News Analysis India

Tag: Samajwadi Party

  • There was ‘bahubali’ in every district under SP, but it is ‘Bajrangbali’ now: Shah

    By PTI

    ALIGARH/BUDAUN: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday targeted Samajwadi Party, saying if Akhilesh Yadav becomes the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, his government will show “red light” to development and green light to “mafia and musclemen”.

    “There was ‘Bahubali’ (musclemen) in every district under the previous regime, but in the present Yogi Adityanath’s regime, there is no such mafia. There is only ‘Bajrangbali’ now,” the BJP leader said addressing election rallies.

    Referring to the BJP’s poll symbol he said, “Goddess Lakshmi entered every household with the lotus and referred to welfare measures taken by the government, especially during the Covid pandemic.”

    Shah warned the voters that if the “mafia rule” returns in Uttar Pradesh, “industries will go”. 

    “If you search for the mafia, you can see it at three places in UP – they are visible in jail, second outside UP and third you will see in the list of candidates of Samajwadi Party,” he said.

    The BJP leader also accused the SP, BSP and the Congress of opposing the abrogation of Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, for their “vote bank” politics.

    “Had SP, BSP, Congress been in power, would they have withdrawn Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir? When Modi ji became PM for the second time, he withdrew it (Article 30) on August 5, 2019. Akhilesh Yadav was against it. Why do you do such vote bank politics?” he said.

    “He (Akhilesh) stood in front of me and said due to the decision (revoking Article 370) ‘khoon ki nadiya bahengi’ (rivers of blood will flow) but Akhilesh Babu leave that river of blood, no one had the courage to throw even a ‘kankad’ (stone),” Shah said, asserting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has secured the nation.

    He was addressing rallies in Atrauli, Aligarh, where Sandeep Singh, former UP CM Kalyan Singh’s grandson, is the party candidate and in Badaun. 

    “Akhilesh government will show red light to development and green light to the mafia and ‘bahubali’ (musclemen)”, Shah said, asking the people whether they wanted “red-light, green-light” government.

    ALSO READ: Goons, mafia of UP have fled, are in jail or appear in Samajwadi Party’s list of candidates: Amit Shah

    The SP flag has red and green colours. “For the 15 crore people of UP, this is not only the lotus flower but also mother Lakshmi, Ma Annpurna, which came to their houses. Modi fed their children for two years,” he said.

    He said that if “mafia rule” again comes into the state, people will hesitate to invest in the defence corridor in Aligarh, announced by Prime Minister Modi in 2018. Shah asserted that the general elections in 2014 and 2019 and the assembly polls in 2017 were for “changing the fortune (kismat) of Uttar Pradesh”.

    He said the SP and the BSP “gripped with casteist thinking” could never do any good for the state.

    “During SP and BSP rule, goondas (criminals) used to harass people and police used to run away from them, but under (CM) Yogi Adityanath regime, criminals and mafias are migrating out of the state,” he said.

    Shah alleged that the SP, the BSP, and the Congress cannot rule in a “transparent and corruption-free” manner “Only the BJP and lotus symbol could give corruption-free government under the leadership of Modi,” he said Polling will be held in Atrauli on February 10 in the first phase. BJP stalwart Kalyan Singh had represented this seat many times.

    On his relations with Kalyan Singh, Shah said, “In 2013, when I was sent as the in-charge of UP, I had visited Lucknow and Varanasi. I sought time from ‘Babuji’ (Kalyan Singh), he invited me for food at home and like a father held my finger and taught me about Uttar Pradesh politics. Kalyan Singh was the person who first talked about giving the backward society its due right,” he said.

    The Union home minister said for ‘Ramjanmbhoomi’, Kalyan Singh had resigned as the chief minister and “our PM (Modi) has laid the foundation of Ram temple”.

    Shah urged the people to once again vote the Yogi Adityanath government to power and also ensure the victory of Sandeep Singh. 

    ALSO READ: UP polls: Voting for SP-RLD alliance will lead to ‘reign of terror’, cautions Amit Shah

    Alleging that Akhilesh Yadav misled the people on the Covid vaccine, Shah said, “He used to say it’s BJP’s vaccine, I will not take it.vHe misled the people of UP and the country.vHe, however, out of fear took the vaccine himself. Had you all not taken the vaccine, would you be able to save yourself in the third wave? Narendra Modi secured 130 core people by getting them vaccinated,” he said.

