News Analysis India

Tag: Elections

  • Polling begins for 22 seats in second phase of Manipur assembly elections

    By PTI

    IMPHAL: Polling for the second and last phase of assembly elections in Manipur began at 7 am on Saturday in 22 constituencies across six districts, an official said.

    A total of 8.38 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in this phase in the districts of Thoubal, Chandel, Ukhrul, Senapati, Tamenglong and Jiribam, he said.

    All arrangements are in place to hold voting in 1,247 polling stations adhering to COVID-19 safety protocols, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Rajesh Agarwal had said on Friday.

    The electoral fate of 92 candidates will be decided on Saturday, including 12 from the BJP, followed by Congress (18), National People’s Party (11), Janata Dal (United) and Naga People’s Front (10 each).

    Polling will continue till 4 pm.

  • Violence mars first phase of Manipur polls

    By Express News Service

    GUWAHATI:  Sporadic incidents of violence were reported during the first phase of Manipur elections on Monday. According to election officials, 78.03% polling was recorded till 5 pm. The final polling percentage will be available after the return of polling parties, the officials added.

    A police havildar, Naorem Ibochouba Singh from Kakching district, died in suspected accidental firing from his service rifle. He was deputed for duty at a polling station in Tipaimukh constituency. Later, the body was flown to the state capital, Imphal, by a helicopter and kept at the morgue. 

    In a statement, the Election Commission (EC) said voting at 1,721 polling stations of 38 constituencies in five districts was held peacefully barring a few incidents of violence. The miscreants damaged EVMs at seven polling stations in Saikul, Saitu, Thanlon, Henglep and Singhat seats. 

    First information reports   were registered in connection with the cases. Security personnel had to fire blank shots to restore normalcy in areas falling under Saitu, Henglep and Singhat constituencies. The EC said it had received complaints from some political parties and candidates regarding violation of rules.

    However, a majority of the issues were resolved and prompt actions taken. “The scrutiny of Form 17 A and other documents will be conducted by the Returning Officers in presence of General Observers on March, 1, 2022. Decisions on re-polls, if any, shall be decided accordingly,” the Commission said. It was learnt the supporters of two political parties clashed in some constituencies, including in the hill district of Churachandpur where one person was injured. Incidents of violence were also reported from Imphal East, Imphal West and Kangpokpi districts.

    Governor La Ganesan and Chief Minister N Biren Singh had cast their votes soon after polling started.Singh, who contested from his pet Heingang seat, was confident the BJP would bag more than 30 seats in the first phase of elections.

  • Ram Mandir only ‘one of the poll issues’ as UP voters seek development 

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: The construction of Ram temple seems to have been relegated to “one of the poll issues” in Ayodhya this time as competing parties are raking up development topics and also relying on caste arithmetic for victory.

    The BJP, for whom the temple town sharpened its Hindutva plank, is facing a challenge particularly from the Samajwadi Party (SP) in the ongoing state polls. With 10 candidates in fray, the Ayodhya Assembly segment will go to vote in the fifth phase on February 27.

    After it became clear that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath would not contest from Ayodhya, the party reposed faith in sitting MLA Ved Prakash Gupta, while the SP has fielded former minister Tej Narayan alias Pawan Pandey. The BSP, Congress and AAP, too, have fielded their candidates in Ayodhya, thereby making it a multi-cornered contest.

    “It is going to be a close contest in the Ayodhya Assembly constituency. As far as the issue of Ram temple is concerned, the BJP was not able to derive optimum mileage during this election initially. The issue started cropping up only after the third phase of the polls,” Mahant Raju Das of Hanumangarhi temple told PTI.

    He said while the distribution of ration to the poor has benefitted people in rural areas, a number of party leaders, on the other hand, were of the view that they will be able to garner enough votes only with Modi and Adityanath’s credentials. They did not want to mingle with the people and connect with them, he said.

    ALSO READ | Voters have blessed BJP in first four phases of UP polls, says PM Modi 

    On whether the scene would have been different if Adityanath were to contest from Ayodhya, the mahant said, “There is no opposition to the BJP, there was an opposition only towards the candidate.

