News Analysis India

Tag: 2022 Punjab polls

  • Speed up Covid vaccination in poll-bound states, Election Commission urges Centre

    By Online Desk

    NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India has asked the Centre to speed up the Covid-19 vaccination in poll-bound states to ensure that all the voters are fully vaccinated.

    In the first quarter of next year, five states — UP, Punjab, Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand — are scheduled to go to the polls.

    Amid increasing Covid-19 cases and fear over Omicron variant, concerns have been raised over the conducting of elections and rallies in these states.

    ALSO READ: EC assesses Covid situation in poll-bound states 

    During a meeting on Monday, the Union Health Ministry submitted a report on the rising Covid cases along with the new variant Omicron and the status of vaccination coverage across the nation to the Election Commission.

    According to a source with the ministry, the Election Commission and Union Health Ministry discussed the rising number of new Covid variant Omicron cases across the country with a special focus on the five poll-bound states. Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan presented a detailed report on the transmissibility of the Omicron variant in the states.

    Asked about the Omicron spread in the next three months, the health secretary said that nothing can be said at the moment. The daily Covid caseload can see around 25 per cent jump in the next few months as per the present rate of infection, he said in the meeting.

    The health officials also gave details about the districts where the R-value has increased, said the source.

    The Assembly election is scheduled for five states – Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Uttarakhand, Goa, and Punjab in 2022.

    However, the schedule for the Assembly poll is likely to be announced in the first week of January, said the source. The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and other officials are scheduled to visit Uttar Pradesh to take stock of the poll preparedness in the state on Tuesday.

  • Akalis holds rally to mark 100 years of party’s foundation, says ‘SAD-BSP will sweep Punjab polls’

    Express News Service

    CHANDIGARH: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Tuesday held a rally in Punjab’s Moga to commemorate the completion of 100 years of its foundation.

    A huge crowd was seen on the occasion. “Celebrating 100 years of ‘Nirswarth Seva’, ‘Balidan’ and ‘Sangharsh’ to preserve the pride and honour of Panth, Punjab, Punjabis and Punjabiyat. These are our core values and we are committed to following the same path for peace, progress and prosperity of Punjab,” the SAD said in a tweet.

    Meanwhile, the party gave a clarion call for the establishment of a true federal country with cultural, political and economic autonomy to states. It also announced to implement a Rs 50,000 per acre crop insurance scheme besides a commitment to revive the pre-2004 pension scheme for government employees.

    Addressing a rally at Moga to commemorate the party’s 100th anniversary, SAD patriarch and five-time CM Parkash Singh Badal said that the Akalis would bounce back to form the next government in the state. He termed the SAD-BSP tie-up a “holy alliance”. The SAD-BSP alliance is all set to repeat their performance of 1996 — the year they swept the entire state.

    Badal said the choice before the Punjabis was straight and simple. It’s one between having a government of the Punjabis, for the Punjabis and by the Punjabis on the one hand or having “boastful puppets” remote-controlled by outsiders.

    Badal said that it was sad to see the Congress humiliating the poor and Dalit sections of the society by letting them know that they made a CM (Charanjit Singh Channi) who was not their first choice. “Now, they are humiliating him by openly refusing to endorse his performance and not naming him as its CM face.

    ALSO READ | ‘Channi will end up as night watchman’: Amarinder slams Sidhu as Punjab Congress poll panel chief

    earlier they had humiliated seasoned Congress leader Sunil Jakhar’s community by first ‘publicising that he would be the next CM. But later media reports said no one from his community could be made the CM of Punjab. “Such communal games are nothing new in Congress. These are both distasteful and dangerous for communal harmony.”

    Badal cautioned the Sikhs against conspiracies by the Center and other anti-Sikh forces who are trying to sabotage the sovereign and sacred right of the Khalsa Panth on Seva Sambhal (management) of the Holy Gurdhams of the quom through their legitimately constitutionally-elected representatives.” The Akali stalwart also warned the Centre against the “dangerous adventurism” of the past and said nothing should be done to disturb the atmosphere of peace and communal harmony in Punjab and rest of India.

    Addressing the congregation, SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal announced that farmers would be offered an insurance cover of Rs 50,000 per acre for crop damage. Amidst the cheers, he also announced that the next SAD- BSP alliance government would revive the pre-2004 pension scheme for government employees. He said the next government would also end monopolies in the sand and liquor business by giving mining contracts to one individual and the liquor vend to another. He also announced a waiver of electricity bills of all religious places of worship.

