Tag: UP elections

  • Alliance with BJP final, Nishad party will contest 15 seats in UP: Sanjay Nishad

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: Nishad party president Sanjay Nishad on Sunday said they will contest in 15 assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh as part of an alliance with the BJP, but the seats are yet to be finalised.

    Nishad said he will meet senior BJP leaders, including Amit Shah, in Delhi on Monday to finalise the constituencies where the party will field its candidates.

    “We have got 15 seats (out of 403 seats) to contest in alliance with the BJP. The seats are almost final. Most of the seats are in ‘Purvanchal’ (East UP) and some are in ‘Paschimanchal’ (West).”

    “There are some seats which we want to change due to changing equations. We are focusing not only on seat but ‘jeet’ (victory),” Nishad told PTI when asked about his proposed meeting with Union Home Minister Shah.

    The Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aaam Dal, or Nishad party, was formed in 2016 and its leaders claim to enjoy support of the Nishad community, which is one of the Other Backward Classes (OBC).

    Nishad said his party has built cadre base all over the state and has substantial influence in Gorakhpur, Ballia, Sant Kabir Nagar, Ambedkar Nagar, Jaunpur, Bhadohi, Sultanpur, Faizabad, Chitrakoot, Jhansi, Banda, Hamipur and Etawah districts, among others.

    The party fielded 100 candidates in the last assembly election in 2017 in alliance with the Peace Party of India, Apna Dal and the Jan Adhikar Party, but could win just one seat — Gyanpur in Bhadohi district.

    Nishad, now a member of the Legislative Council, had contested the last assembly election from Gorakhpur Rural and came third.

    In the 2018 Lok Sabha by-election, Sanjay Nishad’s son Praveen Kumar Nishad was a Samajwadi Party candidate and wrested the Gorakhpur constituency from the BJP which had been winning the seat since 1989.

    Praveen Kumar Nishad is now a BJP MP from Sant Kabir Nagar.

    The Nishad community is the second largest demographic group in Gorakhpur, the home turf of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

    Asked about the restrictions imposed by the Election Commission on physical rallies due to the coronavirus pandemic and how his party will deal with it, Sanjay Nishad said, “We have associated youth workers who extensively use social media and digital offices of the party is functional in 70 districts (out of total 75). We are active on social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp.”

    He said the party is finalising its candidates after verifying their social and economic backgrounds.

    On the allegations of rival parties that the BJP will be fielding people with criminal background from his party’s quota, Nishad said, “We will go through the image of every candidate and his acceptance among party workers and people. If people and workers like a candidate, he can be given a chance.”

    On some BJP MLAs and ministers belonging to backward castes joining the Samajwadi Party ahead of the election, Nishad said, “They had no popularity. They were praising and giving positive report card for Prime Minister and Chief Minister from dias during programmes. Now, when they became powerless due to the imposition of the model code of conduct by the EC, they left the party. People now understand such people.”

    Asked which party is the main challenger to the BJP, he said it appears the SP is in direct fight with the BJP, but added that the ruling coalition will win more than 300 seats.

    “BJP takes all castes along. In the first list of candidates, majority of OBCs were given tickets. Its acceptance is good on the ground also due to works done by both the central and state governments,” he said.

    He also took a swipe at Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) leader Om Prakash Rajbhar saying “even people of his area do not give importance to him”.

    The SBSP is contesting the election in alliance with the Samajwadi Party.

    The assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases between February 10 and March 7 and the results will be announced on March 10.

  • UP polls: After being denied ticket, ‘Gulabi Gang’ chief Sampat Pal quits Congress

    By PTI

    CHITRAKUT: ‘Gulabi Gang’ commander Sampat Pal on Sunday said she has resigned from the Congress as the party denied her a ticket for the upcoming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.

    Holding the state Congress leaders and the observers directly responsible for denying her the ticket, Pal said she will apprise about the ‘internal politicking’ to the Congress top brass in New Delhi.

    Pal had contested the Assembly polls from Mau-Manikpur seat on the Congress ticket in the 2012 and 2017 polls.

    While she secured only 2,203 votes in the 2012 polls, she backed 40,524 votes in 2017 when she was the SP-Congress ally candidate.

    The Congress, this time, has replaced her with Ranjana Bhartilal Pandey.