    Shah also hit out at Congress, saying when there was “Sonia-Manmohan” government at the Centre, anyone used to enter India from Pakistan and cut off the heads of soldiers and the prime minister at that time would not react. “‘Mauni baba’ (Manmohan Singh) used to remain silent.

    “When the Modi government came, Pakistan-sponsored terrorists did not know that the government changed. When they attacked in Uri and Pulwama, within 10 days there was a surgical strike and terrorists were eliminated inside Pakistan,” he said.

    Taking a jibe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Shah said he did not know about Kharif and Rabi crops and ”if someone would tell him to talk about potato growers in Aligarh he would say he will open a potato factory here.” 

    “Can a person who does not know that a potato is grown in a field and not a factory resolve problems of farmers,” he said.

    Refuting Akhilesh Ýadav’s claim of bad law and order in the state, Shah said as compared to the previous regime, dacoity cases have been reduced by 70 percent, loot by 69 percent, murder by 29 percent, kidnapping by 35 percent, and rape by 30 percent.

    He said people like Azam Khan, Atiq Ahmad, and Mukhtar Ansari, who are seen with Akhilesh Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav, are in jail.

  • Uttar Pradesh polls: Akhilesh Yadav has family assets worth over Rs 40 crore

    By PTI

    MANIPURI: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, his wife Dimple, and their daughter own assets worth over Rs 40.14 crore, while the couple does not have any vehicle, according to the poll affidavit of the former chief minister.

    Yadav’s rival candidate from the Karhal assembly constituency, the BJP’s SP Singh Baghel, has declared family assets worth Rs 8.75 crore.

    The SP chief’s affidavit also reveals that he owns an exercise machine worth over Rs 5.34 lakh and a phone costing Rs 76,015.

    Yadav, who filed his nomination papers from the Karhal assembly constituency in Mainpuri district on Monday, does not own any firearm, while Baghel has a rifle and a revolver.

    As per the election affidavits of the two leaders, the gross value of assets of Yadav, his wife, and daughter Aditi stands at over Rs 40.14 crore, as compared to over Rs 8.75 crore of SP Singh Baghel and his family — wife Madhu and son Parth.

    Dimple Yadav has a computer worth Rs 1.25 lakh, gold ornaments weighing over 2,774 grams, and diamonds worth Rs 59,76,687, the affidavit said. The Yadav couple does not own any vehicle, according to the affidavit.

    ALSO READ: BJP one short of hitting ‘century’ of candidates facing criminal cases: SP chief Akhilesh Yadav

    The total movable assets of Yadav are worth more than Rs 8.43 crore, while that of Dimple is over Rs 4.76 crore.

    The family’s movable assets are worth over Rs 13.30 crore. Yadav has immovable assets worth over Rs 17.22 crore, while Dimple has immovable assets worth over Rs 9.61 crore. The total worth of their immovable assets is over Rs 26.83 crore. The SP chief has a liability of over Rs 28.97 lakh, while his wife has a liability of Rs over 14.26 lakh.

    As per the election affidavit, Yadav has loaned more than Rs 2.13 crore to his father Mulayam Singh Yadav; while Dimple has given over Rs 8.15 lakh to her husband.

    The total movable assets of SP Singh Baghel (and his wife and son) stand at over Rs 84 lakh — Rs 45.94 lakh belongs to Baghel, over Rs 25.91 lakh to Madhu, and more than Rs 12.14 lakh to Parth.

    ALSO READ: Akhilesh Yadav to file nomination from Karhal; says Uttar Pradesh polls to write history of next century

    The total immovable property of the Union minister stands at over Rs 7.91 crore. Currently, the 61-year-old Baghel, who is the Lok Sabha MP from Agra (SC), is the Union Minister of State for Law and Justice.

    Baghel has no liabilities on him, while his wife has a liability of over Rs 63.33 lakh, according to the election affidavit.

    The union minister in his election affidavit has said that he has three cases pending in court against him, while Yadav has one FIR registered against him, and no case is pending against him.

