News Analysis India

Tag: UP assembly elections

  • UP Polls: Police files case against 250 people, including BJP MLA, in Pilibhit for violating model code

    By PTI

    PILIBHIT: A case has been filed here against 250 people, including BJP MLA Sanjay Gangwar, for allegedly violating the Model Code of Conduct, police said on Saturday.

    SHO Kotwali Harish Vardhan Singh said that around 250 people, including Gangwar who is BJP’s candidate from Pilibhit, were organising a meeting without any permission and were also violating COVID-19 norms.

    He said Gangwar also inaugurated the main election office without permission.

    Invitation was sent to people through social media, the SHO said, adding that a stretch of road was also jammed due to the meeting.

    He said that Police Outpost Incharge Nirdesh Kumar Chauhan had sent a report to officers based on which the case was registered.

  • Ex-IPS officer Asim Arun files nomination for Kannauj seat as BJP candidate

    By PTI

    KANNAUJ: Former IPS officer Asim Arun, who recently joined the BJP, filed his nomination for Kannauj (SC) seat on Saturday.

    In the affidavit, Arun mentioned that his movable assets are worth Rs 45.66 lakh, while his immovable assets are worth over Rs 1.52 crore.

    The movable assets of his wife, Jyotsna Arun, were stated to be worth Rs 14,00,81,932.32, while her immovable assets were worth Rs 4,87,50,000.

    However, when the subheads of movable assets were added, the sum came out to be Rs 1,40,81,932.32.

    When Arun, who took voluntary retirement, was contacted and the anomaly pointed out, he told PTI, “I will get it corrected.”

    Sources said Arun may file another set of affidavits.

    The last date of filing nominations is February 1 and Kannauj will vote on February 20.

    Arun reached the collectorate office with two of his proposers, and filed one set of nomination papers.

    Speaking to reporters, Arun said that the main issues in the election are law and order and development.

    He expressed hope that the people of the constituency will vote for him A resident of Mahanagar Extension in Lucknow, Arun mentioned in his affidavit that he has no criminal cases pending against him, and he has done post-graduation from University of British Columbia, Vancouver in Canada.

    On January 10, the Uttar Pradesh government approved the voluntary retirement request of Arun, who was the Kanpur police commissioner.

    The senior IPS officer of the 1994 batch had applied for premature retirement amid speculation of his entry into active politics and contesting the assembly polls.

    The 51-year-old Arun was an additional director general of police (ADGP)-rank officer, who previously helmed the state’s Anti-Terrorist Squad, the 112 service, besides leading the police force in districts like Aligarh, Gorakhpur and Agra.

    During central deputation, Arun served in the Core Protection Group of former prime minister Manmohan Singh’s Special Protection Group (SPG).

  • ‘Kejriwal Guarantee Card’: AAP promises free bus service for UP women, 300 units free electricity

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: The Aam Aadmi Party on Thursday released its manifesto for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections promising free bus service for women, 300 units of free electricity and round-the-clock power supply in the state.

    The manifesto, named ‘Kejriwal Guarantee Card’, was released by Sanjay Singh, AAP’s Uttar Pradesh in-charge at a press conference.

    The party has promised free bus services for women across the state, 300 units of free electricity and round-the-clock availability of power.

    It also promised to bring a law to guarantee minimum support price (MSP) for farmers’ produce.

    “We will waive off all farm loans and provide farmers the cost of their produce within 24 hours. The (MSP) prices of sugarcane will be increased every year and payments will be provided to a farmer the moment he unloads the sugarcane in the mills,” Singh, according to a statement, said.

    Pending payments of sugarcane farmers and low support price has been an issue in the western parts of the state.

    The AAP has also promised compensation at a rate of Rs 50,000 per hectare in case of loss of produce of farmers due to adverse weather conditions like drought or floods, Singh said.

    The party promised 10 lakh government jobs, recruitment of 97,000 teachers and guaranteed 80 percent reservation for local youths in state government jobs.

    For government employees, it promised to reinstate the old pension scheme and resolve the issues of over 45,000 constables of Prantiya Raksha Dal (PRD), a voluntary force.

    The AAP also promised to provide chambers for lawyers and life insurance of up to 10 Lakh.

    “Monetary compensation of Rs 1 crore will be given to the next of kin of a soldier who dies in the line of duty as well as a job to a member of his family. Compensation of Rs 1 Cr each will also be provided to the family of Covid warriors who have lost their lives,” Singh said.