    Pal runs a women’s organisation named ‘Gulabi Gang’.

    The 2014 Bollywood movie ‘Gulaab Gang’ featuring Madhuri Dixit and Juhi Chawla, was widely considered to be inspired by Pal and her organisation.

  • UP polls: AAP fields ex-Apple employee Pankaj Awana from Noida

    By PTI

    NOIDA: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday announced Pankaj Awana, a former employee of tech giant Apple, as its candidate from Noida for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.

    The AAP also fielded Poonam Singh and Sanjay Chechi from the Jewar and Dadri assembly seats, respectively, as it released its first list of 150 candidates for the polls in the politically crucial state.

    The party had in September last year only announced names of Awana and Singh as ‘probable candidates’ from their respective seats.

    Gautam Buddh Nagar adjoining Delhi, where the AAP is in power, has three assembly seats — Noida, Dadri and Jewar, and these have 6,90,231, 5,86,889 and 3,46,425 voters, respectively.

    All three seats are currently held by the BJP with Pankaj Singh in Noida, Tejpal Singh Nagar in Dadri and Dhirendra Singh in Jewar.

    The BJP on Saturday once again declared the three as its candidates from these seats.

    The Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress have also announced their candidates on the three seats, which will go to polls on February 10.

    The election results will be out on March 10.

    At 55, the party gave the maximum number of tickets to candidates from backward classes in the list.

    The list was released by AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh at a press conference here this afternoon.

    He said the AAP will contest on all 403 assembly seats and the names of the rest of the candidates will be announced soon.

    The party has given tickets to 55 candidates from backward classes, 36 Brahmins, 31 Scheduled Castes and 14 Muslims, among others, he said.

    Singh said the AAP has fielded good and deserving candidates in the election.

    “In the first list, there are eight candidates who have completed MBA.

    Apart from this, there are 38 postgraduates, four doctors, eight who have done PhD, seven engineers and 39 graduates.

    Eight women have been given tickets in the first list,” he said.

    “Now it is up to the people of UP to elect these deserving candidates and send them to the Vidhan Sabha and wipe out the filth in politics,” he said.

    The Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls will be held in seven phases between February 10 and March 7.

    The counting of votes will take place on March 10.

  • Samajwadi Party candidates list starts with those in jail and ends with those on bail, says Anurag Thakur

    Express News Service

    BHOPAL: Hitting out at the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party (SP), union minister Anurag Thakur said on Sunday, “If you see SP’s list of candidates, it starts from those in jail and ends with those out on bail.”

    “The game of jail-bail is the real ‘khel’ (game) of the SP. One of their MLA and candidates Nahid Hasan (candidate from Kairana) is in jail, while the other legislator, Abdullah Azam Khan is out of jail on bail,” Thakur said in Lucknow just after 1994-batch IPS officer and former Kanpur police commissioner Asim Arun joined the saffron party.

    Focusing on BJP’s prime poll plank – the improvement in law and order and crackdown against criminals and anti-social elements in the five years of Yogi Adityanath rule – the union minister (one of the three central BJP leaders appointed co-incharge for polls in UP) said, “Those who indulge in riots go to the SP, while those who catch the rioters, join the BJP.”

    Welcoming the ex-IPS officer Asim Arun in the party fold, Thakur said, “Today’s development has made it clear that officials with clean image are joining the BJP, while those indulging in riots are joining the SP.

    Importantly, the two-time sitting SP MLA from Kairana seat of West UP’s Shamli district, Nahid Hasan was sent into 14-days judicial custody by a special court on Saturday, after the state police invoked the stringent Gangsters Act against him. The other SP leader Abdullah Azam Khan (the son of ex UP minister Mohd Azam Khan who won from Suar seat in 2017 polls) was released on bail on Saturday from Sitapur Jail, after almost 23 months behind bars in 40-plus criminal cases ranging from extortion to forgery.

    On Sunday, the 1994 batch IPS officer and former Kanpur police commissioner Asim Arun joined the BJP in Lucknow in presence of union minister Anurag Thakur and state BJP president Swatantra Dev Singh. Asim Arun is the son of former UP DGP Sriram Arun. His sister Rashmi Arun Shami is a senior IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, while his MP cadre IPS officer brother-in-law Sanjiv Shami has long been counted among one to the top anti-terror cops in the country.