  • After farm reforms, now Yogi invokes ‘blood of Karsevaks’ to attack Akhilesh

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: The Samajwadi Party’s red caps are painted in the blood of victims of Muzaffarnagar riots and ‘karsewaks’ shot dead in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said.

    Attacking the SP in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Adityanath, have been repeatedly targeting the party’s red cap.

    “The red cap of the Samajwadi Party is painted in the blood of victims of Muzaffarnagar riots and karsewaks who were shot in Ayodhya,” Adityanath said while speaking at an event organised by a channel on Saturday evening.

    Addressing a rally in Gorakhpur in December last year, Modi had targeted the SP, saying those in red caps were a “red alert” and “sign of danger” for the state, while Adityanath had in February last year, said every child sees those wearing red caps as “goons”.

    The chief minister said his government has been working to protect the masses and instil a sense of safety among them while ensuring that “criminals feel scared” and surrender before police with folded hands.

    Accusing the previous SP government of neglecting the poor people of the state, the chief minister alleged that the Akhilesh Yadav-led government worked only for a few friends involved in perfume business.

    “They can deny (allegations) but can’t change what is true,” he said.

    “They (SP) never considered Uttar Pradesh and its people as their own. Their views are family-centric and Pakistan-centric. Before 2017, riots used to occur every third day in the state and girls use to fear for their safety. This has changed under the BJP rule,” Adityanath said.

    Claiming that his government has provided a new identity to Uttar Pradesh, he said, “Now businessmen and people are not forced to migrate from the state. Businessmen are now returning to the state and contributing to its development.”

    Reacting to accusations that the BJP government has targeted the people of a particular religion and why over 80 cases were lodged against SP leader Azam Khan, Adityanath said, “Our government has not lodged any politically motivated FIR against anyone.”

    “The cases against Azam Khan are a result of his wrongdoings. If anyone tries to encroach land belonging to the poor and build an institution there, then action will be taken against that person,” he said “Our government has provided benefits to people from every caste and background. In SP, BSP and Congress governments, the leaders use to build their house first. This has changed in our government. We have worked to provide a house to every family in the state,” he said.

    On sugarcane farmers in western Uttar Pradesh, the CM said, “The Samajwadi Party sold several sugar mills at throwaway prices. Our government has not only ensured smooth functioning of sugar mills but have also established new ones. The SP lacks vision for the development of the state.”

    He said the “double engine” government has taken the state to new heights of development in the last five years.

    The term “double engine” is used by BJP leaders to refer to the party being in power at the Centre as well as in a state.

    “The work done by us has given recognition to the state not only in the country but across the world,” he added.

    Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday assured farmers in Uttar Pradesh that in the event of delay in payment of sugarcanes, they will get the money along with interest.

    He said this announcement will be part of the BJP election manifesto.

    “We have decided to announce in the BJP manifesto that in case of delay in clearance of payments, interest will be realised from sugar mills, and farmers will be paid the money along with interest,” Shah said while addressing “matdaatas” (voters) here.

    The minister said farmers in some regions of the state told him about the delay in sugarcane payment.

    Targetting Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav over the farmers issue, Shah said there were 42 sugar mills, of which 21 mills were closed by the SP and BSP.

    “Whereas during our time, none was closed and payments to farmers were made,” he asserted.

    Uttar Pradesh tops in production of sugarcane and the western region of the state is known for cultivating the crop in bulk.

    The opposition parties have been raising the issue of non-payment of cane prices to farmers while attacking the ruling BJP in the state.

    Uttar Pradesh will go to polls in seven phases beginning February 10.

    BJP president J P Nadda on Saturday launched a scathing attack on Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav saying those who never did any good for the farmers are moving around with a handful of grains making pledges.

    His apparent target was Yadav’s ‘ann sankalp’ (food commitment), the Samajwadi Party’s resolve for the welfare of the farmers, a crucial vote bank in the state.

    Akhilesh Yadav has made several promises to the farmers of Uttar Pradesh, including MSP for every crop, free irrigation facilities, payment of arrears to cane-growers in 15 days, interest-free loans, and insurance and pension if his party-led alliance comes to power.

