News Analysis India

Tag: Polls

  • Counting for 1st phase of Jharkhand panchayat polls to start on Tuesday

    By PTI

    RANCHI: Counting of votes for the first phase of the panchayat elections in Jharkhand will start on Tuesday amid tight security, an official said.

    The first of the four-phase panchayat polls took place on May 14. Over 68 per cent of the 52 lakh voters exercised their franchise.

    A total of 1,127 panchayats covering 72 blocks in 21 districts of the state went to the polls in the first phase. Panchayat elections in the state are not held on party lines.

    SEC secretary Radhe Shyam Prasad said, “The counting for the first phase (of the elections) will start from 8 am on Tuesday. It will continue till the evening.” As the polling was conducted in ballot papers, it will take time to declare the final results, the official said.

    In the first phase, elections were scheduled to be held for 16,757 posts, 14,079 panchayat members, 1,127 mukhiyas, 1,405 Panchayat Samiti members and 146 Zilla Parishad members.

    However, a total of 6,231 candidates have already been declared winners unopposed in the first phase, as only one candidate was left in each of those posts after withdrawal and rejection of nomination papers.

    So, the elections were held for 9,819 posts, 7,303 panchayat members, 1,117 mukhiyas, 1,256 panchayat committee members and 143 Zilla Parishad members. The other three phases of the elections will be held on May 19, 24 and 27.

    Meanwhile, re-polling in 26 booths across eight districts passed off peacefully on Monday with 59.14 per cent voter turnout, Prasad said. The SEC had received complaints regarding ballot paper errors from several booths during the polling on Saturday.

  • Preparations complete for Bihar MLC polls in 24 seats on April 4

    By Express News Service

    PATNA: Elaborate security arrangements have been made for the election to be held in 24 local authorities constituencies of the Bihar legislative council on April 4.

    The voting will start at 8 am on 534 polling booths and conclude at 4 pm. Around 1,34,106 electors will decide the fate of 186 contestants in the fray.  The counting of polled votes will be conducted on April 7.The campaigning came to an end at 4 pm on Saturday. The polling process has to be completed by April 11 as per the instructions issued by the state election commission on March 2.

    The highest 14 candidates are in the fray from Saharsa-Madhepura-Supaul constituency followed by Munger-Jamui-Lakhisarai-Sheikhpura (13), Katihar (08),Bhagalpur-Banka (07) and Purnea-Araria-Kishanganj (07), respectively.

    While BJP is contesting 12 seats, its ally JDU on 11 and one seat has been left for Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP) of union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras.

    While RJD, on the other side, has fielded candidates in 23 seats, one seat has been offered to its left ally-CPI. Mukesh Sahani led Viakssheel Insaan Party has fielded candidates in seven seats.

    Sahani was sacked from the Nitish Kumar cabinet following political differences with BJP early this week. What has come as a severe jolt to the BJP is that Sahani declared to extend his support to the seats being contested by the JDU.

    Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) led by Chirag Paswan is also trying its luck in the election. The RJD’s old ally Congress is also contesting the election solo. The grand old party has fielded 15 candidates. The alliance with the RJD discontinued ever since the RJD and the Congress contested by-polls to Kusheshwar Asthan and Tarapur assembly seat held last year.

    In 2015, when sitting MLCs were elected to legislative council, JDU and RJD were a part of Grand Alliance (GA). The JDU broke out from GA in 2017 and formed the government with BJP. 

  • Dynasts ignored problems of Muslim women, seasonal politicians will go back after March 10: PM in UP

    Addressing rallies in Barabanki and Kaushambi, he trained his guns at the Samajwadi Party, accusing it of doing everything to protect those accused of terror activities.

  • Case against Akhilesh for violation of poll code

    By PTI

    ETAWAH: A case for the violation of the election code has been registered against Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav as he spoke to the media inside a polling centre when voting was in progress, an official said on Monday.

    District Magistrate Shruti Singh said on Sunday when polling was in progress at a polling centre in Abhinav School of Saifai, Yadav spoke to reporters, the video of which surfaced on social media.