    Both Asim Arun and brother-in-law Sanjiv Shami have headed the anti-terror and counter terrorism wings of UP and MP police respectively in the past.

    On January 10, the UP government had approved the voluntary retirement request of Kanpur police commissioner Asim Arun, who had applied for premature retirement amid speculation of his entry into active politics. As per informed sources within the ruling BJP, the 1994 IPS officer is likely to be fielded from one of the seats of Kannauj district.  

    Besides the former police officer, ex-IAS officer Ram Bahadur also joined the BJP, along with two SP MLAs Ghanshyam Lodhi and Shailendra Pratap Singh on Sunday. The former IAS officer Ram Bahadur had contested the 2017 polls in UP as BSP candidate from Mohanlalganj seat of Lucknow district, but lost by slender 530 votes margin.

    On the other hand, ex-minister of Yogi Adityanath government and former BJP MLA from Madhuban seat of Mau district, Dara Singh Chouhan, who had quit the saffron party recently, joined the SP officially on Sunday.

    Speculations are also rife about SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav’s younger daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav (wife of Pratik Yadav, who is the son of MSY’s second wife Sadhna Gupta Yadav) likely to join the BJP soon. Aparna, who is the daughter of veteran journalist Arvind Singh Bisht had lost by around 34,000 votes on SP ticket against BJP candidate Rita Bahuguna Joshi in the 2017 polls from Lucknow Cantt seat.

    Akhilesh Yadav to complain ECI after ex-IPS Asim Arun’s BJP joining

    Meanwhile, reacting to ex-IPS officer Asim Arun joining the BJP on Sunday, the SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said, “the development has exposed how police officers influenced by the BJP were holding senior police positions in the state. I’ll complain to the Election Commission, demanding that all those cops who worked with Arun in the last five years be removed from active posting, failing which they would work as BJP agents. If the EC doesn’t order removal of all such police officers, then the impartiality of the election body will come under doubt.”

  • BJP finalises candidates for 172 seats in UP; CM Adityanath and his deputies likely to contest

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The BJP on Thursday finalised its candidates for 172 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh and is likely to field both Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya who are currently members of the Legislative Council, party leaders said.

    Polling in most of these 172 seats will be held in the initial phases beginning February 10 and the party is also considering fielding Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma and state unit president Swatantra Dev Singh.

    Addressing the media at the BJP headquarters, Maurya said the party held wider deliberations on the 172 assembly seats and will register a bigger victory than the 2017 assembly polls.

    BJP president J P Nadda and Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari, all three of whom have contracted the coronavirus, joined the meeting via video conferencing, while Home Minister Amit Shah and several other leaders besides those from Uttar Pradesh, including Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, met physically.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi was also scheduled to join the meeting virtually.

    According to party sources, Adityanath is likely to be fielded from Ayodhya and Maurya from Sirathu constituency.

    Sharma may contest from one of the assembly constituencies in state capital Luknow. A five-term former Lok Sabha member from Gorakhpur, Adityanath is currently a member of the state’s Legislative Council.

    The party is likely to announce its first list of candidates in the next few days, the sources said.

    As many as 58 and 55 seats of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly will face the polls on February 10 and February 14 respectively. The state is scheduled to have seven-phase polls.

    Uttarakhand, Goa and Punjab assembly polls will also be held on February 14. The BJP is likely to drop a number of sitting MLAs to neutralise anti-incumbency at the local level.

  • Congress releases first list of candidates for UP polls, fields Unnao rape survivor’s mother

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday released the party’s first list of 125 candidates, including 50 women, for the upcoming assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.

    The party has also fielded Unnao rape victim’s mother Asha Singh from the Unnao Assembly constituency.

    Addressing a press conference, she said 40 per cent of the Congress candidates are women and another 40 percent are youth and by doing so the party is making a new and historic beginning.

    She said the party has fielded such candidates who have struggled for seeking justice in Uttar Pradesh and the party wants them to come to the forefront and be a part of power in the state.

    “With 40 percent women and 40 percent youth, we hope to start a new kind of politics in Uttar Pradesh,”she said.