    ” SP candidate Pawan Pandey told PTI, “Lord Ram and the Ram temple are not the fiefdom of the BJP. Prabhu Shri Ram belongs to all of us. Even when the BJP did not exist, Lord Ram did.”

    When asked whether he had heaved a sigh of relief after Adityanath decided not to contest from the Ayodhya seat, Pandey said it would have made no difference “even if Prime Minister Narendra Modi was named the candidate” (from Ayodhya).

    A firebrand student leader from Lucknow University, Pandey had trounced the saffron party’s local giant and incumbent MP from Ayodhya Lallu Singh in the 2012 Assembly elections. He had,however, lost to Gupta in 2017.

    Pandey also alleged that the BJP has indulged in exploiting farmers, harassing traders and the Ayodhya Municipal Corporation has also significantly increased the tax.

    “We will roll it back,” he said. He said cows in cow shelters had allegedly died due to shortage of fodder and water. “They (BJP) claim to be ‘Ram bhakts’ (devotees of Lord Ram), but Adityanath and his government are killers of the cows,” he said.

    ALSO READ | VHP workers fan out across constituencies to distribute prasad, temple soil 

    BJP nominee Gupta, when asked about a section of the people being miffed at his candidature, said, “You cannot satisfy each and every person in politics. I have not been able to please my family. However, I can say that work for the people has been done and development has taken place. Yogi has done a lot of development in Ayodhya.”

    By fielding a Brahmin, the SP is trying to exploit the upper caste displeasure with the BJP government. Out of about 3.81 lakh electors in Ayodhya seat, Brahmins account for over 62,000 while Vaishya voters number 51,000, Muslims 55,000 and Yadavs 37,000.

    Iqbal Ansari, who was an independent litigant and son of one of the oldest litigants in the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri mosque dispute case, Mohammad Hashim Ansari, said, “People now want development and jobs.”

    “People of Ayodhya are now drifting away from the ‘mandir-masjid issue’, and talking about development and only development. It has already been two years since the Supreme Court gave its judgement. However, some people try to make the temple-mosque an election issue. The temple-mosque may remain one of the issues in this election, but not the biggest among the poll issues.”

    “Earlier, the Hindus and Muslims used to fight over it, but now there is nothing as such. The main issues in this election is price rise, which has affected almost each and every household,” he said.

    BSP candidate Ravi Prakash said the main issues are jobs and development. Shubham Srivastava of the Aam Aadmi Party echoed similar views.

    Ayodhya mayor Rishikesh Upadhyay said, “Ram temple was never an election issue (for us). It was a matter of faith. It was an issue mentioned in the BJP’s ‘Sankalp Patra (election manifesto), and we have fulfilled the promise, which we had made to the people.

    “A local homoeopathy doctor Prajwal Singh said, “The electoral prospects of the BJP were not very good until a few days ago in the district. However, Thursday’s roadshow by Adityanath has done a lot to contain the damage. The party’s condition was not looking good in Ayodhya, Gosainganj and Milkipur Assembly seats. The success of the roadshow is likely to help the saffron party.”

  • Sena, Cong mock Maha BJP chief’s ‘political earthquake after March 10’ remark

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: The Shiv Sena and the Congress, part of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi in Maharashtra, have made light of BJP leader Chandrakant Patil’s reported prediction that there would be a “political earthquake” after results of Assembly polls in five states, including crucial Uttar Pradesh, are declared on March 10.

    Shiv Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut said he sympathised with Patil, the state BJP unit chief, as “for the last two years, the BJP has been predicting dates on which the MVA government in Maharashtra will fall”.

    It is the BJP that will now fall, Raut added.

    Congress leader Sachin Sawant said a humour-laced and cartoon-filled book can be compiled of all the comments that Patil routinely makes, adding that it would let people know about the BJP leader’s contribution in keeping them entertained.

    Patil has reportedly said the MVA government will collapse on March 10 after Assembly poll results in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur are announced.

