News Analysis India

Tag: Assembly Polls 2022

  • After Punjab victory, AAP now shifts focus to South; to launch massive membership drive

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has decided to launch a massive membership drive in the southern states to build on the momentum of its stupendous victory in the Punjab Assembly polls.

    The party will start its membership drive in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Lakshadweep, senior AAP leader Somnath Bharti said on Friday.

    “After the thunderous victory of the AAP in Punjab, people from the southern regions have started showing interest in the politics of our party. We are receiving an unprecedented response from southern India,” he told reporters here.

    “Seeing the mood of the people and taking into account the response that our teams in the southern states have been receiving, we have decided to launch membership campaigns throughout the region,” he added.

    Bharti said the membership drive will be carried out by the party’s local teams.

    “These campaigns will actively penetrate deep into Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep,” he said.

    “I call upon all those who feel the need to bring a change in India’s politics to join the AAP and be a part of the revolution,” he said.

    Bharti said the party has also decided to take out foot marches across the southern states in phases.

    “This sequence will begin on April 14 on B R Ambedkar’s birth anniversary with our first foot march in Telangana. We will cover each and every Assembly constituency of the region. Through these foot marches, we will take the politics of (Arvind) Kejriwalji and the ideals of Babasaheb and Bhagat Singh to every resident of the region,” he added.

    Bharti said the party will highlight the difference it has made in the lives of the people of Delhi.

    The AAP has its units in Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

    The party had contested the Karnataka and Telangana Assembly polls in 2018 as part of its efforts to make inroads into south India but could not open its account.

  • ‘Battle for India will be decided in 2024, not in any state poll’: Prashant Kishor’s jibe at Modi

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: A day after the BJP’s emphatic win in assembly elections in four states, poll strategist Prashant Kishor on Friday said the results will not have any bearing on the next Lok Sabha elections as the “battle for India would be fought and decided in 2024 and not in any state elections”.

    Bulldozing a resurgent rainbow coalition led by the Samajwadi Party, the BJP on Thursday stormed back to power in Uttar Pradesh and also retained Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa, while Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP scripted a stellar victory in Punjab, winning a three-fourth majority pulverising its rivals.

    Kishor’s comment came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to the next Lok Sabha polls, scheduled for 2024, saying he hopes that political pundits will note that his party’s win in the four states has also made clear the verdict for the next general elections as they had linked its win in 2019 to its sweep of the Uttar Pradesh polls in 2017.

    “Battle for India will be fought and decided in 2024 & not in any state #elections Saheb knows this! Hence this clever attempt to create frenzy around state results to establish a decisive psychological advantage over opposition. Don’t fall or be part of this false narrative.” Kishor said on Twitter.

  • ‘People’s decision paramount, hope governments work for farmers’: Rakesh Tikait on assembly polls results

    By PTI

    NOIDA: Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait said the decision of people is paramount as he hoped the new governments in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand will work for farmers and labourers.

    The remark of the national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) came late on Thursday after the BJP won majority seats in four states, including Uttar Pradesh, while the Aam Aadmi Party stormed to power in Punjab.

    “In the great festival of democracy, the decision of the people is paramount. The farmers’ movement showed its effect. We hope that all the governments that have been formed will work for to uplift farmers and labourers in their respective states. Congratulations to all on the victory,” Tikait tweeted in Hindi.

    Tikait’s BKU was part of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of farmers unions which had spearheaded the 13-month-long protest in Delhi in 2020-21 against three contentious farm laws, which now stand repealed.

    In the aftermath of the iconic protests, the SKM had launched a “punish BJP” campaign in Uttar Pradesh, where farmer leaders toured several places and highlighted the anti-agriculture policies of the saffron party and issues like inflation, alleged corruption and the Lakhimpur Kheri violence in which a Union minister’s son is among the accused.

  • Assembly elections: EC holds meeting with CEOs of states, UTs on poll issues

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sushil Chandra on Monday asked chief electoral officers (CEOs) of all states and union territories to “expeditiously” redress pending applications related to voter registration, even as he asked them to ensure better facilities at all booths in the country.

    The CEC said this to the CEOs during a day-long conference held here to review a host of issues related to the poll process in the country.

    An Election Commission (EC) spokesperson said in a statement that the conference discussed and reviewed “various thematic issues related to electoral rolls, polling stations, ongoing special summary revision, IT (information technology) applications, timely resolution of grievances, electronic voting machines (EVMs), voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT), training and capacity building of polling staff, media and communication and extensive voter outreach program amongst others”.

    CEC Chandra, the statement said, stressed on the significance of effectiveness and visibility of the CEOs as they represent the commission in the states.

    “He (CEC) asked the CEOs to ensure purity of the electoral roll, availability of assured minimum facilities and to ensure better facilities at all polling booths for all voters,” it said.

    The CEC also asked the CEOs for “expeditious redressal of all pending applications especially with regard to voter registration,” the statement said.

    Chandra told the CEOs that all efforts should be made to ensure better voter experience.

    “CEOs should have regular interaction with political parties to redress their grievances, if any,” Chandra said.

    The CEC “emphasised” that new initiatives and best practices by the CEOs for election-related activities should be regularly disseminated through the media for enhanced outreach.

    He said that the objective of the conference was to identify the gaps and challenges to ensure instructions of the commission are implemented uniformly in all states and union territories across the country.

    Election commissioners Rajiv Kumar and Anup Chandra Pandey also attended the conference and spoke to the officers.

    Kumar said the legal and regulatory framework of the elections is quite robust, but the implementation of various instructions of the commission on the field was very critical.

    “He (Kumar) stressed that CEOs need to be innovative, be more active and should learn from each other’s best practices and challenges,” the statement said.

    Pandey asked the CEOs to ensure good training and capacity building of BLOs (booth level officers) as the effectiveness of EC activities depends upon the effective implementation by field-level election officials.

    “He (Pandey) emphasised that CEOs need to ensure that correct information and facts are regularly shared with the local media for enhanced outreach,” the statement said.

    The conference also saw the commission release a number of publications including a ‘Compendium of Cases on Election Law’ and an ‘Information Booklet For Voters’.

    The booklet contains end-to-end information starting from voter registration, postal ballot, casting of vote through EVM-VVPAT and various facilities provided for the voters at polling stations, the statement said.