News Analysis India

Tag: UP assembly elections

  • Rakesh Tikait urges people to camp near counting centres in UP, claims irregularities can take place

    By PTI

    BAGHPAT: Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait on Wednesday urged people to come on tractors and camp near counting centres in Uttar Pradesh, claiming “irregularities” could take place.

    Counting of votes for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections will take place on March 10.

    “What was done in the zila panchayat (elections) cannot be ignored. Reach the counting centres a day before the counting is taken up and camp with tractors at the counting sites from March 9 itself,” Tikait told reporters in Baraut in Baghpat.

    He also asked people to reach with beddings a day ahead as they will not be allowed to go there on March 10.

    During the zila panchayat polls held in the state last year, opposition parties had alleged large scale irregularities.

    Attacking the government, Tikait said that the dues of sugarcane farmers in this area had not been paid for a year but in view of elections, pending payments were cleared in 10 to 15 days.

    “I mean, the government can get payments made whenever it wants. If elections are held every year, then payment of sugarcane (farmers) can also be made every year,” he said.

    Slamming the BJP government at the Centre, he said it is looking for votes even in the Ukrainian crisis by making students returning from there give statements on the evacuation operation.

    “Those who give statements in favour of the government are being shown and those who are telling the reality are not being shown. The elections are more important for the Indian government, are children of India not dear to them. (They are) Looking for votes in a war,” Tikait alleged.

  • ‘Dumdaar sarkar’ must for development of UP, only BJP can guarantee it: Yogi Adityanath

    By PTI

    GORAKHPUR/SIDHARTHNAGAR/BALRAMPUR: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday said a ‘dumdaar sarkar’ (strong government) was a must for the all-round development of the state and only a BJP-led dispensation could guarantee it to the people.

    “Yogi will do everything to make your life easier under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Adityanath said, asserting that he will work for the welfare of all.

    On governments led by other parties, he said the people have been a witness to the workings of three governments led by the Samajwadi Party (SP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the BJP.

    “You must have noticed the difference (among these dispensations). The previous governments failed to provide safety and security to people, risked youths’ lives and looted money meant for development,” the chief minister claimed.

    “Their governance was extremely poor. Whereas we have ensured safety and security of every citizen while carrying out development programmes as well as welfare schemes for the poor and the needy with total transparency. They provided power after looking at people’s faces, while we provide electricity to everyone,” he said.

    Adityanath said his government provided 5 lakh government jobs in the last five years, and if it is elected again, it would give a job to every family.

    He said none of the earlier governments would have built a Ram temple in Ayodhya which was pending for five centuries.

    Continuing his attack against the SP in Siddharthnagar’s Kapilvastu and Domariyaganj constituencies, Adityanath accused the party of sheltering criminals and goons.

    “The SP blatantly supports criminals. It is evident from the fact that the SP leaders visit houses of murderers and not of victims. They do not care about the sufferings of the people,” the chief minister claimed.

    He said his government has made the state safer while ensuring its development and asserted that women and daughters are blessing the BJP in abundance.

    Adityanath greeted the people on the occasion of Maha Shivratri and compared the current situation with that prevailing five years ago, claiming that only riots took place in the past.

    “There are no riots today, only ‘Kanwar Yatra’ passes through the state with chants of ‘Har Har Bum Bum’,” he added.

    The chief minister alleged that for the Samajwadi Party development meant building boundaries of cemeteries but development for the BJP government it meant providing water, power, ration etc at the doorsteps of people.

    “We’ll give smartphones and tablets to two crore youths,” he said.

    Addressing rallies in Tulsipur and Utraula assembly seats of Balrampur, Adityanath said the district was the ‘karmbhoomi’ of the former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and it was touching new heights of development under the BJP government.

    Attacking the SP, he alleged, “The sentiments of our government are with every section of the society but the Samajwadi Party’s support base comprises terrorists.”

    Bulldozers are being used to construct roads as well as to extort money from mafias, he said, adding that when leaders of the SP and the BSP hear about bulldozers they panick.

    “They (opposition) have already made arrangements for their foreign escape on March 11. They have booked their tickets because they know the result. Some (will flee) to England, some to Australia, and the remaining to Nepal,” he claimed, adding that patrolling has been increased on Nepal border and they would not be able to escape.

