Assembly Election 2022: 'Goonda raj' to return if Akhilesh forms govt in UP, says Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday attacked SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, saying "goonda raj" will return to Uttar Pradesh if his party comes to power in the Assembly polls. Addressing "influential voters" during a door-to-door campaign, he also accused the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the BSP of promoting dynastic politics and casteism. Shah paid obeisance at the Banke Bihari temple before starting his door-to-door campaign for the state Assembly polls.

Congress Shekhupura assembly candidate Farha Naeem on Thursday resigned from the party and returned her ticket accusing district president of making “indecent” comments against women. Addressing a press conference here, Naeem made allegations against the character of party district president Onkar Singh and announced her resignation. "I was impressed with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's slogan 'Ladki Hun Lad Sakti Hun' and got the ticket as voice of girls and women but we are humiliated here.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh here on Thursday called former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh his "idol" and claimed that the Jat community can’t remain annoyed with the BJP. Rajnath made the statement in Modi Nagar, an Assembly segment with sizeable population of Jats, a day after Union Home Minister Amit Shah reached out to the community ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls. 

Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi & State Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu assured me that whoever will lead (CM face) Punjab the other person will support him. Party workers will decide (name of CM face): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Punjab. READ STORY

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the party will hold discussions with the Punjab Congress workers before announcing the CM candidate. Gandhi is on a visit to Punjab today. 

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh here on Thursday called former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh his "idol" and claimed that the Jat community can’t remain annoyed with the BJP. Rajnath made the statement in Modi Nagar, an Assembly segment with sizeable population of Jats, a day after Union Home Minister Amit Shah reached out to the community ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls. 

There is no fight between us. Announce chief minister face for Punjab polls, we (Punjab Congress) will stand united: Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi said during a gathering where Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was also present. 

The BJP has signed an “agreement of cooperation” with several party members who might be fielded in the upcoming Manipur assembly elections, in a bid to prevent switching of allegiance before the polls. The members include those who could be nominated in Keisamthong assembly constituency in Imphal West district and Sugnu in Kakching district, sources said.

Undaunted by the prospect of taking on Yogi Adiyanath in his stronghold, Azad Samaj Party president Chandra Shekhar Aazad says the people of Gorakhpur will repeat the history of 1971 when a chief minister of Uttar Pradesh lost elections from the assembly constituency.

Five Congress leaders Manish Tewari, Jasbir Singh Gill, Ravneet Singh Bitto, Praneet Kaur and Mohd Saqib were absent from Rahul Gandhi's Golden Temple visit. Read to know more 

Uttar Pradesh BJP chief Swatantra Dev faced the ire of people at Khatoli town here during door-to-door campaigning for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly polls. Slogans were raised against Dev, who had gone to Khatoli to support BJP candidate Vikram Saini on Wednesday. In a video which has gone viral on social media, the state BJP chief is seen coming out of a house of a Dalit after having lunch there. He is then surrounded by people from the community who raised slogans against him.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi along with party candidates for the Punjab assembly polls offered prayers at the sanctum sanctorum of the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Gandhi also partook 'langar' along with the party candidates. Read more 

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday released the list of 27 candidates for Punjab polls. Fateh Singh Bajwa to contest from Batala, Vijay Sampla from Phagwara.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah holds door-to-door campaigning in Mathura ahead of polls.

Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Manish Tewari to also attend the Congress Parliamentary Strategy Group meeting tomorrow.

UP polls are polls to see that which party & ideology will the state go to for the next 5 yrs. Before BJP government, UP saw SP & BSP governments for a very long time. SP used to work for one caste, BSP used to work for another: Amit Shah in Mathura

Nobody drew a map for complete development of Uttar Pradesh. Only after PM Modi took charge & Yogi Adityanath became the CM, the mantra of 'sabka saath, sabka vikas' came to the fore. BJP is not the party for one caste but for entire society: Union HM and BJP leader Amit Shah

Addressing a meeting of the BJP workers in Mathura, Amit Shah lashed out at Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati for pushing Uttar Pradesh into jungle raj by keeping it poor and backward. Shah urged the people of Uttar Pradesh to bring the Yogi government back to power, adding that Uttar Pradesh polls will decide the country's destiny. 

Rampur, Uttar Pradesh | I have filed Azam Khan's nomination today and completed all the formalities. We are trying to get him out on bail: Asim Raza, chief election agent of Samajwadi Party leader and party's candidate for Uttar Pradesh Elections 2022 , Azam Khan

I am sad. I am hurt to such a downfall of him, says senior Congress leader Harish Rawat on Kishore Upadhyay joining BJP. 

 BJP MLA from Tehri, Dhan Singh Negi joins Congress party in the presence of Harish Rawat.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami files nomination from Khatima Assembly constituency today.