  • Rahul Gandhi to declare Cong’ CM face for Punjab polls on Sunday: Harish Chaudhary

    By PTI

    CHANDIGARH: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will announce the name of the party’s chief ministerial candidate for the Punjab elections on Sunday when he visits Ludhiana for a virtual rally, party’s senior leader Harish Chaudhary said on Friday.

    Reacting to the development, Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi reiterated that he would wholeheartedly back the party’s candidate who would be named for the chief ministerial post.

    “On February 6, Rahul Gandhi ji will visit Ludhiana and from there will address a virtual rally in the afternoon and announce the CM face,” Chaudhary, who is party’s Punjab affairs in-charge, said here.

    Channi, who was in Bhadaur, the second assembly seat from where he is contesting the polls, when asked about the party’s announcement about the CM face, said, “I had already said from the stage in Jalandhar (virtual rally) that I will go with party’s decision on CM face. I have already made a commitment from the stage in Rahul Gandhi’s presence that whosoever is made CM face, I will wholeheartedly back him and the same commitment has been made by Navjot Singh Sidhu and other leaders.”

    “Whosoever’s name is announced, we will go with him,” Channi added.

    During his last visit to Punjab on January 27, Gandhi while addressing a virtual rally in Jalandhar, had announced that the Congress will soon declare its chief ministerial face for the February 20 polls and a decision on it will be taken after consulting the party workers.

    Besides taking feedback from the leaders and workers of the party, the Congress is also seeking the opinion of the public on who should be its chief ministerial candidate through an automated call system.

    In the 117 assembly constituencies in Punjab, Congress MLAs and party leaders along with supporters in as many numbers as allowed according to the Election Commission guidelines will remain present when Gandhi addresses the virtual rally from Ludhiana, Chaudhary said.

    Ahead of the announcement of the chief ministerial face for the Punjab Assembly polls by the Congress, party’s state unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu had said “people at the top” want a weak chief minister.

    “People at the top want a weak chief minister who can dance to their tunes,” Sidhu said addressing his supporters in Amritsar on Thursday evening.

    However, he did not make it clear whether he was referring to the Congress central leadership or anyone else.

    When asked about Sidhu’s remarks, Chaudhary said, “If one goes through Sidhu’s entire statement, then this question won’t be asked. It will become clear that he is not speaking about Congress party but about Narendra Modi’s BJP.”

    He said Sidhu had assured the people of Punjab that when the party announces the name of the chief ministerial candidate, he would wholeheartedly support it. Channi had also repeated the same thing, Chaudhary added.

    To another related question to the “weak chief minister” remark of Sidhu, Chaudhary quipped, “Both Sidhu and Channi are not weak.”

    For the last several weeks, both Chief Minister Channi and Sidhu have, directly or indirectly, made a case for themselves to be declared as the party’s nominee for the top post.

    On Thursday, Sidhu’s wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu said irrespective of who becomes the chief minister, her husband is a ‘hero’ and will remain so. Her reply came when asked about her husband’s political future if he does not become the chief minister of Punjab.

    Addressing a virtual rally in Jalandhar last week, Rahul Gandhi had said both Channi and Sidhu have assured him that whosoever is chosen as the party’s chief ministerial face, they will stand by the decision.

    He had said this after Sidhu demanded at the rally that the Congress declare its chief ministerial face for the Punjab polls and said he does not want to be a “showpiece”.

    Channi had then said he was never after any post and would wholeheartedly back the party’s candidate for the top post. Channi replaced Amarinder Singh as the chief minister in September last year. He is the first chief minister from the Scheduled Caste (SC) community in the state.

    Polling for the 117-member Punjab Assembly is scheduled to be held on February 20. The counting of votes will be taken up on March 10.

  • BJP taking country towards ‘danger’, wants only one ideology to rule in country: Rahul

    By PTI

    RAIPUR: In a scathing attack on the BJP, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused the saffron party of taking the country towards “danger” and said that along with the RSS, it wants only one ideology to rule over all states, languages and history which can never happen.