  • EC orders re-polling at polling station in Handia Assembly segment in UP’s Prayagraj

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: The Election Commission (EC) on Tuesday ordered re-polling at the Manikpur primary school polling station of Handia Assembly constituency in Prayagraj district of Uttar Pradesh.

    The re-polling will take place from 7 am to 6 pm on Thursday (March 3), Chief Electoral Officer of the state Ajay Kumar Shukla said in a statement.

    The commission has ordered re-polling at polling station number 311 — Manikpur Handiya primary school — where polling was held on Sunday, the statement said.

    The decision was taken after certain important documents went missing from the polling station after the conclusion of polling, it added.

  • BSP’s list of candidates for UP polls resembles ‘Muslim league’, says Adityanath

    By PTI

    GORAKHPUR/DEORIA: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday accused the opposition of playing politics of “appeasement” and alleged that the Bahujan Samaj Party’s list of candidates for the state polls resembled a “Muslim league”.

    Addressing a series of meetings in the poll-bound state, he said the opposition parties are spreading hatred among communities to increase their votebank.

    “While the Samajwadi Party’s (SP) candidate list gives a clear message that the party is not ready to leave criminals, goons and rioters, the Bahujan Samaj Party’s (BSP) list of candidates resembles a ‘Muslim league’. This proves that they will not give equal representation to all sections and regions,” he said during public meetings at Pathardeva, Salempur and Rudrapur assembly constituencies in Deoria.

    Targeting the alleged appeasement policy of the Samajwadi Party, Adityanath said under the earlier regime, electricity was provided on the occasions of Eid-Bakrid, while there were power cuts during Holi and Deepawali in the state.

    “For the first time, government schemes are reaching every individual in the state under the BJP government,” he said.

    The chief minister further said people have rejected the “hardcore dynasts” and ‘lotus’ (BJP election symbol) is sure to bloom at every booth of Gorakhpur.

    Addressing an election rally in Pipraich assembly constituency, he termed it as “futile” to trust the opportunist leaders who keep changing friends with every election, referring to SP-BSP and SP-Congress alliances in earlier elections in the state.

    “Our government’s sentiments are with every section of the society, but SP’s support base is with terrorists. The previous Samajwadi Party government was the first to withdraw terror cases,” he alleged.

    Claiming that all-around development has been done by his government in the state, the BJP leader said, “If our double engine government comes to power again, all women of over 60 years of age can travel for free in state-run buses.”

    He also emphasised the fact that no riots took place in the state under his governance, nor did women or businessmen suffered harassment.

    “We did what we said. We also promise to provide government jobs or employment to one youth of every family in the next five years,” he added.

    At another election meeting in Deoria, Adityanath accused the opposition parties of “doing politics of appeasement and spreading hatred among communities to increase their votebank”, adding that their candidate lists reflect their “vested interests”.

    Reiterating that SP and BSP’s rule was synonymous with anarchy, terror and hooliganism, he said, “Whenever they (SP, BSP) ruled, riots took place. No riots took place in the last five years, while 700 riots took place during SP government and 364 riots during BSP’s rule.”

    The Uttar Pradesh chief minister added that the BJP has attained an inaccessible lead in the first five phases of the ongoing assembly polls and the party is poised well to hit a ‘sixer’ in the final phases to romp home with 300-plus seats.

  • UP polls: Akhilesh Yadav as CM protected terrorists, alleges Nadda

    By PTI

    MIRZAPUR/JAUNPUR: BJP president J P Nadda on Monday alleged that Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav protected terrorists during his tenure as the CM of Uttar Pradesh, which is witnessing a rule of law today.

    After 2017, the BJP government has taken strict action against such elements, he said.

    “It is the rule of law in the state now and not that of a family or an individual,” Nadda said addressing an election rally in Mirzapur.

    “Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, during his tenure as the (Uttar Pradesh) chief minister, used to give protection to terrorists, withdraw cases against them and embrace them,” Nadda alleged.

    The BJP president also accused Yadav of instigating people by calling the Covid vaccine as the “BJP vaccine”.

    However, he did not stop from taking the jab when needed, Nadda said.

    In Jaunpur, the BJP president claimed, “The leaders of no party other than the BJP have the courage to go among people with the report card of their work as they have done what they had promised.”

    “If there is any party that cares for the poor, underprivileged, oppressed, exploited, women, youth and farmers, it is the BJP,” he said.