    The party also promised to introduce curriculum on the Constitution of India in primary schools across the state.

    “We will fulfill all the promises made in the Kejriwal Guarantee card after coming to power. I will urge the people of the state to give us a chance in this election,” Singh said.

    The AAP also promised Rs 10 lakh insurance for journalists, the statement said.

  • ‘Doors are always open’: BJP offers ‘friendship’ to Jayant Chaudhary as it reaches out to Jat leaders

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Jayant Chaudhary has chosen the “wrong home”, Union Minister Amit Shah said on Wednesday as he reached out to Jat leaders at a meeting here ahead of the first phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh and the BJP suggested that its doors were open for the RLD leader.

    According to sources, while talking to Jat leaders from western Uttar Pradesh, Shah said the ideology of both the party and the community is the same as both keep national interest first and have been fighting against ”invaders”.

    The meeting held at the residence of BJP MP Parvesh Verma was also attended by the party’s prominent Jat leaders including Union Minister Sanjeev Balyan who is an MP from Muzaffarnagar in western Uttar Pradesh.

    Jats are a deciding factor in almost all the seats in western Uttar Pradesh, a region where the RLD enjoys influence among the community.

    The RLD, led by former prime minister Charan Singh’s grandson Jayant Chaudhary, has joined hands with Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party this time.

    “In the meeting, we have suggested that people of the Jat community talk to Jayant Chaudhary. Doors of the BJP are always open,” Verma later told reporters.

    The BJP’s outreach is significant as there are apprehensions that the over year-long farmers’ agitation against the three agri laws, which have since been repealed, will affect its prospects.

    However, the RLD leader gave a terse response.

    “Invite those +700 farmer families which you have destroyed, not me,” he tweeted in Hindi.

    Talking about RLD, Shah said at the meeting that Jayant Chaudhary “has chosen the wrong house”.

    Citing the various steps taken by the Modi government for the community, Shah said the it appointed three Jat governors and has nine Jat MPs.

    Expressing gratitude towards the community, Shah said the BJP got the community’s blessings due to which the party could win in 2014, 2017, 2019 elections.

    “With your support, I believe you will again make us win this election as well,” he said.

    Shah said the BJP government named a university in Aligarh in Jat king’s name, has constructed expressways and brought in Jewar airport for employment and prosperity in western Uttar Pradesh.

    Pagdi, a symbol of Jat pride, was tied on the head of Shah in the meeting.

    Balyan said that Jats would never prefer SP chief Akhilesh Yadav as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.

    The developments came a day before Shah and several other top BJP leaders, including Union Minister Rajnath Singh, were scheduled to visit western Uttar Pradesh.

    Shah held similar meetings with leaders from the Jat community ahead of the 2017 assembly and 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

  • Villagers in UP’s Budhana shout slogans against BJP candidate as he walks through

    By PTI

    MUZAFFARNAGAR: Umesh Malik, the incumbent BJP MLA from Budhana Assembly constituency and also the party’s nominee for the upcoming polls, faced the ire of the people as he walked through an alley on Tuesday.

    The MLA, along with his supporters, was at Rasoolpur Jatan village, in connection with some election-related work.

    The villagers gathered on both sides of the alley and shouted slogans against Malik and the BJP, making their intentions clear.

    They also raised slogans in favour of the Samajwadi Party-Rashtriya Lok Dal alliance candidate Rajpal Balyan.

    A video of the locals vehemently opposing Malik has gone viral on social media.

    Incidentally, the headquarters of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, which spearheaded the year-long movement against the three farm laws, is situated in Sisauli and is part of the Budhana Assembly constituency.

    On Sunday, too, Malik had to face a barrage of questions on his earlier poll promises at a village in Mansoorpur, where he had arrived for a meeting.

  • EC extends ban on poll rallies, roadshows till January 31 amid surge in Covid cases

    By Online Desk

    Amid a surge in COVID-19 cases, the Election Commission of India on Saturday extended the ban on physical rallies and roadshows till January 31.

    The decision came after the Election Commission of India held a meeting earlier in the day with the Union Health Secretary and the Chief Health Secretaries of the five poll-bound states to review the ban on holding physical roadshows and rallies by political parties ahead of Assembly elections.

    The Election commission had put a ban on election rallies and roadshows until January 15 first and later extended till January 22. The progress on vaccination will be a key factor in allowing relaxations.

    ALSO READ | UP polls: Akhilesh Yadav promises jobs for 22 lakh youths in IT sector

    The apex poll body has given relaxation for physical public meetings of political parties or contesting candidates for Phase 1 allowed from January 28 and for Phase 2 from February 1.