Amit Shah addresses BJP meeting in Mathura. The Election Commission had extended the ban on physical rallies and road shows till January 31.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi visited the Golden Temple here ahead of his virtually rally in Jalandhar on Thursday. Gandhi will partake 'langar' along with party candidates at the Golden Temple and also visit Durgaina Temple and the Bhagwan Valmiki Tirath Sthal. Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, party's state unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu and Deputy Chief Ministers Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and OP Soni received Gandhi at the Amritsar airport on his arrival from Delhi. The Congress has announced 109 candidates for the February 20 Punjab Assembly polls. The names of candidates for eight seats are yet to be announced. At Jalandhar's Mithapur, Gandhi will address the "Punjab Fateh" virtual rally in the afternoon before returning to Delhi in the evening. 

Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu and CM Charanjit Singh Channi accompany Rahul Gandhi to Golden Temple in Amritsar. Besides, all Congress nominees were also present at the Golden Temple. 

RLD leader Jayant Chaudhary has rejected BJP's invite to join the NDA. Jayant said that he doesn't take decisions behind closed doors as he turned down the offer. The RJD is contesting elections as a part of the SP-led alliance. 

Fielding of new faces by major political parties in the semi-rural constituency of Mansa has spiced up the contest in this cotton belt for the next month's Punjab assembly polls. While the ruling Congress has fielded popular Punjabi singer Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, better known as 'Sidhu Moosewala', the opposition Aam Aadmi Party's candidate is Vijay Singla and Shiromani Akali Dal has fielded Prem Arora in Mansa. Mansa, where people mainly grow cotton, paddy and vegetables, is known for electing legislators on many occasions in the past from opposition parties. The region had also remained a hotbed of the farmers agitation against the central farm laws. Last month, the town was in news due to police canecharge on unemployed school teachers during a Congress rally, after which the government had ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident. In the 2017 elections, Nazar Singh Manshahia was elected from the constituency on an AAP ticket, but two years later, he switched over to the Congress. However, the ruling party denied him re-nomination from Mansa segment this time.

Amit Shah on Thursday offered prayers at Banke Bihari Mandir in Mathura. AFter offering prayers, Shah launched the BJP's door-to-door campaign here. 

BSP has issued revised list of candidates for the second phase polls in Uttar Pradesh.

Senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia on Wednesday demanded a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) into the reported audio-tape expose of Punjab DGP Siddharth Chattopadhyaya, saying the security breach during Narendra Modis visit to Punjab earlier this month could have even resulted in an assassination bid on the Prime Minister.

Former Goa CM late Manohar Parrikar's son Utpal Parrikar offers prayers at Mahalaxmi Temple in Panaji. He will file his nomination papers from the Panaji Assembly constituency today as an Independent candidate

SC grants protection till Monday, 31st Jan from arrest to SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia after Punjab & Haryana HC had dismissed his anticipatory bail plea. SC asks the Punjab govt not to take any coercive steps until Monday, the day when it'll hear his anticipatory bail plea.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will be on a day-long visit to Punjab on Thursday during which he will visit religious places along with 117 candidates in an apparent show of strength ahead of Assembly elections that are due next month. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will be on a day-long visit to Punjab on Thursday during which he will visit religious places along with 117 candidates in an apparent show of strength ahead of Assembly elections that are due next month. Thereafter, the Congress leader will pay obeisance at Durgiana Mandir at around 10 am and at around 11 am at Bhagwan Valmiki Tirath Sthal along with all his 117 candidates. At around 12 noon, Gandhi will travel to Jalandhar by road where he would address the virtual rally "Navi Soch Nava Punjab" at around 3 pm at White Diamond, Mithapur, Jalandhar.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and RLD chief Jayant Choudhary will address a joint press conference tomorrow. The SP and RLD have forged a pre-poll alliance in Uttar Pradesh where polling will be held in seven phases between February 10 and March 7.

A team of Congress leaders have been sent to Unnao to help Asha Singh in her campaign. Asha Singh, mother of Unnao rape victim, is the Congress candidate for the Unnao Assembly seat. The team that will assist Asha Singh is from Madhya Pradesh according to party sources, news agency IANS reported. "UPCC has set up a new party organisation structure in Unnao and the special team comprising Mahendra Singh (Bhopal) and Sonia Shukla (Indore) is responsible for preparations for filing Asha Singh's nomination papers and also assist the candidate in strategic campaigning for the 2022 Assembly polls," said a party spokesman. Sonia Shukla said, "As of now, work on collection of all the documents, including no objection certificates (NOCs), etc., needed for filing nomination papers is in progress. The filing of nomination papers will begin in Unnao constituency on January 27. So, we propose to file her nomination papers in the next few days. We will soon work out a final date for filing of her nomination papers."

The Samajwadi Party has announced Maharaji Prajapati, the wife of jailed former minister Gayatri Prajapati, as its candidate from Amethi. Gayatri Prajapati, an influential minister in the Akhilesh regime, was arrested in March 2017 on charges of corruption and rape. He is still in jail.