    Reiterating what he said in Lok Sabha a day ago, Gandhi said the “grave danger” is that the BJP is dividing the nation into two countries — one belonging to select billionaires and the other to the crores of common people.

    “I made a speech in Lok Sabha yesterday in which I talked about the two-three challenges facing the country. The BJP and its ideology are taking our country towards danger. What is the danger — the first grave danger is that the BJP is dividing the country into two countries,” he said while addressing a function at Science College ground in Chhattisgarh’s capital Raipur.

    “One country is of selected billionaires, where there is everything including planes, wealth and high technology, while the second one is of crores of the people of the country,” he said.

    “They think that by making two countries, the country which belongs to the poor is powerless and will remain quiet. They think the poor of the country are afraid. But the poor of the country are not afraid of anyone, rather they are the ones who have built the country,” Gandhi said.

    “If someone has taken India to this point and ensured the progress, it is not a party, but the farmers, labourers and the poor. So when it is asked what has happened in 70 years, it is an insult to farmers, their parents, labourers, and small businessmen, not to the Congress party,” he added.

    He said that the 100 wealthiest people in India have more money than 40 per cent of the population.

    “While 40 per cent struggle with hunger and poverty, 5-10 capitalist friends of the prime minister amass all the wealth, we don’t want a country like this. We will not allow the country to become so,” Gandhi asserted.

    “If there is progress in this country – then everyone will be part of it, not just some industrialists. If there is progress in the country, then everyone will benefit,” he said.

    On the occasion, Gandhi launched the Chhattisgarh government’s ‘Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Bhoomihin Krishi Majdoor Nyay Yojana’, under which landless labourers in rural areas will be given financial assistance of Rs 6,000 per year in three installments. The first installment of Rs 2,000 was deposited into the accounts of nearly 3.55 lakh landless families of labourers, barbers, blacksmiths, priests, forest produce collectors and shepherds, among others, on the occasion under the scheme.

    ALSO READ: Rahul Gandhi launches welfare scheme for landless labourers in Chhattisgarh

    He laid the foundation stone of a memorial here that will house an eternal flame on the lines of the ‘Amar Jawan Jyoti’ as a tribute to soldiers and security personnel who have lost their lives in the line of duty.

    Gandhi also laid the foundation stone of ‘Gandhi Sevagram’ ashram to be built in Nava Raipur, similar to the one in Wardha (Maharashtra). In his remarks, Gandhi said this country is like a bouquet and people of different ideologies live in it.

    “The ideology, history, and culture in one state is different from that of the other. But if we say that there will be only one ideology in the whole country then it will be wrong,” he said adding that this will harm the country.

    “The BJP and RSS want that only one ideology should rule over all states, languages, and history in the country, which can never happen. For example, people of Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh cannot tell people of Chhattisgarh how they should live, what should be the relation of tribals here with forests, and what should be the relation of farmers here with their land. Likewise, you cannot go to Vidarbha and tell farmers there that ‘you should live in this way,” the former Congress chief said.

    This is the bouquet of our country and this feeling of love and brotherhood, is what we call India, he said. Gandhi alleged that the BJP has been “attacking this India” and the Congress will oppose this attack and will show them the “real India”.

    The Congress leader also accused the BJP of spreading hatred in the country and making one religion fight with the other. 

    ALSO READ: BJP, RSS want rule of only one ideology, but it can never happen: Rahul Gandhi

    “They have spread hatred in the country. They are making one state fight with the other and one religion fight with the other religion. The powers outside India look at us and say that India is getting weak. The Chinese army could enter Ladakh because the BJP and our prime minister said after their entry into our territory that no one has entered,” he said.

    “Our work and the work of patriotism is to strengthen the country, help the poor and unite the country, not to spread hatred. So it is a battle of ideology. This is not a fight between one party and the other,” he said.

    Gandhi praised the Chhattisgarh government and said it is fulfilling its promises.

    Talking about his promise of providing Rs 2,500 to farmers, the Lok Sabha member from Wayanad said that the state government had fulfilled the promise of paying the actual amount for farmers’ hard work to them.