    The Saifai SDM and the Circle Officer were asked to probe the matter.

    On being finding it true and considering it a violation of the model code of conduct, a case was registered at the Saifai police station, she said.

  • Lakshmi does not ride bicycle or elephant, visits people on lotus: Rajnath Singh

    By PTI

    AMETHI: Goddess Lakshmi does not visit people on a bicycle or an elephant but goes around sitting in a lotus, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said here on Sunday, seeking to link peoples’ prosperity and state’s development with the BJP’s poll symbol.

    Addressing an election rally in Jagdishpur near here, Singh said only the BJP is the true well-wisher of the poor and the weak.

    “Goddess Lakshmi never goes to anyone’s house riding a cycle or an elephant or on (someone’s) hand. Goddess Lakshmi visits people only sitting on a lotus,” said Singh.

    “The PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi, Ujjwala Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana are the indicators of goddess Lakshmi’s arrival,” he added.

    The defence minister said even international agencies have said only the BJP is running a good government in India. The BJP has fulfilled whatever promises it had made, he added.

    Attacking the Samajwadi Party, he said, “Socialism (Samajwad) has not even touched the Samajwadi Party. Socialism makes the society free from the fear and crime which is what the BJP is doing,” he said.

    Without naming any political party, he said, “Had the previous governments honestly fulfilled their announcements, our country would not have lagged. They have breached the trust of the people. But will not break the faith that the people have reposed in us. The country is moving ahead at a fast pace today,” the defence minister said.

    The defence minister said with the co-operation of Russia, AK-203 rifles and missiles will now be made in Amethi. The weapons for our armed forces are now being made in the country, he added.

    Amethi will go to the polls on February 27 in the fifth phase of the seven-phase UP assembly elections.

  • Shah takes jibe at SP over Mulayam taking part in poll campaigning

    By PTI

    MAINPURI: Addressing a rally in the SP stronghold of Karhal, from where its president Akhilesh Yadav is contesting the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, Union Home Minister Amit Shah took potshots at the party on Thursday for bringing veteran leader Mulayam Singh Yadav for campaigning.

    Accusing Akhilesh Yadav of indulging in dynastic politics, he said the previous SP government in Uttar Pradesh had 45 members from his family.

    “I had heard Akhilesh Yadav say on television that he would now come to Karhal only on March 10 (the day the poll results are scheduled to be announced). But he came here six days later and under this scorching sun, also had to bring Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav). When the beginning is like this, what will be the end result?” Shah asked.

    Incidentally, Samajwadi Party (SP) patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav made his first appearance in the ongoing election process on Thursday, addressing a meeting for his son Akhilesh Yadav at a distance of only about three kilometres from the venue of Shah’s rally.

    The home minister told the voters if they want the BJP to win 300 seats in Uttar Pradesh, then it can be achieved through an electoral victory in Karhal, from where the saffron party has fielded Union minister S P Singh Baghel.

    “Only one seat can do the work of 300 seats. Make the ‘kamal’ (lotus, BJP’s poll symbol) win in Karhal and the SP will be wiped out from the state,” he said.

    Shah said Baghel holds an important position in the Union council of ministers.

    “He is a big leader of the Baghels. When he joined the BJP, he did so after leaving power. We made him the president of the (party’s) OBC morcha. He contested the (Lok Sabha) election and won. (Prime Minister Narendra) Modiji made him a minister and there was no need for him to contest the Assembly polls. But he said he does not want Uttar Pradesh to be run by gangsters again,” he said.

    The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said once again a government that works for the welfare of the poor, backward classes, Dalits and farmers has to be installed in the state and hence, Baghel has been fielded in the ongoing polls.

    Hitting out at the SP, Shah alleged that the party ruled Uttar Pradesh for a long time but did nothing for the poor, whereas, on coming to power in 2014, Modi had said the BJP government is a government for the poor and backward sections of the society and has worked in this direction since then.

