs, liquor, freebies seized during polls in 5 states

BJP supporters greeted Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath with the slogan of “Bulldozer Baba zindabad” as he held his roadshow here on Friday in support of his Cabinet colleague Sidharth Nath Singh’s candidature from City (West) assembly seat. Nearly two-km-long roadshow of the chief minister starting from Karbala Chauraha and ending at Nakhash Kona Chauraha of the city was attended by “lakhs” of people, eyewitnesses said. During the entire roadshow, which started at 5 pm and ended at 6 pm, people carrying the BJP’s saffron flags rent the air with slogans of “Jai Shri Ram” and Bulldozer Baba Zindabad". The new term for the chief minister was first heard from Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, who, in a YouTube video, has claimed that a prestigious English daily has changed Yogi Adityanath’s name to Baba Bulldozer.

With the Election Commission stepping up vigil, more than Rs 1,000 crore worth of cash, drugs, liquor and freebies have been seized so far in the ongoing assembly polls in five states, a nearly four-fold increase in such seizures over the previous round of elections in 2017.

Claiming that her party's victory is sure on over 300 seats in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, BJP MP Hema Malini asked people on Friday not to get misled by the SP, the BSP and the Congress. Addressing a rally here, she also said in the ongoing dispute involving Ukraine and Russia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has become the hope of the world, which believes that he will mediate and end the war.

Senior BJP leader Amit Shah on Friday said in five years of the party’s rule in Uttar Pradesh incidence of rape have gone down by 50 per cent. 
Addressing a public rally in Pratapgarh’s Rampur Khas area, Shah claimed Yogi Adityanath’s government ended the “mafia” raj in the state bringing down the number of violent crimes substantially. “Dacoity reduced by 72 per cent, loot went down by 62 per cent, murders by 31 per cent, kidnapping by 29 per cent, while rape cases went down by 50 per cent. This has been done by the BJP government,” Shah said.

The campaign for 61 assembly seats across 12 districts of Uttar Pradesh going to the polls during the fifth phase of the state assembly elections ended on Friday evening. The voting for the fifth phase of state assembly elections will be held on February 27. 
State’s Chief Election Officer Ajay Kumar Shukla said the campaign for the fifth phase ended at 6 pm and all preparations for the voting on Sunday have been completed. There are a total of 692 candidates are in the fray for the fifth phase of polling and their fate will be decided by 2.24 crore voters.

Former MP and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav's wife Dimple Yadav on Friday said the BJP's "double-engine" has rusted and it now resembles the colour of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's outfit. She also said that the SP is the only party that keeps promises and assured to fulfil all poll promises, including 33 per cent reservation to women in government jobs. "The BJP's double-engine has rusted, and when iron gets rusted, what is its colour," she asked. "I think it is the same as the chief minister's clothes," she said referring to Adityanath's saffron-clad looks. She further said it was time to bring Uttar Pradesh "back on track" by removing the "rust". Dimple was addressing an election meeting in support of SP-Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) alliance candidate Pallavi Patel in Sirathu. Taking a swipe at BJP candidate and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, Dimple said while "Sirathu's son" cheated the constituency, its people will now give its daughter-in-law (Pallavi Patel) a chance as she knows how to run a family and is ready to take responsibility.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Friday attacked the ruling BJP over inflation, saying the government will increase the fuel price once the Assembly elections are over. Addressing an election meeting in Payagpur Vidhan Sabha constituency for party candidate Mukesh Srivastava, the SP president said the BJP government made diesel and petrol so costly that poor people are unable to drive their vehicles.
"Even farmers are not able to run their tractors. Keep this in mind, newspapers have also started writing that as soon as the elections are over, BJP people will hike the price of petrol to Rs 200 a litre," he said. The SP president said statements and behaviour of BJP leaders show that they now stooping to violence due to the fear of defeat in the polls.

Ahead of the fifth phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, independent MLA from Kunda Kunwar Raghunath Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya lauded the Yogi Adityanath government's performance and said the incumbent regime has performed better than previous governments in terms of providing roads and electricity in the state. "In terms of constructing roads, providing electricity connections, and digging up canals, the Yogi government has performed better than previous governments," Raja Bhaiya told media.

Ahead of the fifth phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, Rajya Sabha member and Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Jaya Bachchan on Friday accused the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government in the state of lying and said that the Chief Minister "never uttered a word" on women's safety.
Addressing a public rally in Uttar Pradesh's Sirathu while campaigning for Samajwadi Party (SP), she said, "They forget that your chief minister (Yogi Adityanath) has abandoned the family. What do they know about the family? What do they know, what is a daughter-in-law, a daughter. These people tell nothing but lies."

Ahead of the fifth phase of the Assembly election in Uttar Pradesh, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday promised the people free gas cylinders in Diwali and Holi. Speaking at a rally in Prayagraj, Shah said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has provided gas cylinders to 1.67 crore houses of Uttar Pradesh.

BJP and Samajwadi Party workers on Friday clashed over parking of a vehicle in Godhna Belbharia village of Payagpur assembly constituency, police here said. SP district unit president Ram Harsh Yadav claimed some of his party supporters were injured in the incident. According to Additional Superintendent of Police (Nagar) Kunwar Gyananjay Singh, the scuffle started when supporters of one of the groups while campaigning parked their vehicles on a roadside, which was objected to by the other group. Soon both sides began pelting stones at each other, damaging a number of vehicles in the duel, said the ASP. Both the sides have filed FIRs against each other under serious criminal sections, he said.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to campaign in Amethi and Prayagraj on Friday ahead of the fifth phase of the Uttar Pradesh elections on Sunday. This will be his first campaign tour of Uttar Pradesh since December 

Independent MLA from Kunda Kunwar Raghunath Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya lauded the Yogi Adityanath government's performance and said the incumbent regime has performed better than previous governments in terms of providing roads and electricity in the state. "In terms of constructing roads, providing electricity connections, and digging up canals, the Yogi government has performed better than previous governments," Raja Bhaiya told ANI.

Shiv Sena leader Aditya Thackeray on Thursday launched a sharp attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party-led ruling government of Uttar Pradesh and called it a "jumla sarkar" by saying that the new path has to be followed in the state. Thackeray, who hit a campaign trail in UP's Prayagraj in support of his party candidates contesting State Assembly elections, also said that people here want a change and they are supporting Shiv Sena this time.Speaking to ANI, Thackeray who is also Maharashtra Cabinet Minister said, "I have come to see this confluence of Shiv Sena and UP. The government which is working on jumla needs to be defeated and embark on a new path. Whenever I meet people here, they always say that change will happen in the state." "People here are enthusiastic and we (Shiv Sena) are getting support this time. People need a change. We can only see advertisements in the state, but the real issues of the state are unemployment, women's security, industrial development, infrastructural development, etc," he added.The Minister further raised questions over the number of promises fulfilled by BJP in Uttar Pradesh since 2017 and said that the State Assembly elections 2022 are taking place for justice.

The Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party has gone "cold and meek" since the time voting took place during the four phases in Uttar Pradesh. Akhilesh Yadav, while addressing a public rally in Prayagraj, assured that the Samajwadi Party will provide employment opportunities in the police department if voted to power in Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections."Since the time voting took place during all these four phases, BJP has gone cold and meek. BJP is selling everything to the private sector so that they are not supposed to provide jobs but when Samajwadi Party's government will be formed, then we'll announce vacancies in police and provide employment," the SP chief said.Polling has been held in four of seven phases of Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh. Voting for the remaining phases will be held on February 27, March 3, and 7. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.

Amit Shah to address rallies in Ambedkarnagar, Prayagraj, Kaushambi and Pratapgarh today.