    “Our list gives a new message. We want to tell those who have struggled for their rights and for seeking justice in the past, that they have the power to fight for their rights and the Congress party will give that power to them to be a part of power in the state,” Vadra also said.

    The AICC general secretary in-charge for Uttar Pradesh did not answer whether she will contest the elections herself.

    She said the party will not run a negative campaign in these polls and will instead run a positive campaign for a bright future of Uttar Pradesh while highlighting the issues concerning the people and those of women and development.

    Taking on the Uttar Pradesh government, she said, it has been “dictatorial” and the discussion in elections is skewed.

    “Our focus would be to bring issues of people to centre-stage,” she said.

    Uttar Pradesh is scheduled to have seven-phase polls beginning from February 10.

  • UP polls: CM Yogi Adityanath likely to contest from Ayodhya

    By ANI

    LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is likely to contest the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections from Ayodhya, said sources.

    Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is likely to be fielded from Ayodhya and his name could appear on the first list to be released by the party soon.

    On the second day of the three-day meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party Core Committee on Uttar Pradesh, the names of the candidates for nearly 175 Assembly seats have been finalised, sources in the party said.

    The BJP has scrutinized the candidates for more than 300 Assembly seats of Uttar Pradesh in the meeting. Deliberation will continue on the names of the candidates on Thursday, the last day of the meeting, said sources.

    The BJP’s 24-member Uttar Pradesh election committee met on Monday in Lucknow and deliberated on the names of probable candidates for 113 constituencies that will go to the polls in the first two phases of the seven-phase Assembly elections that begin on February 10.Elections for the 403 assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases starting February 10, the Election Commission said.

    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: Congress starts virtual campaign; no free food packets with Modi, Yogi’s pictures

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday kickstarted her party’s virtual campaign ahead of the UP Assembly polls and said women are at the centre of discourse in the state and she won’t let them be ignored.

    If political parties feel that only giving a gas cylinder to them is their only responsibility, then they are seriously wrong, she said.

    The Congress general secretary said women constitute half of the population and she personally favours giving 50 per cent of party tickets to them.

    The Congress leader, who is leading her party’s poll campaign with women-centric promises, said this interacting with girls from UP, just ahead of the announcement of the poll schedule by the Election Commission, which banned physical rallies till January 15 amid a surge in Covid cases.

    The party had recently decided to do away with physical rallies due to rising Covid cases.

    “Political parties who feel their responsibility is only to give us one gas cylinder are seriously wrong. Political parties owe a responsibility and have a duty towards women, we are in the discourse, in fact in UP we are at the centre of discourse. I will not let women be ignored,” she said.

    The Congress leader said she would like to take her party’s “Ladki Hoon, Lad Sakti Hoon” campaign across all states.

    “In the past one month’s time, all political parties in UP have started talking about women issues. Be it the SP, BJP or AAP, you can see they are suddenly making announcements for women and this is a great achievement,” she said.

    Naming New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her grandmother Indira Gandhi as her inspirations, she termed fearlessness as the biggest quality of the former Indian prime minister and recounted an incident to highlight as to why she was called an iron lady.

    On the lack of women leaders in political parties and whether giving 40 per cent tickets to women in the UP elections will be too progressive, she said strong steps are required when a change has to be brought in.

    “I personally favoured 50 per cent,” she said.

    “It is a step whose time has come, it is time for women to stand up and understand that we are 50 per cent. Forty per cent is not right enough, 50 is the right percentage,” she said.

    When questioned how she will face the challenge posed by the ruling BJP, she said, “Negativity can only be dealt with positivity.”

    “Some more campaigns have been planned by the party but they are all positive ones like how to remove hurdles and how development should be a real one, not like the one where at election time, an airport is inaugurated and picture of China is shown on social media, showing development in advertisement when actually all sections are feeling harassed ,” she said.

    When asked if politics is safe for women, she said in the Congress list, women who have struggled a lot will be given a place.

    The woman who was manhandled in the recent panchayat elections and whose sari was pulled in the public will also find a place, she said.

    Stressing that men need to change their views and look at women as equal, Priyanka to another question said for 25 years, her focus had been her house and children and though it is difficult, managing politics and household duties is not too much of a problem.

    The Congress leader said she had been in Covid isolation for the past one week and requested patience as she was using the platform for the first time.