    The BJP president also elaborated on the development work undertaken in the area during the BJP government and spoke about various welfare schemes while seeking support for NDA candidates in Mirzapur and Jaunpur in the ongoing Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.

  • BJP not against any dynasty but my family: Priyanka Gandhi

    By PTI

    KUSHINAGAR: On a day Prime Minister Narendra Modi targeted political “dynasts” during electioneering in Uttar Pradesh, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday said the BJP was only against her family, which has not bowed down to it.

    The Congress general secretary’s sharp rebuttal came during an election programme in the Tamkuhi Raj area of Kushinagar district where she campaigned for her party candidates ahead of the March 3 assembly polls.

    In his speech in Maharajganj, PM Modi had called out “ghor pariwarvadis” (staunch dynasts) in an attack aimed at the Samajwadi Party.

    In the same speech, Modi gave several examples to stress “how dynasts cared only for their family interests” while the BJP worked for the welfare of the poor and deprived sections of the society.

    While addressing an election rally in Kushinagar, Priyanka Gandhi said, “They talk of the dynasty when all the children of politicians have moved to their own party! Which dynasty were they against or abstaining from?” 

    “They were against only my family because my family will never bow down to them. They know this that even if they kill us, we are neither going to compromise with the BJP nor bow down to them,” she added.

    Her remark comes in the wake of several prominent second-generation politicians like Jyotiraditya Scindia, Jitin Prasada, R P N Singh switching over to the BJP from the Congress in recent times.

    During her speech, Priyanka Gandhi also said she was being targeted with allegations of being linked to terrorism despite her father Rajiv Gandhi and grandmother Indira Gandhi, both former prime ministers, sacrificing their lives for the country.

    “Identify the leaders who laid their lives for the country. The leaders whom these people call terrorists. Fingers are raised at my family, they say we are connected with terrorism,” she rued.

    And then she asserted, “I said yes, I am linked with terrorism because my father was shot dead by terrorists, my grandmother was assassinated by terrorists.”

    “My father and grandmother lost their lives for this country and they, who are selling all public properties and running a government for big industrialists, today they are pointing fingers at them,” she added.

    Priyanka Gandhi, who is leading the electoral battle in Uttar Pradesh for the Congress, which is contesting the state polls solo after three decades, said her party was concerned about the UP and the country.

    “This is why when we come to the people, we speak the truth and say it from our hearts. I say from the heart because I care about you, I am worried for this state and the country,” she said.

    “My ancestors and your ancestors, the forefathers of the people of this state got India her freedom. Was the freedom earned, development done, institutions raised so that one day these people could sell the country? So that the youth of the country would be jobless and without any support,” she said.

    Citing examples of freebies doled out by the BJP-led governments in the state and in the Centre, the Congress leader claimed it was a deliberate effort to keep the people disempowered and dependent on the government.

    She said voting is a right granted to people by the Constitution and a means to bring about a change in political discourse.

    Kushinagar goes to the polls on March 3 along with nine more districts of eastern UP.

    The election results will be declared on March 10.

  • People have made all three Congress rivals indolent in UP: Priyanka Gandhi

    By PTI

    BALRAMPUR: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday accused the people of Uttar Pradesh of making all three rivals of her party useless by their overindulgence of their whims.

    She also accused BSP chief Mayawati of never coming out of her house in the last five years, the Samajwadi Party of missing from UP as women faced atrocities there and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of being unaware of woes of UP people despite being omniscient .

    Addressing an election meeting here, Vadra also accused the three parties of only being interested in taking people’s votes on the basis of caste and religion while caring little for them and their welfare.

    Priyanka Gandhi hurled the allegation against the people of UP citing the example of children rendered indolent due to the people’s overindulgence of their whims.

    “At the time of elections, somebody will talk about bulldozers, somebody about terror, somebody about Pakistan, somebody of religion and caste. Why are they doing it? Gandhi asked.

    Holding people responsible for allegedly making political parties talk of things devoid of their interest, Priyanka Gandhi said, Sorry to say but the politics which has been going on in the state for the past 30 years, is because of your encouragement.

    Gandhi attacked the BSP chief accusing her of never coming out of her home during the last five years.

    “The BSP leader never came out of her house in the past five years. I thought she would come out during the elections but she did not do even that, she said.