    He said the state government’s move to provide financial assistance to landless labourers working in farms is a big step towards the welfare of the poor and urged the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel to increase the amount to be given to labourers under the scheme.

    In his remarks, Baghel said that the state managed to shield itself from the slowdown impact as it followed the directives of Rahul Gandhi to empower the masses by putting money in their pockets.

    Baghel said that the farmers in Chhattisgarh were content even as they were protesting in other parts of India. He said that one more step has been taken towards making Chhattisgarh a public welfare state.

    Gandhi also launched a coffee table book “Jo Kaha So Kiya” on the achievements of the Chhattisgarh government in the last three years.

    After an inspection of an exhibition on the development in the state, Gandhi suggested to the chief minister to take the “magic of Chhattisgarh” beyond the country so that the world gets the taste of the state’s products, knowledge, and history. Gandhi also tried his hand at pottery and ‘charkha’.

  • Majithia announces he is answering the call of duty by contesting from Amritsar East alone

    Express News Service

    CHANDIGARH: The Amritsar (East) assembly segment is set to see one of the most high-profile contests, as Bikram Singh Majithia of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) accepted the challenge posed by Punjab Congress President Navjot Singh Sidhu and will contest only from Amritsar East and his wife Ganieve Kaur Majithia will now contest from Majitha.

    Former minister Majithia said he had decided to answer the call of duty and contest the forthcoming assembly elections from Amritsar (East) constituency and hand over the responsibility of the Majitha seat to his wife Ganieve Kaur Majithia.

    He said he has foreseen a feeling of confusion in the minds of the people of Amritsar East who would rightfully feel that he might forsake the seat if elected from two constituencies. “I have addressed this concern and decided to contest the next elections from Amritsar East alone,’’ he said.

    Majtihia said the election was also about breaking the arrogance of Madhya Pradesh Congress President Navjot Sidhu. 

    “I have decided to teach him to respect the people of the constituency. You will see that he will start to love people by the end of the campaign. He will learn to respect elders. He will have to stop making statements in the air and will have to descend down to the level of the common man,’’ he said.

    Asserting that the people of Amritsar East felt humiliated by Sidhu’s behaviour, the SAD leader said, “Sidhu has never participated in any social function of the constituency. He has not gone to grieve at anyone’s passing away. He is not only unmindful of his constituents but also deceives them by promising projects like sports stadiums and over bridges on the eve of elections and forgets about them once the elections are over.” 

    “Now when he goes to meet the people he will see for himself the state of roads and streets in his constituency. People will ask him why he failed to ensure even basic facilities to them including potable drinking water and sewerage facilities. Now the time has come for him to be answerable to his constituents,’’ he said.

    Asserting that he had come to win hearts in Amritsar East, Majithia said, “I have won the hearts of the people of Majitha with arduous work and dedication. I have been one with them and they have returned my affection manifold by electing me to office manifold times. It is with a heavy heart that I am shifting from Majitha to Amritsar East. It has not been an easy decision. But I felt that sometimes in politics, circumstances force you to take such difficult decisions. This is one such instance. I am grateful to the people of Majitha as well as my core team for giving me permission and blessings to contest the forthcoming elections from Amritsar East.’’

    Majithia said he was confident his wife Ganieve Majithia would serve the people of the Majitha with utmost dedication. “It is not an easy decision for her also but I am confident she will do her best to continue the family’s tradition of service to the people.’’

    The SAD had fielded Majithia from two seats – Amritsar East and neighbouring Majitha.

  • Former Manipur cop Brinda to contest polls on JD-U’s ticket

    By Express News Service

    GUWAHATI: Former decorated cop Thounaojam Brinda will contest the Manipur elections on the ticket of Janata Dal (United).

    After she had joined the party on Sunday, it was decided to field her from the Yaiskul constituency in the Imphal valley. 

    Brinda told this newspaper that she believed JD-U was a good choice. “I took into consideration the local conditions. People wanted me to contest from a party that is a partner of the ruling party (BJP),” she said.