    As model code of conduct comes into force, the Uttar Pradesh food safety commissioner on Saturday ordered not to distribute free food packets containing photographs of the prime minister and chief minister at the fair price shops.

    The order in this regard was issued by food commissioner Sorabh Babu to all district magistrates of the state after the Election Commission on Saturday announced the poll schedule in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa.

    “The food commissioner of Uttar Pradesh issued directions to all district magistrates of the state not to distribute free food packets containing photographs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and tagline’Soch Imaandaar, Kaam Damdaar’, at the fair price shops,” it said.

    In the politically important Uttar Pradesh, voting will be held in 403 assembly seats, starting from the western region and will move towards the east over seven phases from February 10 to March 7.

    The Model Code of Conduct has come into effect in the five poll-bound states.

    It will be a “80 per cent versus 20 per cent” election in Uttar Pradesh and the BJP will retain power in the state, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath asserted on Saturday and said his party will fight the polls on issues of nationalism, good governance and development.

    Voting for the high-stakes assembly elections will be held in seven phases, starting from the western part of the politically crucial state on February 10 and moving eastwards, with the final phase on March 7.

    It will be an “80 per cent versus 20 per cent” poll in Uttar Pradesh, Adityanath claimed while speaking on the last day of a two-day Doordarshan Conclave ‘Kitna Badla UP’ here.

    His remarks came before the Election Commission on Saturday announced the poll schedule for Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Manipur and Punjab, bringing the Model Code of Conduct into effect.

    “The 80 per cent supporters will be on one side while 20 per cent will be on the other. I think 80 per cent will move forward with positive energy whereas 20 per cent have always opposed and will oppose further. The BJP will win, and again work to take forward the ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ campaign,” Adityanath said.

    Muslims constitute around 20 per cent of the state’s population.

    Hitting out at Adityanath for his remarks, Samajwadi Party (SP) spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhari said, “Although the statement of 80 per cent versus 20 per cent is aimed at giving a communal colour, but people will not take notice of it.”

    There will be no such issue as Hindu-Muslim in these elections, and people will vote to save democracy, he said.

    “The CM is mentioning the poll percentage that will come the BJP’s way, which is 20 per cent. The BJP is a party of only 20 per cent, and 80 per cent people will vote against it. People have made up their mind to vote the BJP out because of its wrongdoings in the past five years,” Chaudhari said.

    Congress national spokesman P L Punia said, “The BJP has always indulged in politics of polarisation. It has done nothing on the development front, so today it is talking about 80 per cent versus 20 per cent.”

    “The BJP has done nothing. It run the government on basis of events. This (CM’s statement) is a sort of acceptance of defeat. The BJP has nothing to talk about but rake up the Hindu-Muslim issue. This will not help it,” state Congress spokesman Ashok Singh said.

    During the programme, Adityanath also said, “I can say with confidence that some, who are victims of misunderstanding, are trying to impose their numbers (in terms of population). But, this election will be 80 versus 20. The 80 per cent supporters will be on one side, 20 per cent on the other.” Attacking the previous SP government, he said before 2017, there used to be riots in the state and “professional rioters” were honoured at the chief minister’s residence.

    “The government and police used to plead in front of rioters. Changes came after 2017. Today professional rioters are hiding or have gone on a journey to another world. Before 2017, terrorists carried out explosions wherever they wanted, but after 2017, there has not been a single blast, not a single riot. The difference is clear,” he said.

    The BJP after forming government in Uttar Pradesh in 2017, has worked on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mantra of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’, Adityanath said, adding “we have given benefits of development schemes to every one, we have done development of all, but have not appeased anyone”.

    “If someone considers this as our weakness, then this weakness will always be with us, because nationalism is our culture. We will never deviate from the issue of our nationalism. Secondly, how will any anti-India or anti-Hindu elements accept Modi ji and Yogi, they will never accept us,” he said.

    “Even if I cut off my neck and present it in front of such elements on a plate, they will still curse me. We don’t care about such elements,” Adityanath said.

    The BJP will fight the polls on issues of nationalism, good governance, development and the rule of law.

    “The rule of law and everyone’s safety is our priority, but not anyone’s appeasement,” he said.