    At a public rally in Etawah, Nadda said, “Those who never did any good for the farmers are today moving around with a handful of grains. Akhilesh Yadav should tell the people of Uttar Pradesh what had done for the farmers during the five years of his rule (2012-2017).”

    “Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the government of Yogi Adityanath waived the worth Rs 36,000 crore loans of 86 lakh farmers. Over 10 crore farmers of the country have got Rs 1.80 lakh crore under the Kisan Samman Nidhi, of which 2.5 crore are from Uttar Pradesh,” the BJP national president said.

    He asserted that Uttar Pradesh was the number one in producing sugarcane, sugar, potato and green peas.

    “In five years, our double engine government has given Rs 1.48 lakh crore to sugarcane farmers, which is more than the payments made during the rule of the SP and BSP. We have also cleared the dues accumulated during the Akhilesh Yadav government.”

    “In the governments of the SP and BSP, 21 sugar mills were shut down, while in our government, three new sugar mills were opened and there has been an expansion of some sugar mills,” Nadda said.

    Sharpening the attack at Akhilesh Yadav, the BJP chief said the Samajwadi Party “sprinkles perfume” while the Yogi Adityanath government work for development.

    He was referring to the ‘Samajwadi perfume’ that was launched by Yadav in November last year with a “hope of spreading the scent of socialism” in the state.

    “Akhilesh Ji, no matter how much perfume you sprinkle to hide the wrongdoings, good smell will not emanate. Of the SP candidates declared some are fighting from jail, while others are on bail.”

    “What is the compulsion that his friendship with the mafia and criminals is still intact,” Nadda wondered, adding, “They cannot break their friendship with the mafia and criminals, because that is the identity of the Samajwadi Party.”

    Training his guns at the Bahujan Samaj Party, the BJP president alleged that if the Mayawati-led party comes to power then there would be “development of a caste.”

    “When the Samajwadi Party comes to power, then along with casteism crime also makes its presence felt. We have during BSP and SP governments that people from one particular caste were selected in recruitment examinations. Our government worked for the welfare of people without any appeasement with a focus on ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikaas (with all, development for all).”

    The BJP national president undertook a house-to-house campaign in Bareilly and offered prayers at the Barha Baagh Hanumaan Mandir, the party said in a statement.

  • ‘We’re sons of farmers, pact  IS rock solid’

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW:  Hitting the battleground in western UP, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav asserted on Friday that his alliance with Rashtriya Lok Dal was ‘rock solid’ following the BJP’s overture to his RLD counterpart Jayant Chaudhary.

    Flanked by Jayant, Akhilesh asserted that the alliance was very much together. “I want to convey to all those who had some misconception that we are together and our alliance is stronger,” he said to a query over the feeler from Union Home Minister Amit Shah to Jayant two days ago.

    “One can understand their desperation. Look at their situation. They are inviting Jayant in the middle of elections,” Akhilesh said, mocking at Shah’s observation that the RLD chief was in a wrong family. Jayant has already ruled out any possibility of a post-poll alliance with the BJP. While rejecting the BJP’s offer, he said that instead of inviting him, the BJP should think of helping those 700 farmer families who lost their kin during the year-long agitation.

    Western UP’s 58 seats, including Muzaffarnagar, will go to polls in the first phase on February 10. The BJP is trying hard to hold the Jat vote given that the community supported it overwhelmingly since the 2014 general elections. It realises the anger among the Jat farmers over the contentious farm laws and the consequent unrest despite the Centre repealing the acts in November last year.

    In Muzaffarnagar, Akhilesh claimed that his alliance with Jayant should be known as the ‘sons of two farmers’. He was responding to a query over the analogy with his alliance with Rahul Gandhi in 2017 and they way it was known as ‘UP ke ladke’ (boys of UP).

    The SP chief, meanwhile, reiterated his promises including 300 units of free electricity to all, free electricity to farmers for irrigation, MSP for every crop, payment of arrears to cane growers in 15 days, a corpus fund for making the payments of cane growers, interest-free loans, insurance and restoration of old pension scheme. He also promised to continue the distribution of free laptop to students like in his previous rule. 