    She also attacked Prime Minister Modi, accusing him of being unaware of the problem of stary cattle in Uttar Pradesh despite being antaryami and sarvgyani (omniscient) andbeo remaining aware of international situations.

    “People say the Prime Minister is ‘antaryami’ (omniscient) and ‘sarvagyani’. If you speak against him in a room, he will come to know of it. He has information about everything, she said.

    But last week, he told you that he does not know about the problem of the stray cattle and then he said as the problem has come to his notice, it will be resolved,” Priyanka Gandhi said.

    She scoffed at the PM’s alleged ignorance about the woes of people in UP despite knowing what’s happening in the United States and Russia and elsewhere in the world.

    Targeting Samajwadi Party, Priyanka Gandhi asked, Did the SP fight for the farmers who died (in Lakhimpur Kheri violence)?

    These three parties are not concerned about your problems, and they do not understand it. They are only interested in taking your vote on the basis of caste and religion. They will enter into agreement with each other whether they are in government or the opposition. Only the Congress will never do any pact with the BJP,” she asserted.

  • UP polls: Smriti Irani rakes up Sidhu’s ‘Pakistan Link’, lashes out at Congress

    By PTI

    KUSHINAGAR: Union minister Smriti Irani accused the Congress on Sunday of colluding with those who had killed innocent people.

    Addressing an election meeting in Kushinagar, Irani hit out at Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, saying she made Navjot Singh Sidhu, who had embraced Pakistan’s army chief and said Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan is his brother, the president of the Punjab Congress.

    “If the Gandhi family has the courage, it should refute my allegations,” she added.

    In an apparent reference to Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik, who has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a money-laundering case, Irani alleged that the Congress is shielding a person who has links with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, who was involved in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts.

    Taking a jibe at the “ladki hoon, lad sakti hoon” (I am a girl and I can fight) slogan of the Congress for the ongoing Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, the Union minister for women and child development said the boat of the grand old party is sinking and it has handed over the charge of the sinking boat to women.

    “They emerge as chunavjeevi at the time of elections and come up with a new formula, some times in the name of caste, some times in the name of religion,” she said.

    Irani alleged that during the COVID-19 crisis, the Congress, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) were nowhere to be seen.

    “It was the BJP that went from house to house distributing masks and ration. Priyanka is sad over the fact that ration was distributed among poor people. Had there been an SP-BSP government, would the poor have got the ration?” she asked the gathering.

    Taking a jibe at the SP, the Union minister said, “Those who had once fired bullets on the devotees of Lord Ram are telling people that Lord Krishna comes in their dreams. I would like to tell them that in kalyug, Lord Krishna will never come to save criminals. God never sides with those who give shelter to people insulting women.”

    Referring to the Gandhis, she said a member of a family that had once said there was no Ram is moving from one temple to another wearing the sacred thread.

    Kushinagar is scheduled to go to polls in the sixth round of the seven-phase Uttar Pradesh election on March 3.

  • UP polls: BSP’s appeal resonates among loyalists; some look at alternatives

    By PTI

    HANDIA/SAIDPUR: ‘Behen ji’ is the head of the family and the family is all of us, a group of Jatav men at Sandaha village say, asserting that their vote to Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party is not tied to its fortunes in any election but to keep the party strong.

    “If we don’t vote it, then who will,” Vishal Kumar, who studies in an NIT in Karnataka, asks in a pointer to the largest Dalit community, who are estimated to number nearly 11-12 per cent in Uttar Pradesh, being the most loyal supporters of the party.

    From the state’s western edges neighbouring Delhi to its eastern part, the BSP appears to be holding a big chunk of its core votes but yet there are signs that some of them are considering other options, with the Samajwadi Party being seen as a main challenger to the BJP in most of the seats in the elections to the 403-member assembly.

    At several places, young members of the community criticise the BJP for a lack of employment opportunities, showing an inclination towards Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav.

    In Hathauda village, Suraj Kumar, 22, and his young friends lament the lack of recruitment in the Army or other central police forces for quite a few years, expressing apprehension that they will soon be overage.

    He says it is thanks to the support from his elder brother working in the CRPF that his households manage to get by.

    “It is a hard life,” he says.

    However, there are counter-views as well.

    With many community members depending on daily menial work, which was hit hard during the Covid-19 pandemic, some express their happiness at the free ration scheme of the BJP governments at the Centre and the state.