    It said that limit of five persons for door to door campaign has been enhanced to 10 persons, excluding security personnel and video vans for publicity permitted at designated open spaces with COVID restrictions. Other instructions on door-to-door campaigns will continue.

    The Election Commission of India today held a review meeting with the Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India through virtual mode.

    The Commission also held virtual meetings with Chief Secretaries, Chief Electoral Officers, and Health Secretaries of Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh.

    Since contesting candidates for Phase 1 elections will be finalised on January 27, the Commission has decided to allow physical meetings of concerned Political parties or contesting candidates in designated open spaces with a maximum of 500 persons or 50 per cent of the capacity of the ground or the prescribed limit set by SDMA, whichever number is lesser, from January 28 till February 8 (excluding the silence period).

    ALSO READ | UP Polls: Mayawati releases list of 51 candidates for 2nd phase

    Since contesting candidates for Phase 2 elections will be finalised on January 31, the Commission has decided to allow physical meetings of concerned political parties or contesting candidates with public in designated open spaces with a maximum of 500 persons or 50 per cent of the capacity of the ground or the prescribed limit set by SDMA, whichever number is lesser, from February 1 till February 12 (excluding the silence period).

    As of today, India reported 3,37,704 fresh COVID cases (9,550 more than yesterday) and 2,42,676 recoveries and 488 deaths in the last 24 hours. Total 21,13,365 active cases are in the country with a daily positivity rate of 17.22 per cent.

    Manipur, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa are heading into Assembly polls.

    The Election Commission’s aim is to have maximum voters vaccinated before the elections held in these particular states. 

    (With agency inputs)

  • UP polls: Owaisi announces alliance, proposes 2 CMs, 3 deputy CMs

    By Online Desk

    All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday announced his alliance in Uttar Pradesh with Babu Singh Kushwaha and Bharat Mukti Morcha.

    “If the alliance comes to power there will be 2 Chief Ministers, one from OBC community and another from Dalit community. There would be 3 Deputy Chief Ministers including from Muslim community,” he told a press conference.

    Upon being questioned whether this an alliance formed out of compulsion, Babu Singh Kushwaha said that it is not of compulsion. “We worked for Dalit, backward and minority community for a long time,” he said.

    Elections to the 403 assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases starting February 10.

    The polling in Uttar Pradesh will be held on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27, and March 3 and 7 in seven phases. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. 

  • UP polls: TMC won’t enter fray, Mamata to adress virtual rally in support of Akhilesh

    Express News Service

    KOLKATA: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee’s party Trinamool Congress will not join the fray in Uttar Pradesh in the upcoming Assembly elections, said Samajwadi Party (SP)’s national vice president Kiranmay Nanda on Tuesday. 

    Nanda, after holding a meeting with Mamata Banerjee at her Kalighat residence in Kolkata, made it clear that the Bengal CM would visit Lucknow on February 8 and hold a meeting with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav before addressing a rally virtually to announce her support. 

    “The TMC is not keen on participating in Uttar Pradesh elections. All seats will be given to Akhilesh Yadav. It was Mamata Banerjee’s party that shattered BJP’s dream of wresting power in Bengal in the 2021 Assembly elections in West Bengal. It is a lesson for the entire opposition and her fight was unprecedented. The entire nation saw the fight she had put up against the BJP juggernaut. Mamata will address a public rally virtually in Lucknow announcing the TMC’s support to our party,” said Nanda. 

    Nanda also said Mamata would also visit Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency in February but the day is yet to be fixed. 

    Ahead of the Bengal Assembly polls, Yadav had announced that the SP would support the TMC without fielding any candidate. Yadav had sent SP’s Rajya Sabha MP Jaya Bachchan as the party’s representative to Bengal to campaign for the ruling TMC. Though the TMC is not participating in the electoral battle in UP, Mamata has been aggressively campaigning in the other poll-bound state Goa.   

    Before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Yadav had attended the grand opposition meeting hosted by the Trinamool Congress chief in January three years ago. 

    Nanda was one of the longest-serving fisheries ministers of West Bengal during the erstwhile Left Front regime as an elected representative of the Socialist Party. He had merged his party with the SP in 2010.

  • UP polls: As SP Maurya quits, BJP must now strike balance between own cadre and imported faces

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: The exit of Swami Prasad Maurya, sitting BJP MLA and cabinet minister in the Yogi government, just before the upcoming assembly elections is a lesson for the ruling BJP. 