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

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: BSP president Mayawati on Friday accused the BJP and Samajwadi Party of colluding to give a communal and casteist colour to the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. In a tweet, the BSP supremo also cautioned the people against their designs.

    यूपी विधानसभा चुनाव में जिस प्रकार से धर्म व जाति की राजनीति हावी है व मीडिया में भी ऐसी ख़बरें भरी पड़ी रहती हैं उससे ऐसा लगता है कि यह सब सपा व बीजेपी की अन्दरुनी मिलीभगत के तहत ही हो रहा है और वे चुनाव को हिन्दू-मुस्लिम व जातीय नफरती रंग देना चाहती हैं। जनता सतर्क रहे।
    — Mayawati (@Mayawati) January 28, 2022
    “The way religion and caste politics dominate in the UP assembly elections and the media is also full of such news, it seem that all this is happening as SP and BJP are colluding to give the elections colour of hatred on Hindu-Muslim and casteist lines. People need to remain alert,” the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said.

    ALSO READ| BSP releases list of candidates for fourth phase of polls

    Polls in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases beginning February 10.

  • Convinced Akhilesh in ‘three minutes’, says SP candidate with grudge to settle with BJP nominee

    By PTI

    AGRA: It took Roopali Dixit just three minutes to convince the Samajwadi Party chief to give her the ticket to fight the assembly elections from Fatehabad.

    Or so she says. Her pitch to the SP included the mention of the grudge she held against the BJP candidate over a video clip in which he allegedly insulted her father — who is in jail for murder, and the Thakur community.

    While seeking to avenge the “insult”, she said she doesn’t believe in casteism and wants transparent and proper allocation in government schemes for the poor from all communities.

    “I met SP president Akhilesh Yadav and he asked me what I wanted. I said I want to fight against the BJP candidate, Chhotelal Verma, because of the objectionable comment, and I also promise you that I will win this seat,” Dixit, who had earlier tried to get the nomination from the BJP, told PTI.

    The SP apparently dumped the candidate they had picked earlier for the 34-year-old law graduate who also holds two postgraduate degrees from universities in the United Kingdom.

    A graduate from Symbiosis in Pune, she went abroad for an MBA from Cardiff University and an MA in marketing and advertising from University of Leeds.

    Dixit then worked with a multinational firm in Dubai for three years.

    Her father Ashok Dixit, who once fought an election on the SP ticket, is now 75 and in jail since 2007.

    When he, her uncle and three other relatives were sentenced to life imprisonment in 2015 by a Firozabad court for the murder of school teacher Suman Dubey, she decided to quit the MNC job and return.

    Ashok Dixit, once regarded as a “bahubali”, or a muscleman, fought the elections first in 1996 on an SP ticket, and then in 2002 as a Bahujan Samaj Party candidate.

    In 2007, he contested as an independent, before his arrest the same year.

    He lost all three times.

    “After a single call from my father, I came back to India in 2015 to manage my family and its business,” Roopali Dixit said.

    Back home, she studied law and secured a degree to help her father in the case against him.

    She made Fatehabad her ‘karmabhoomi’ to “fulfil my father’s dream”.

    Dixit tried her luck first with the Bharatiya Janata Party. “After my return, I began working for my constituency and meeting people. I also joined the BJP in 2017 and campaigned for its candidate Jitendra Verma, who even won the elections,” she said.

    This time, she tried to get a ticket for herself but the BJP picked a man who she alleged had called her father names.

    “I was very disturbed when the BJP fielded Chhotelal Verma, a former MLA from the Fatehabad seat in this election,” she said.

    “After that, I was determined to teach him a lesson and contest against him to avenge the insult to my father and people of the Thakur community,” she said.

    “After my ticket was finalised for the seat, I have been visiting and meeting my people in every village of the constituency. I aim to bring transparency and provide benefits of government schemes to everyone, whether they support me or not,” she said.

    “In my constituency, girls who want to study in Agra city are not able to travel due to transportation problems. I would solve this issue. I want to encourage youth to be educated and become self-dependent,” she added.

    Stray cattle destroying crops is another problem in the area, she said. “My aim would be to work for all, just as the district collector does. I won’t work as an MLA, I will work as a DM,” she promised.