    She said she could have contested from the Congress but it did not have a bright prospect. She will be up against sitting MLA Thokchom Satyabrata Singh of the BJP among others.

    BJP leader Thangjam Arunkumar, who resigned from the party after being denied a ticket, also joined the JD-U.

  • Congress to launch booklet highlighting rising prices under BJP govt

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Congress on Monday will highlight the issue of rising prices and will launch a ‘BJP brought inflation’ booklet in poll-bound states.

    The Congress will organise a series of press conferences underlining the problems faced by the people due to inflation and hold the central government responsible for it.

    Congress’ chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala will hold a press conference in Lucknow, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel in Chandigarh, and former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan in Goa.

    Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh will address a press conference in Jalandhar, Sachin Pilot in Dehradun, Hardik Patel in Meerut, and Ranjit Ranjan and Supriya Srinate in Varanasi.

    “The people of the country are suffering from inflation and BJP is enjoying. The double whammy of rising prices and falling income has made life difficult for people,” AICC Secretary Pranav Jha said.

    ALSO READ: Congress to launch booklet highlighting how BJP ‘compromised’ with interests of armed forces

    “The back-breaking prices have spoiled the budget of families. Modi ji, BJP took votes by serving lies of ‘acche din’ and served the poison of inflation in people’s lives,” he said.

    The party will highlight that the wholesale price index has reached a 12-year high under BJP rule and the high excise duty on petrol and diesel, a statement said.

    It will also highlight that the BJP increased rail passenger fare by 205 per cent since January 1, 2022 and how it has made clothes, shoes, children’s books, withdrawing money from ATM, auto booking from app and ordering food, among other things, more expensive, the statement said.

    ALSO READ: Congress releases booklet titled ‘Kisne Bigada Uttar Pradesh’ to sensitise workers in UP

    This will be the third booklet that Congress releases in poll-bound states. Last week, Congress had launched a booklet to highlight how the BJP government “compromised” with the interests of armed forces and held press conferences on it.

    Before that, the party had launched a booklet to highlight the farmers’ plight under the Modi government and held press conferences in various cities.

  • Tauqeer Raza’s daughter-in-law joins BJP

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: In a not so surprising move, Nida Khan, the daughter-in-law of Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan, joined the saffron brigade here on Sunday ahead of the crucial Uttar Pradesh elections. 

    The founder of Ittehad-e-Millat Council, a victim of triple talaq, shot into limelight after she challenged the dual ideologies of her father-in-law who is a senior cleric of the Barelvi sect of Sunni Muslims. While joining the BJP, Nida claimed that Muslim women were safe under the BJP rule in UP.

    Notably, Tauqeer Raza had extended his outfit’s support to the Congress last fortnight. 

    Interacting with media persons after joining the BJP, Nida, who was married to Sheeran Raza Khan, said that the law against triple talaq was the turning point in her life. Sheeran is the son of Tauqeer Raza’s elder brother Maulana Usma Raza Khan alias Anjum Mian. Sheeran had given triple talaq to Nida after a year of their marriage. Nida has been fighting the case in court.

    “This is why I support the BJP. The BJP has done a remarkable job by bringing a law against triple talaq. It seems that other parties are just giving slogans for women empowerment and women safety, but only the BJP has proved it,” she said.

    Taking a jibe at the Congress, she said the party gave the name of the campaign ‘Ladki Hoon, Lad Sakti Hoon’ but did not do any work regarding women safety. She stated that her father-in-law had come to Congress 15 days ago but she always supported the BJP. “This is because the BJP ensured the empowerment of Muslim women,” she further added.

    The BJP had been aggressively raising the issue of Maulana Tauqeer Raza extending support to the Congress slamming the grand old party for promoting a person who has been accused of threatening Hindus and has also allegedly given derogatory comments against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

    This comes days after daughter-in-law of Samajwadi Party (SP) patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, Aparna Yadav joined the BJP in Delhi in the presence of senior BJP leaders. Although the move may not have been politically significant, it gave ample ammunition to the BJP to attack the SP over its failure to keep its clan together ahead of the 2022 UP assembly polls.