    Taking a swipe at the BJP’s political opponents, he said, “They are not sure if they will make it to opposition benches this time. Me or the BJP are not panicking, we will enjoy the election like a festival.”

    To a question, he said let a grand temple of Lord Ram be built in Ayodhya, and then “we will build a grand memorial in the memory of those who were “martyred” for the Ram Janmabhoomi”.

    Stressing that he is committed to the 25 crore people of the state, the chief minister said his goal has been to establish the rule of law without discrimination.

    In an apparent reference to SP, Bahujan Samaj Party and Congress, he said they were like students who have never attended classes and are now nervous.

    Speaking on the Covid situation, Adityanath said his government has made extensive and adequate arrangements to deal with the third wave of the pandemic.

    There is no need to panic, he asserted.

    He also spoke about the new law against those who try to destroy or burn public property, saying recovery will be made from such people.

    People of Uttar Pradesh are waiting to bid goodbye to the BJP government on March 10 when votes will be counted, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said on Saturday welcoming the announcement of the assembly poll schedule for UP and four other states.

    He also sought to assure that his party would abide by all the conditions laid down by the Election Commission to ensure Covid-safe polls in the state.

    Yadav, however, appealed to the EC to ensure that regional parties also get proper space on digital platforms on which he alleged the BJP was dominating due to its governments in the Centre and UP and its vast financial resources.

    He made a plea to the poll panel to assist resource-scared smaller parties infrastructurally to hold virtual rallies during the seven-phase of polling in the state.

    “We welcome the announcement of dates for the UP polls. People of the state have been waiting for March 10 to say goodbye to the BJP,” Akhilesh said after the declaration of poll dates starting from February 10 and ending on March 7 in UP.

    “March das, aa raha hai Akhilesh,” the SP claimed in a tweet.

    On being pointed out that the EC has banned the holding of physical rallies or other modes of the physical campaign till January 15 at least, he said the party would abide by the EC decisions effective till January 15 and also the ones that would be taken after it.

    He, however, urged the EC to ensure a level-playing field for the regional parties on digital platforms on which he alleged “BJP hawi hai” (BJP is dominating) because of having the government at the Centre as well as the state and also due to their financial heft.

    “The EC should ensure that regional parties also get space on national TV channels, regional channels and social media platforms during the election,” the SP chief said.

    Asked if the SP was fearing that it would not be able to compete with the BJP on the digital platforms, Akhilesh asserted “SP is not weak.” It was the SP government which had distributed laptops to youths during its government in the state between 2012 and 2017.

    Hitting out at the BJP, he said the “double engine” government merely spread “lies” all these five years in UP.

    “They did nothing for farmers despite promising to double their income. The BJP will be wiped out in the state on March 10,” he said.

    Going a step further, the SP claimed on Twitter that “after March 10 people will not have to pay for 300 units of electricity consumed and the bill will be zero up to this limit.”

    The SP which lost to the BJP badly in 2017, has allied with the RLD and some caste-centric regional parties to defeat the saffron party in the 2022 polls.

  • BJP sets up 24-member election committee for UP polls; RSS to reach out to Muslim women

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: The ruling BJP on Wednesday set up a 24-member election committee, including Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls next year.

    According to a statement issued by the UP BJP, after the approval of party’s national president Jagat Prakash Nadda, the national general secretary of the party, Arun Singh, announced names of the members of the committee.

    The committee includes state BJP president Swatantradev Singh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Deputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma besides Union ministers Sanjeev Balyan and SP Singh Baghel, the statement added.

    Earlier in the day, Swatantra Dev Singh claimed the Jan Vishwas Yatras, which covered all 403 Assembly constituencies, were immensely successful in apprising the people of the state of welfare schemes of the state and central government.

    “We can confidently say that we are going to get blessings of the people in the coming elections,” Singh said, adding that voters are not going to fall for false promises of the Samajwadi Party.

    The RSS Muslim wing has plans to hold a door-to-door campaign in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh to apprise women from the community of the measures taken by the BJP governments at the Centre and the state for their welfare and empowerment.

    As part of the move, the Muslim Rashtriya Manch (MRM) has decided to organise at least 50 meetings with minority community members in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the Assembly polls next year.