    It is not that only Maurya, who announced on Wednesday that he would be joining the Samajwadi Party on January 14– — would leave the saffron bandwagon, three sitting BJP MLAs close to him, have already tendered their resignations from the primary membership of the BJP and a few more are likely to follow the suit.

    Maurya has been a significant OBC (other backward classes) leader across multiple political formations for almost four decades. There are 50% OBC voters in UP. Yadavs are around 9% of those and have traditionally supported the Samajwadi Party. Parties continue to fight over the 32-35% of non-Yadav OBC votes.

    BJP, which has already got into action mode for damage control, is trying to explain the exit of Maurya as a step taken under the fear of denial of tickets or even the change of constituency. “However, whatever be the reason for Maurya’s exit, it has left behind a lesson for the BJP of not trusting the turncoats blindly at the cost of its original cadre,” says political commentator JP Shukla.

    ALSO READ | UP polls: Swami Prasad Maurya, who quit Yogi’s cabinet, issued arrest warrant in 2014 case

    The political experts also believe that the series of events that have taken place since Tuesday has wielded a jolt to the confidence of the ruling party leaders. “Overconfidence at the time of elections sometimes proves to be fatal,” says Prof AK Mishra, a prominent political scientist.

    This move of Maurya, who is known to be a habitual party hopper, however, poses a challenge to the BJP to strike a proper balance between its own cader and the big faces imported from other parties especially at the time of elections, feels Prof Mishra.

    The political experts are of the opinion that the ruling party will also be facing the challenge of keeping its own cadre content while accommodating the sulking fence-sitters. If the sources are to be believed many more leaders, who had joined the BJP ahead of 2017 assembly polls and got the plum portfolios for five years, may now switch sides. The names of Dara Singh Chauhan and Dharam Singh Saini, both ministers in Yogi cabinet, had been doing the rounds. While Chauhan has already tendered his resignation, Saini’s next move is expected.

    However, Saini has denied any such plan swearing their loyalty to the ruling party for now.

    ALSO READ | UP polls: BJP strikes back after Yogi minister quits, inducts Congress, SP MLAs into party

    “BJP needs to resolve some of the issues otherwise the trust overdose on turncoats would dent its popularity and prestige,” says Prof SK Dwivedi. He adds that the jolt given by Swami Prasad Maurya establishes the fact that even BJP is responsible for it. “In the name of doing ideological politics, the BJP has propagated the politics of convenience by inducting countless turncoats and obliging them with plum portfolios. However, the party has failed to inculcate its values and culture in the turncoats. It is paying for it today,” says Prof Dwivedi.

    So far as Maurya is concerned, he was a prominent OBC leader when he was in the Bahujan Samaj Party. When BSP’s popularity started fading in 2016, Maurya hopped on to the saffron bandwagon which was on the surge.

    “His dual standards could be gauged from the fact that after holding a cabinet ministerial post in the Yogi government for five years he realized that he was having ideological differences with the BJP at the end of the tenure,” says JP Shukla. Moreover, he is not going to compromise his daughter Sanghmitra’s future as she has left with at least two years of her tenure as BJP MP from Badaun, adds Shukla. After her father’s exit, Sanghmitra is swearing her loyalty to the BJP.

    ALSO READ | BJP leader Dara Singh Chauhan quits from Yogi cabinet

    The emergence of Keshav Prasad Maurya as an OBC leader overshadowed Swami’s clout in the BJP. Despite being an OBC leader, he failed to ensure victory for his son, Utkrisht Maurya, from Unchahaar despite the BJP wave in the 2017 assembly elections. The sources claim that the non-assurance of a ticket to his son was one of the reasons for Maurya to quit the BJP.

    Despite having enjoyed the confidence of BSP chief Mayawati and three ministerial stints in her regimes, Maurya left BSP in 2016 accusing it of auctioning the tickets. However, later Mayawati claimed that Maurya left the party as she denied tickets to his son and daughter.

    In the 2012 Assembly polls, Maurya’s son Utkrist lost from the Unchahar Assembly seat of Rae Bareli while Sanghmitra lost from Aliganj in the Etah constituency.

    Maurya later joined the BJP, just before the 2017 polls, claiming that he was impressed with the work done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the “weaker sections” of the society.

  • BJP, SP want UP polls to be ‘Hindu-Muslim affair: Mayawati

    Mayawati told reporters that both parties complement each other as their thought process is “casteist and communal.”