    They are also wary of an SP government.

    “It is difficult for us to live in peace when they are in power,” Manoj Kumar, a fruit-seller, says, in a reference to the Samajwadi Party.

    The BJP has constantly linked the party’s previous stint in Lucknow with law and order problems, a charge which appears to resonate with a big section of voters.

    But it is also clear that the BSP remains the party they consider their own.

    “Mayawati’s rule was known for tough administration and its control over law and order. There is no casteism under her. She has worked to give us samman (respect) and made us equal with others,” he says.

    Some BJP and Samajwadi Party leaders acknowledged that the BSP’s grip over Jatav voters is so firm that their workers consider it a waste of time to campaign in their villages.

    The BSP’s problem is, though, visible when it comes to attracting votes from members of other communities, which is necessary for it to become a serious contender for power.

    The party has fielded more Muslims than Samajwadi Party but even in seats like Prayagraj West, where the BSP candidate is a Muslim while the SP’s is not, members of the minority community have put their faith in Akhilesh Yadav’s nominee.

    Political watchers believe that the BSP will have a decent chance in seats where it has strong candidates from other communities that will combine with Jatav votes to put it in contention.

    A BJP leader, who did not wish to be named, said that it is these committed BSP voters who have ensured that a ticket from the party remains in demand among local politicians with a following of their own.

    Union Home Minister Amit Shah had recently acknowledged the BSP’s strength among Dalits, saying it will draw their votes and also a section of Muslims, a remark seen by some to be tactical as the BJP may believe that a complete marginalisation of the party may not suit it.

    The bond that the BSP enjoys with its loyal supporters is so deep that some can’t even countenance any suggestion of the party being not so strong this time.

    “Behen ji has kept a low profile due to strategic reasons. She is fighting in a silent mode to keep rivals clueless. Wait for the results,” Karmraj Gautam, who works with Bahujan Volunteer Force, an organisation that works to maintain order at BSP’s programmes, said at a rally site of Mayawati.

    He, then, added, “For us, Bahujan Samaj Party is part of our identity.”

  • Bulldozer Baba zindabad: BJP workers greet Yogi during his roadshow in Prayagraj

    By PTI

    PRAYAGRAJ: BJP supporters greeted Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath with the slogan of “Bulldozer Baba zindabad” as he held his roadshow here on Friday in support of his Cabinet colleague Sidharth Nath Singh’s candidature from City (West) assembly seat.

    Nearly two-km-long roadshow of the chief minister starting from Karbala Chauraha and ending at Nakhash Kona Chauraha of the city was attended by “lakhs” of people, eyewitnesses said.

    During the entire roadshow, which started at 5 pm and ended at 6 pm, people carrying the BJP’s saffron flags rent the air with slogans of “Jai Shri Ram” and Bulldozer Baba Zindabad”.

    The new term for the chief minister was first heard from Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, who, in a YouTube video, has claimed that a prestigious English daily has changed Yogi Adityanath’s name to Baba Bulldozer.

    The term purportedly owes its origin to the extensive use of bulldozers by the Uttar Pradesh government for demolishing illegal properties of criminals in the state.

    The roadshow interestingly began near a place where Adityanath had done the ‘bhumi pujan’ for a residential complex for common people on a piece of land acquired by the state government from the possession of former MP Atique Ahmed.

    The roadshow was led by over half a dozen horse-mounted BJP workers carrying the party’s saffron flags, followed by other party workers beating drums and blowing trumpets.

    A tableau of Lord Ram, his wife Sita and Lord Hanuman too formed part of the roadshow with a large number of women marching along and the people showering flower petals from their rooftops on Chief Minister Adityanath and party’s candidate Siddharth Nath Singh.

    The event also had some tense moments as a convoy of Samajwadi Party candidate Richa Singh and her supporters sought to crossed its path with the roadshow route, resulting in some angry exchanges between supporters of the two parties.

    The police, however, managed to control the situation by diverting the SP candidate’s convoy to an alternative route.

    After the completion of the roadshow, the chief minister urged people to vote for the BJP to ensure that the state continued to be ruled by a “double-engine” government and continue progressing at a fast pace.

    The assembly segments of the Prayagraj district go to the polls on February 27 during the fifth phase of the state assembly elections, the electioneering for which ended Friday.