  • Haj House vs Amar Jawan Jyoti: Samajwadi Party, BJP attack each other ahead of UP polls

    By PTI

    GHAZIABAD: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday took part in a door-to-door campaign in Ghaziabad and launched a scathing attack on the Samajwadi Party, saying while a Haj House was built here earlier, his government constructed the Kailash Mansarovar Bhawan.

    During the day, Adityanath addressed his party workers in Krishna Dental College of Sahibabad and in Saraswati Shishu Mandir in Nehru Nagar, besides the door-to-door campaign in Rajiv Colony of Sahibabad.

    “Earlier Haj House was made in Ghaziabad. Our government constructed Kailash Mansarovar Bhawan. Earlier the mafia used to harass traders, but now no mafia can dare to grab property of any trader, doctor or a poor person,” he said.

    “In the past, ration meant for the poor did not reach them and it would go to Bangladesh through the food grains mafia. But today food grains are reaching the poor and 15 crore people have got it. The ‘double engine’ government is making available a double dose of food grains,” he said, referring to the BJP-led dispensations in the state and at the Centre.

    The Haj House in Ghaziabad was inaugurated in September 2016, while the Kailash Mansarovar Bhawan was inaugurated in December 2020.

    Adityanath also targeted the Samajwadi Party over its promise of providing 300 units of electricity free to domestic consumers, saying that during its rule there was no electricity supply.

    He said the SP was making many promises, knowing well that it would not win the elections.

    “We distributed tablets to the youth and they are saying that they will also give smart phones. They know that they are not going to come to power, hence they are promising anything and everything,” Adityanath said.

    He also targeted SP president Akhilesh Yadav over the pension scheme for the elderly.

    Targeting his opponents over the law and order situation, he said, “There was no coronavirus during SP-BSP governments, but curfew was definitely imposed. There is corona in our time, but there is no curfew. Public life is normal. What was the situation in western Uttar Pradesh before 2017? There was an atmosphere of fear everywhere. At some places, there used to be curfew-like atmosphere in evening.”

    Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases between February 10 and March 7, and the results will be declared on March 10.

    Ghaziabad district will vote in the first phase.

    Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday urged the people to light a flame on the Republic Day in the “memory of Amar Jawan Jyoti”, days after its merger with the eternal flame at the National War Memorial.

    In a tweet in Hindi, Akhilesh Yadav said, “In the memory of ‘Amar Jawan Jyoti’, this time on January 26, let us all light a flame at our own level and together raise one voice of one country. (We) will take a pledge on January 26, and will light the Amar Jawan Jyoti once again. Those whose names are not registered in the country’s history, they want to change the history.”

    In a short ceremony on Friday afternoon, a part of the Amar Jawan Jyoti flame at the India Gate was taken and merged with the eternal flame at the National War Memorial (NWM) 400 metres away.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on February 25, 2019, inaugurated the NWM, where names of 25,942 soldiers have been inscribed in golden letters on granite tablets.

    After India defeated Pakistan in the 1971 war, the Amar Jawan Jyoti was constructed as a memorial to Indian soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice.

    It was inaugurated by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi, on January 26, 1972.

    Union minister and BJP leader Anurag Thakur on Sunday targeted the Samajwadi Party over its promise of providing 300 units of electricity free to domestic consumers, saying under the party-led government power cables were used to hang clothes to dry.

    The Union Information and Broadcasting Minister took part in a party campaign in Hazratganj area of the state capital.

    “Getting electricity for 300 hours a month was difficult in his regime, but now he is talking about giving 300 units of free electricity. This raises doubts,” he said, targeting SP president Akhilesh Yadav.

    Power cables were used to hang clothes during the previous SP regime, he said.

    “This is not the new SP, this is the same SP. This is the same SP which the people fear. A person who has given rule of criminals and mafia and corruption to the state, how can the people believe him?” Thakur said.

    He alleged that the SP chief would again blame the electronic voting machines when the poll results are declared.

    He said the SP has fielded people with criminal records in this election.

    Some of the SP candidates are in jail and some others are out on bail, he added.