    “From the scrapping of instant triple talaq to increasing the minimum age of marriage from 18 to 21, the BJP government has taken several measures for the welfare and empowerment of Muslim women and the minority community,” MRM’s national convenor Shahid Sayeed told PTI.

    To apprise the minority community members of the measures that the Narendra Modi and Yogi Adityanath governments have taken for their welfare, the MRM has decided to organise at least 50 small and big meetings in the next 70 days across Uttar Pradesh, he said.

    Besides, door-to-door public awareness campaigns will also be carried out to reach out to the community members, especially women, in the state, he said.

    “Women’s wing of the MRM will take the lead in the execution of the plan under the leadership and guidance of our chief patron Indresh Kumar (a senior RSS leader),” he said.

    Sayeed said the MRM organised two such meetings recently, one in Ayodhya and the other in Amroha of Uttar Pradesh.

    Kumar, the MRM’s founder and chief patron, presided over these meetings, he said.

    “The meeting in Ayodhya, held on December 28, concluded with passage of a resolution (which noted) that a law to control the population of the country is the need of the hour to prevent the possibility of a civil war in future,” he added.

  • Lord Krishna tells me daily in my dreams that I’ll establish Ram Rajya in UP after polls: Akhilesh Yadav

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party supremo on Monday claimed that Lord Krishna comes to his dreams every night to tell him that he would form the government and establish “Ram Rajya” in Uttar Pradesh after the state’s upcoming assembly polls.

    Former UP chief minister Yadav made the claim, albeit in a lighter vein, during a function held for the induction of BJP’s Bahraich MLA Madhuri Verma into his party.

    A Kurmi by caste, Verma is a second-time MLA.

    She was also a member of UP’s Legislative Council from 2010 to 2012 Elated over the induction of sitting BJP MLA from the Nanpara assembly seat in Bahraich district, Yadav asserted that he is on his way to form government in Uttar Pradesh.

    “The way to Ram Rajya is through the path of Samajwad (socialism).

    The day ‘Samajwad’ is established, the “Ram Rajya” will be set up in the state,” the SP president said.

    He went on to add, “Lord Sri Krishna comes to my dreams every night to tell me that our government is coming up (in UP).”

    He also claimed that the Yogi Adityanath government has “failed” in the state.

    Alluding to a galaxy of BJP leaders doing the poll campaign in UP, Yadav referred to the infamous practice of some students’ guardians in some states, including UP and Bihar, descending on their examination centres to help their wards resort to unfair means.

    And then dubbing Adityanath as having failed as CM, Yadav likened the BJP leaders’ poll efforts to those of students’ guardians to help a “failed” Adityanath win the UP polls.

    Reacting to the BJP allegation of his party having several criminals and gangsters, Adityanath retorted, “It is the allegation of a party which made a man facing several heinous criminal cases the UP chief minister.”

    “I wonder if the BJP has bought a washing machine to cleanse all its criminals and mafia elements,” he wryly said.

    “There were many veteran leaders in the BJP who strengthened the party for years with their blood and sweat. Even they say at times that it was they who sweated it out for the party but don’t know where did Adityanath come from and was forced upon them,” Yadav said.

    On a question on Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s statement that he would contest the upcoming assembly elections from wherever his party wants, Yadav said irrespective of where he fights from, he would face grilling from the people on his “failed” promises, including the doubling of farmers’ income.

    To a question on his own seat for contesting the assembly polls, Yadav said his party will take a call on this.

    Referring to China changing the names of some villages in Arunachal Pradesh, the SP chief quipped, “Our neighbouring country has learnt something from our chief minister. It has changed the names of our villages. The was a trend started by our chief minister but China too has learnt it from him.”

    On senior IAS officer Durga Shankar Mishra being made the UP’s new chief secretary, the SP chief said, “Our Baba Mukhyamantri was sleeping and suddenly his chief secretary was changed and he did not know. He himself says I sleep till 12 noon.”

    On his poll promise of providing 300 units of electricity free to domestic consumers, if the SP is voted to power, Akhilesh Yadav said it is the BJP, which has got the maximum shock from his free power promise.

    He said the promise was made because the SP in its previous tenure from 2012 to 2017 had started several power projects which were never completed by the BJP government.

    If he is voted to power, he said, those projects will be completed and all the domestic consumers will get 300 units of electricity free of cost.