Assembly polls: Shiv Sena fields ex-deputy speaker for Manipur assembly polls

UP polls 2022: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded Rajeshwar Singh, a former Enforcement Directorate (ED) official, from Sarojini Nagar to contest the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. Notably, Swati Singh, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Women's Welfare in Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's Cabinet, who won from the seat in 2017, was denied the Sarojini Nagar ticket. Read more here 

Former IPS officer Iqbal Singh Lalpura has resigned as the chairman of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) after being fielded by the BJP from Punjab's Rupnagar constituency in the upcoming assembly polls. "I had resigned on January 28. It is mandatory that I resign for contesting these polls," Lalpura told PTI on Tuesday. The BJP had last Thursday fielded Lalpura from Rupnagar. The BJP is contesting the polls in alliance with former chief minister Amarinder Singh's Punjab Lok Congress and Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa-led Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt).

SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia on Tuesday said he will not fight from Majitha assembly seat and will only contest from Amritsar East from where he has entered the fray against Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu. The former minister further said his wife Ganieve Kaur will contest from Majithia assembly segment in his place. Ganieve had filed her nomination papers from Majitha seat on Monday.

Fifteen former bureaucrats with experience in the electoral process have been appointed as special observers for the assembly polls in five states. They will be supervising and monitoring the work being done by the electoral machinery in their assigned states and ensure that stringent and effective action is taken based on intelligence inputs and complaints, the Election Commission (EC) said. These officers will oversee the entire poll processes as eyes and ears of the commission on the ground to ensure free, fair and voter-friendly elections, it added. The 15 officers will work as special general, police and expenditure observers in Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

Sitting Congress MLA from Nawanshahr in Punjab, Angad Saini, who filed nomination papers as an independent candidate after being denied ticket by the party, has been issued notice for alleged poll code violation by the Returning Officer here. Nawanshahr Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM)-cum-Returning Officer Baljinder Singh Dhillon has issued the notice to Saini. Taking note of reports about the large number of supporters who accompanied Angad during the filing of nomination papers on Monday, the Returning Officer said it was a clear violation of the Model Code of Conduct and guidelines of the Election Commission of India. He also said on Tuesday that vehicles accompanying Saini were also found more than the permitted limit and added he has sought complete details of his convoy.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's visit to Goa for election campaigning on February 2 has been postponed for February 4. 

The Samajwadi Party on Tuesday announced 10 candidates for the ongoing UP Assembly elections including for Lucknow Cantonment seat from which Aparna Yadav -- the younger daughter-in-law of party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav -- had unsuccessfully contested in 2017. The SP has given ticket to Pooja Shukla from Lucknow North and Raju Gandhi from the Cantt seat. Shukla, a first timer, had hogged the headlines in 2017 for allegedly waving black flags at UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow University. In the 2017 UP Assembly elections, BJP’s Rita Bahuguna Joshi had defeated Aparna Yadav from Lucknow Cantt. She later became the Lok Sabha MP from Allahabad, and was replaced in the bypolls by BJP’s Suresh Chandra Tiwari.

Punjab Chief Minister and Congress candidate Charanjit Singh Channi on Tuesday asked people of his constituency Chamkaur Sahib to make him win with a margin of at least 50,000 votes in the February 20 state assembly polls. His remarks came days after AAP leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal claimed that Channi was losing from his home turf Chamkaur Sahib seat. Addressing a gathering of people after filing nomination papers from Chamkaur Sahib seat (SC) in Rupnagar district, Channi made an impassioned speech and asked people to ensure his victory as he recounted several development projects carried out in his home constituency.“You have to make (me) victorious by a margin of 50,000 votes,” said Channi who was accompanied by his family. 

Farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri, who are yet to come to terms with the infamous October incident, are considering using the ‘NOTA’ option in the upcoming Assembly polls. They alleged that while the two main political parties in the state – the BJP and the Samajwadi Party (SP) – have “cheated” them, the other parties are “ineffective”. Farmers, that constitute the bulk of the population in Lakhimpur Kheri district located in the Terai belt, said while they have decided not to vote for the BJP owing to the contentious farm laws, they do not wish to support the SP either as the previous Akhilesh Yadav-led government had waived off Rs 2,000 crore interest amount payable by sugarcane mill owners to the cultivators. Several farmers said they will choose ‘NOTA’ (none of the above) on February 23, if necessary, as all parties pay them lip service during elections but do not take any concrete steps to address their grievances.

Congress releases a list of 4 candidates for upcoming Uttar Pradesh elections

Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi files nomination from Sri Chamkaur Sahib constituency

Former Punjab minister and Congress leader Jagmohan Singh Kang and his sons Yadvinder Singh Kang and Amarinder Singh Kang join Aam Aadmi Party

Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami holds a door-to-door campaign ahead of assembly polls in the state

The exodus from the ruling BJP in election-bound Manipur continued with party MLA and retired IAS officer P. Saratchandra, former Minister N. Biren, and a state government PSU's former chief N. Joykumar joining the Congress on Monday.

The Congress' election in-charge for Manipur Bhakta Charan Das and former Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh welcomed all the three leaders at a function.

Meanwhile, five other BJP leaders including Ningthoujam Mangi and S. Sovachandra also joined the National People's Party (NPP), the junior ally of the BJP. Earlier BJP leaders Lourembam Sanjoy Singh and Thangjam Arunkumar had joined it.

Many rebels from both Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress withdrew their nomination on Monday as party veterans managed to persuade them to withdraw in support of the party's official candidates ahead of Uttarakhand polls, said sources.

As per Joint Chief Electoral Officer Pratap Singh Shah, around 95 candidates from 70 assembly seats withdrew their names on the last date for withdrawal of nomination which was Monday.

"Now a total of 632 candidates on 70 assembly seats in Uttarakhand will contest the election," Shah said.

The BSP on Monday released a list of 61 candidates for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, fielding Santosh Kumar Tripathi against Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya from Sirathu constituency in Kaushambi district.

In its latest list, the BSP has given tickets to 15 Scheduled Castes and nine Muslims. The party has fielded Ravi Prakash Maurya from Ayodhya assembly constituency.

Enforcement teams have seized liquor, psychotropic substances and unaccounted cash worth Rs 305 crore in Punjab since the model code of conduct came into force in the state with the announcement of assembly elections on January 8, according to state Chief Electoral Officer S Karuna Raju. The seizure was made till January 30.

Raju said the surveillance teams have seized 26.64 lakh litres of liquor worth Rs 12.11 crore. Similarly, the enforcement wings have also recovered psychotropic substances worth Rs 273.13 crore besides confiscating unaccounted cash worth Rs 18.48 crore.

The chief electoral officer said 2,860 people have been identified as probable sources of trouble.

Former Enforcement Directorate joint director Rajeshwar Singh has confirmed that his request for voluntary retirement (VRS) from the service of the Government of India has been approved and he will soon join politics.

Sources say that Singh is likely to contest on the ticket of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from Sultanpur assembly seat in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh polls.

Soon after the Election Commission of India extended a ban on physical rallies till February 11, Congress General Secretary organization KC Venugopal wrote a letter to all candidates and state Congress chiefs of poll-bound states to make necessary arrangements for virtual campaigning.

In his letter, Venugopal asked other units to adopt the same model as adopted in Rahul Gandhi's virtual rally in Jalandhar in which Congress claims that around 9 lakh views were recorded in just two hours.

Venugopal asked candidates and PCC chiefs to make all the arrangements necessary for virtual campaigning including setting up LED screens and taking permission from the administration as per the rules laid down by Election Commission for gathering 300-500 people for the virtual rallies.

Punjab polls: BJP party state chief Ashwani Kumar Sharma files nomination from Pathankot 

Uttar Pradesh police have busted illegal arms manufacturing factory in Saharanpur