    “Under the SP government, women felt insecure. But in the five years of the government of Yogi Adityanath, the safety of women has been given top priority. This is the reason Aparna Yadav (of SP), Aditi Singh and Priyanka Maurya (both from the Congress) joined the BJP. The women of the state feel secure in the BJP,” Thakur said.

    “The opposition is making continuous efforts to instigate the public by banking on caste equations and trivial politics. In making such efforts, they were unsuccessful in 2017 and the people are going to reject the Samajwadi Party completely in 2022,” he said.

    Thakur said, “Their (SP) IT cell means ‘Income from Terror’. It has criminals like Atiq (Ahmed) and Nahid Hasan. It was because of them that industrialists, traders and the common people had to undertake an exodus from the state.”

    Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases between February 10 and March 7, and the results will be declared on March 10.

  • UP Assembly Polls: SP writes to EC seeking a ban on opinion polls by TV channels

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: The opinion polls being aired by various news channels seem to have unnerved the Samajwadi Party (SP) which, on Sunday, shot off a letter to the Election Commission of India (ECI) seeking an immediate ban on opinion polls.

    Writing the letter to the ECI and marking it to the UP Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), SP State chief Naresh Uttam Patel said that the opinion polls should be banned immediately as they were misleading the electorate.

    Patel wrote that after the notification of the poll dates on January 8 and the nomination for Phase I already over, “the opinion polls being aired by several television news channels are misleading the voters and the elections are getting affected.”

    “At the same time, it is also an open violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) for elections…So for free, fair, fearless polls, it is necessary to ban opinion polls on television news channels with an immediate effect,” he wrote.

    According to Samajwadi Party spokesperson Abdul Hafiz Gandhi, there is no point in having an election, if TV channels are issuing verdicts like this that might affect voters’ mindset.  “The opinion polls must be banned so as to make it a level playing field for all the political players,” he said adding that the history of opinion polls was there before everyone as they have turned so wrong many a times. “Even the credibility of such survey is a dispute,” he said.

    “Who conducts these surveys. I have yet to come across any surveyor of any such opinion polls. Moreover, the sample size also matters a lot. If a small chunk of the population is surveyed, how it could convey the sentiment of the majority. Surveys must be banned,” said a senior SP leader.

  • UP polls: Shivpal Singh Yadav to contest from Jaswant Nagar

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: Shivpal Singh Yadav will contest the assembly election from Jaswant Nagar in Uttar Pradesh as a candidate of the Samajwadi Party-Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) alliance.

    Jaswant Nagar in Etawah district will vote in the third phase on February 20.

    Yadav, who heads the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia), currently represents the constituency in the assembly.

    In a tweet in Hindi, the Samajwadi Party said, “Shivpal Singh Yadav ji will be the candidate of SP and PSP alliance from Jaswant Nagar assembly seat of Etawah.”

    Shivpal Singh Yadav had got into a tussle with his nephew and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav and formed the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) before the last assembly polls in 2017.

    In december last, they announced an alliance for the assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh to be held in seven phases between February 10 and March 7.

    The results will be announced on March 10.

  • Ahead of Congress’ manifesto launch, SP extends ‘support’ to Imran Masood

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: The Samajwadi Party on Thursday said former Congress leader Imran Masood has extended support to it, amid reports of his resentment with the party after the ‘denial’ of ticket from the Saharanpur’s Nakud seat.

    “Former senior leader Congress Imran Masood has given support to the SP with his supporters,” the party tweeted on Thursday.

    The SP also shared Masood’s with party chief Akhilesh Yadav.

    Masood has been demanding that he be fielded from the Nakud seat but according to party sources, former UP minister Dharam Pal Saini, who recently joined the SP after quitting the ruling BJP, is likely to be fielded from there.

    A purported video of Masood had recently surfaced on social media, in which he is being seen saying that he was “treated like a dog, made to touch feet”.

    Masood is a known Muslim face in western UP.

    Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will on Friday release the party’s youth manifesto for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

    Both leaders will address a special press conference at the party’s headquarters.

    This is one of the rare occasions when both leaders of the Congress Party will be jointly addressing the media.

    The party is going to the polls with youth and women in focus and has announced that it will reserve 40 per cent of tickets for women in Uttar Pradesh.