    Talking about the welfare schemes initiated by the saffron party’s governments at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh, he took a swipe at Akhilesh Yadav for initially rejecting the COVID-19 vaccines as “BJP vaccines” and then taking the jab 10 days later “out of fear”.

    “Had you not taken the vaccine going by his words, would you have been safe during the third wave (of the pandemic)?” Shah asked the gathering.

    “Modi is the son of a tea seller and understands the pain of the poor,” he said, adding that the prime minister introduced the Ayushman Bharat scheme for the health of poor people.

    “The SP describes itself as a party of the poor, but its ‘S’ means ‘sampatti ikattha’ (amassing wealth) and ‘P’ means ‘pariwarwad’ (dynasty). In its government, one family of Akhilesh Yadav had occupied 45 posts. They think only about their family, not even for their own caste (Yadavs) or the backward sections of the society,” the Union home minister said, while pointing out that Modi has given the slogan of “sabka sath, sabka vikas” for the welfare of all.

    Claiming massive improvement on the law-and-order front in Uttar Pradesh, Shah asked the gathering whether they were ever troubled by “bahubalis” (musclemen) since the BJP government came to power in the state.

    “Where is Azam Khan, Atiq Ahmed and Mukhtar Ansari? Will they remain in jail if an SP government is formed? The very next day, they will come out to see ‘gaana-bajana’ at the Saifai Mahotsav. Decide where you want to keep them. Under the government of Narendra Modi, there is no bahubali, only Bajrangbali in Uttar Pradesh,” he said.

    “We have fielded SP Singh Baghel after proper thinking to ensure that the mantra of ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas’ reaches the last man. Ensure Baghel’s victory and I guarantee that all the backward classes will get proper participation,” Shah added.

    Referring to Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati as “bua-bhatija”, he asserted that only the BJP can keep the country safe.

    Addressing another rally in neighbouring Firozabad, Shah claimed that the SP has lost the ongoing election after the first two rounds of polling itself, adding that Akhilesh Yadav follows the mantra of “collecting money and going on a vacation” while that of the BJP is using funds for the welfare of people.

  • Unexcited & confused, goans face yet another poll

    Express News Service

    PANAJI: Goans are concerned over high unemployment rate, plight of farmers, degradation of environment and decline in tourism business, which is the backbone of this coastal state. Amid all these worries, the voters don’t seem to be excited about the Assembly polls.

    Twenty-one-year-old Darren Khadekar, a resident of Sana Cruz, has been waiting for a decent job after completing Masters. “I applied at several places but received no reply. I am getting gig jobs from companies like Amazon, Swiggy and Zomato. The problem with these jobs is that they don’t pay much and also requires you to have a motorcycle. I lost my father and we are three siblings. My mother is struggling to run the house.”

    The youth said the Revolutionary Goan Party (RGP) is “fighting for the sons of the soil”. The RGP is attracting a lot of youth. It is like Shiv Sena. I have a lot of hope for this party (RGP),” he added.  The private think-tank Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) recently released a report, according to which the 22.1% unemployment rate in Goa is the second-highest after Haryana (28.1%). 

    Darren’s mother, Anna Gracious, who calls herself a social activist, is not only worried about her three children’s future but also about degradation of Goa’s environment.  “Goa is such a beautiful state, but see what the incumbent BJP government has done. It’s converting the tree-dense land into a concrete jungle. I am not sure where this will lead us to,” Gracious said.

    She also pointed out the decline in tourist footfalls. “Due to rising rape and assault cases, foreign tourists are not much flocking here. We are confused about whom to vote. Even if we vote for a secular party, at the end, the BJP is going to grab power,” she rued.

    Teodoro Gonslavas, a farmer near Panaji, said the government has good schemes but the problem lies in their implementation. Pointing out at the scheme that provides tractor for tilling to farmers, he said the government tractors never come on time. “If we decide to hire from private parties, they charge almost triple.”