    The Moga conference also passed a resolution condemning the Congress government’s attempts to register false cases against SAD-BSP alliance leaders and warned CM Channi, home minister Sukhjinder Randhawa and PPCC president Navjot Singh Sidhu that they would be responsible for the consequences of pursuing vendetta politics.

    The resolution, which was read out by Dr Daljit Singh Cheema, also demanded the resignation of the chief minister and home minister in the cash for the transfer case. It also demanded a judicial probe into bribery charges levelled against the home minister who has been accused by a cabinet colleague of taking money for posting SSPs.

    Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) senior vice president Satish Mishra, while speaking on the occasion, said the alliance was set to sweep the forthcoming polls by securing 100 seats. He said the alliance stood for empowering the weaker sections of society.

    The SAD was formed on December 14, 1920, and completed 100 years last year. The party did not celebrate the occasion in view of the farmers’ stir. Over the years, the Moga district holds a special place in the state’s political scene as it is a hotbed of farm union activities. 

    Meanwhile, CM Channi slammed SAD saying that the century-old party has been brought into disrepute by the Badals and Bikram Singh Majithia with drugs, sacrilege and corrupt practices. “Akali Dal cannot revive till Sukhbir and Majithia are at the helm of affairs,” said the CM adding that Sukhbir Badal has pocketed every public resource to further his personal motives.

  • Jats renew quota demand, threaten protest from December 1

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: Five days after the announcement of rollback of three contentious farm laws by PM Narendra Modi, the issue of the Jat reservation is again ready to raise heads in Western Uttar Pradesh.

    As per the highly-placed sources, a meeting of two zones was held by the Jat Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti in Meerut on Tuesday, urging Modi to fulfill the promise of the Jat reservation.

    According to Jat Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti sources, the community is about to start a public campaign demanding reservations across three states of UP, Uttarakhand and Punjab from December 1.

    Jat community is mainly concentrated with around 12 per cent of the western UP districts. After the announcement of the repeal of agricultural laws, the Jats have now started eyeing reservations.

    ALSO READ | 2022 UP polls: RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary hints at forming an alliance with Samajwadi Party

    As per Jat Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti, around 125 assembly seats in western Uttar Pradesh, 15 in Uttarakhand and over 100 in Punjab are dominated by Jats playing a vital role in the victory and defeat of the parties.

    The Arakshan Samiti has said that the Jat community would support the political party which would ensure quota to the community. The Samiti sources claimed that the Centre had promised Jat reservation just before the 2017 assembly elections. Even before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections similar promises were made to the Jat community but to no avail.

    The Samiti sources claimed that Jats were feeling betrayed. “Jats have not been given their due. Their support had made the BJP form the governments at the Centre and Uttar Pradesh,” said a senior member of the Jat Arakshan Samiti. He added that the Samiti had been demanding the inclusion of Jats in the OBC list for a long time at the central level. He claimed that talks were held with the representatives of the government from time to time, but the decision had been elusive.

  • BJP repealed farm law to mitigate perceived electoral loss in UP, Punjab: Analysts

    Express News Service

    CHANDIGARH: The BJP decided to repeal the farm laws to mitigate the perceived electoral loss in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand assembly elections in view of the formidable peasantry in north India, say political analysts.

    Political analyst Prof Ashutosh of Punjab University says, “The BJP leadership must have calculated that any delay in withdrawing the farm laws would lead to an electoral loss in the key state of Uttar Pradesh, especially the western part of the state and at the same time, the BJP can think of having some presence in Punjab in the polls. The decision would also make the farmers’ leaders kaput. In Punjab, the farmers’ movement will fizzle out now.”

    ALSO READ | PM Narendra Modi orders repeal of three farm laws ahead of Assembly polls in five states

    “There was a dire need to engage the peasantry while debating the agrarian crisis in the past. But now it seems the ruling party will step in for threadbare discussions with farmer’ organisations. The ruling party has taken this decision to mitigate the electoral loss in the upcoming assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand. In Punjab, the party will try to take credit for this move but it will not translate into votes for them. The public will give credit to farmers rather than the political parties as they know which party did what,” says leading political observer Prof Kuldeep Singh.

    ALSO READ | ‘Modi government has to bring bill to repeal three agri laws’: Experts

    Another political expert pointed out that for more than 20-year-old the alliance between the BJP with SAD broke last year due to the farm laws. The Akalis broke the tie-up with the BJP making the saffron party a pariah in Punjab. The BJP has also been facing increasing hostility among the Jats of Haryana and Western UP, he opined.

    Also, a major turning point was the incident at Lakhimpur Kheri in which four farmers and others died when they were allegedly run over by a vehicle belonging to the son of Union Minister Ajay Misra Teni, he added.