In another setback to the Congress ahead of the assembly elections, former chief of the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee Kishore Upadhyay on Thursday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Others are contesting elections to win their seats but UP minister, Suresh Khanna, is contesting elections to set a record of winning his seat for the ninth consecutive term. Khanna has been winning the seat continuously since 1989. He has held several portfolios in BJP governments and is presently the Parliamentary Affairs minister in the Yogi Adityanath government. He belongs to the Khatri community that comprises only 1 per cent population of the area. If he wins his seat this time, he will equal the record of Ram Sewak of Congress, from the Jagdishpur constituency in Amethi district, who won nine consecutive times. 

The first phase of polls in Uttar Pradesh will decide the fate of nine ministers in the Yogi Adityanath government. This phase of polling is extremely crucial since it includes districts in western UP where candidates in several constituencies are facing hostile voters, mainly due to the farmers' agitation. The first minister contesting in this phase is Suresh Rana, minister for cane, from the Thana Bhawan Assembly seat in Shamli district. The second minister contesting in this phase is Atul Garg from Ghaziabad. Shrikant Sharma, UP Power Minister, is also facing a crucial test in his constituency Mathura. The fourth minister in the fray in the first phase is Sandeep Singh, grandson of late Kalyan Singh. Anil Sharma, minister of state for environment, is seeking re-election from Shikarpur seat in Bulandshahr district. The sixth minister in the first phase of polls is Kapil Dev Agarwal from Muzaffarnagar Sadar seat. Dinesh Khatik, who holds the flood control portfolio, was appointed minister four months ago in September 2021. He represents the Hastinapur constituency in the UP Assembly. Dr G.S. Dharmesh, social welfare minister, is seeking re-election from his Agra Cantt seat which is in the reserved category. Another minister in the first phase is Chaudhary Laxmi Narain, minister for dairy development.

Congress has expelled former state unit chief Kishore Upadhyay from the party for indulging in anti-party activities. 

SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal has announced that senior party leader and his brother-in-law Bikram Singh Majithia will also fight the state assembly elections from Amritsar East against Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu. Sukhbir Badal also announced the candidature of his 94-year-old father and five-time state Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal from the Lambi assembly seat. The SAD chief made the twin announcements while talking to reporters in Amritsar.

In a bid to woo voters from the Jat community ahead of the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday met Jat leaders and said that his relationship with the community goes back a long time. Shah interacted with over 200 leaders from the Jat community in the national capital. He said that both the BJP and the Jat community have similar views on important issues. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE

BJP leader Rajnath Singh will campaign in Ghaziabad today.

Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Wednesday said the Bahujan Samaj Party has sold out interests of the Dalits to the Shiromani Akali Dal, with which it has forged an alliance for next month's Assembly polls. The Punjab CM also said the party has no existence in the state and the BSP pawned off itself to the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). The BSP is contesting the Punjab Assembly polls in alliance with the SAD and will be fielding candidates on 20 of 117 seats, according to a seat-sharing arrangement.

Taking a dig at former union minister RPN Singh for quitting the party, Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu said only those willing to fight for the people will stay in the new Congress. He is a raja-maharaja. He did not like a poor man like me being the state president of the Congress and perhaps this is the reason why he quit the party, Lallu said. "This is the new Congress wherein only those who struggle will survive. Thousands of workers gathered with Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to fight for relief from issues pertaining to the common people of Uttar Pradesh. They faced sticks, went to jail and faced trial. I, too, was jailed several times. But, RPN Singh was never even seen in protests," Lallu said.

Samajwadi Party leader Mohammad Azam Khan on Wednesday filed his nomination for Rampur Sadar seat from inside Sitapur jail. The Returning Officer from Rampur visited the jail to get his nomination papers after an order was issued by Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Rampur Court, Jailor RS Yadav told media. "As of now all paper formalities have been completed," he said. Rampur will go to polls on Feb 14 in the second phase of UP elections. Khan, MP from Rampur, is lodged in Sitapur jail since Feb 2020 in case of land grabbing and several others. 

Heavy snowfall and the freezing cold coupled with the Covid pandemic have made electioneering an uphill task in the hill state of Uttarakhand, going to polls on February 14. The scaled-down campaign by political parties amid the Election Commission restrictions on political rallies till January 31 due to Covid has been further hit by a spell of heavy snowfall and rain that started last week. The limit of ten people on door-to-door campaigns and meetings in big halls limited to half their capacities, the weather conditions have been creating additional troubles for candidates. Heavy snowfall has partially cut off many villages in the hills making it almost impossible for candidates to reach them.

BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah will tour Mathura today where polling will be held in the first phase on February 10. The Mathura Assembly seat which falls under the Braj region is a high-stakes battle for the ruling party.