    Arvind Bhatkar, a resident of Calangute, wondered who is going to solve the issues.  “Whenever election approaches, people start raising various problems. Once the election is over, people stop talking about them. BJP government was doing a good job but at local level, we support the Congress candidate because he is a good man. Bhatkar said government should ensure their schemes reached people.

  • 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’.

  • Samajwadi Party govt tried to withdraw cases against terrorists: Nadda

    In another incident, a CRPF camp in Rampur was attacked, in which seven soldiers were killed.

  • UP polls: Mayawati kicks off BSP campaign from Agra, says BJP, SP and Cong ‘anti-Dalit’

    By PTI

    AGRA: BSP chief Mayawati on Wednesday hit out at BJP, SP and Congress for not doing enough for Dalits and asserted that her party has a track record of working for all sections of society as she launched her party’s campaign for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.

    Terming the rival parties “anti-Dalit”, she said though they make various promises in their manifestos ahead of polls, they forget about them after coming to power.

    Mayawati, who has been conspicuous by her absence from the high-octane campaigning in the state, also said she has been living in Lucknow for a year and working to rebuild the BSP.

    She said some “casteist media groups” are trying to demoralise BSP supporters by saying that their party leaders are missing on the ground.

    The BSP is contesting all 403 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh. The party has declared names of candidates for the majority of the seats. Targeting the ruling BJP, Mayawati said the party is pursuing the “narrow-minded agendas” of the RSS.

    “Their (BJP) policies are focused on promoting casteist, capitalist, and narrow-minded agendas of the RSS. This has resulted in an environment of religious tension and hate in the state,” she said.

    “People from Dalit and backward communities have not benefitted from the BJP government’s policies, including reservation in government jobs, because it has involved the private sector in most of its projects,” she added.

    “The upper caste also feels neglected under the BJP. The government’s policies have led to price rise and an increased number of people living in poverty. “It appears that the fuel prices will be increased once the elections are over. Youngsters from the state are forced to migrate due to the lack of employment opportunities,” Mayawati said.

    ALSO READ: UP elections: Mayawati launches attack on SP, Congress and BJP in first poll rally in Agra

    The BSP chief claimed the migrants who returned to the state during Covid pandemic were forced to go back due to the lack of employment opportunities in the state. She said the common people in Uttar Pradesh have only suffered under the rule of BJP, Congress, and Samajwadi Party.

    “The BSP, which has worked for the upliftment of people from all sections of society, is the only alternative for good governance,” she added. Mayawati also accused the SP of adopting a “step-motherly” approach towards Dalits and most backward sections of society.

    “After coming to power (in 2012), the SP changed names of districts we had christened after Dalit icons,” she said. “When a bill on reservation in promotion for Dalit officers was brought in Parliament, the SP tore it and did not allow it to get approved,” she claimed.

    The BSP chief said criminals and the mafia flourished under the SP government. The Muzaffarnagar riots also took place during the SP’s tenure.

    Mayawati attacked the Congress over its “hostile” attitude towards Dalits, alleging that its government had denied the Bharat Ratna to B R Ambedkar, who is considered the architect of the Indian Constitution, and to Dalit icon Kanshi Ram.

    ALSO READ: BJP, Samajwadi Party giving casteist colour to Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls: BSP chief Mayawati

    “They (Congress) also did not implement the Mandal Commission report on reservation in government jobs. After a prolonged struggle, the BSP got it implemented when the V P Singh government was in power,” she said.

    Mayawati also targeted the media for building the narrative that BSP leaders were absent on the ground.

     “Some casteist media groups have tried to demoralise our supporters by saying that BSP leaders are missing and not moving anywhere.  I have been living in Lucknow for the last year and have worked to build the party again in Uttar Pradesh. I want to tell the media that I have been busy with election work all this time and the BSP will return with a majority in Uttar Pradesh,” she said.

    Rival parties had on several occasions ruled the BSP “out of the race”. However, Mayawati hit back at them saying they would be proved wrong as had happened in 2007.

    The BSP came to power with a majority in Uttar Pradesh in 2007, proving pre-poll predictions wrong. Mayawati became the chief minister for the fourth time that year.