News Analysis India

Tag: UP polls

  • Congress gears up for municipal elections in Uttar Pradesh

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: The Congress, which faced a debacle in the 2022 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, has started preparations for contesting the upcoming municipal polls likely to be held later this year in the state.

    The party will launch a digital membership drive with an aim to reach 1.5 crore people through it, its state spokesman Krishnakant Pandey said on Monday. “The party has identified seven zones in UP for preparations for the elections,” Pandey said.

    The state has 17 municipal corporations, over 200 municipal councils and 450 city councils. The party has asked probable candidates to file an application form in which they will have to give details of 300 supporters, among others.

    “For favourable results in municipal elections, the party has decided to expand its outreach programme with a special focus on social media. We are planning to launch digital membership drive and aim to reach 1.5 crore people through it,” said Pandey.

    The party will also appoint ward in-charges and a grievance redressal committee at district level, the spokesman said.

    However, he did not reveal whether the party will fight alone in the municipal elections or will form an alliance with any party.

    The Congress contested on all 403 seats in the recent UP assembly elections, but managed to secure victory on only two seats. The party had won seven seats in 2017 assembly elections.

  • CM Adityanath, Akhilesh Yadav take oath as members of UP Assembly

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday took oath as member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly.

    After Adityanath, Akhilesh Yadav, who has been named as the Leader of the Opposition, took oath as MLA.

    While Adityanath won the recent state polls from the Gorakhpur Urban seat, Yadav was elected as an MLA from the Karhal assembly constituency.

    Pro-tem speaker Ramapati Shastri administered oath to members in the House.

  • Patel slammed for Yogi-Modi remark    

    By Express News Service

    AHMEDABAD:  “No one can break the Modi-Yogi jodi (pair), and no one has been able to become the chief minister in Uttar Pradesh for a second consecutive time. This is the first time a BJP chief minister has formed the government in UP for the second time,” said Uttar Pradesh Governer Anandiben Patel in Gujarat on Sunday She was speaking after presiding over the earth-breaking ceremony of the Kiran Medical college at Surat district.

    Meanwhile, the UP Governor’s statement was strongly opposed by the Gujarat Congress. According to party spokesperson Manish Doshi, “Both the Governor and the President of India are constitutional posts and the person holding the post should maintain the dignity of the post. A person sitting in this position, even if he/she belongs to a political party, should do away with political statements.”

    Incidentally, political analysts are also linking Anandiben’s statement with the forthcoming Assembly elections in Gujarat.  Dilip Patel, a political analyst, said, “One thing to remember is that Anandiben is a sharp politician who never states without a reason. After Bhupendra Patel’s regime came to power, the clout of Anandiben has increased and anyone here can feel it.”

    “So her Modi-Yogi account means that she believes that the C R Patil (state BJP chief)-Bhupendra Patel pair will mean similar connotations for the polls in Gujarat,” he said.  

  • Swearing-in ceremony of Uttar Pradesh government to held on March 25

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: The swearing-in ceremony of the newly elected BJP government in Uttar Pradesh will be held in the state capital on March 25, a senior government official said on Friday.

    The ceremony will take place at Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ikana stadium in Lucknow at 4 pm on March 25, he said.

    Before the ceremony, Yogi Adityanath, who led the party to a thumping victory in the just concluded elections, will be elected as the leader of the House, party sources said. This is the second consecutive term of Adityanath.

    Senior BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP national president J P Nadda, are likely to attend the event, sources said.

    Besides chief ministers of other BJP-ruled states are also expected to attend the function, they said, adding that top leaders of opposition parties will also be extended the invitations.

    Massive preparations for the function have already started wherein beneficiaries of various schemes of the previous Yogi Adityanath government, including women, will be invited, they said.

    The size of the ministry or who all will be taking oath on the day is not clear as of now, they added.

    The BJP won 255 seats in the 403-member assembly and its allies won 18 seats, paving way for the saffron party to return to power for the second consecutive term.

    Elections in the northern state were held in seven phases and the results were announced on March 10.

  • BJP moves to find lasting solution to stray cattle issue in UP

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: Days after winning the polls in UP, the BJP has moved to find ways to fulfill the promises it made in its election manifesto.

    The party has decided to tackle the issue of stray cattle on priority as it had great resonance and anger against the ruling party on the ground. Moreover, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also promised to the voters at a rally in Unnao before the fifth phase of the assembly polls a lasting solution to the stray cattle problem on priority after coming to power.

    Moving ahead to find a lasting solution to the perennial problem of stray cattle, the BJP, which is yet to form the formal government in the state, is contemplating setting up large and sustainable cattle protection centres with biogas plants in each district across the state. As per the plan, a fine would also be imposed on those found freeing the cattle to feed on crops in rural areas, said the highly placed sources.

    During the elections, the issue of stray cattle was a big issue in rural areas right from the west to the east. People used to rake up the issue which was the result of the policy of shutting down illegal slaughterhouses where infirm cattle used to be slaughtered. However, after coming to power in 2017, Yogi Adityanath’s government first decision was to shut illegal slaughterhouses and send the infirmed cattle to protection houses.

    ALSO READ | New faces likely in Yogi Cabinet 2.0; caste balance, performance to decide new team

    As per the sources, the animal husbandry department on Monday made a presentation on a new plan to deal with the stray cattle problem to chief secretary DS Mishra. However, the final approval to the plan would be given by Yogi Adityanath himself after taking the oath of office.

    At the Monday meeting, it was proposed to set up large and financially sustainable cattle protection centre in each of the 75 districts.

    According to an official, with the housing capacity for 1,000 or more animals, each such centre would have a biogas plant to produce cooking gas and sell the same to locals besides making products from cattle dung thus paving way for the farmers to earn more through infirmed cattle.

    Currently, the state government is protecting nine lakh infirmed cattle at protection centres. Of those, one lakh have been given to farmers. Moreover, those entrusted with protecting cattle are given Rs 900 per month per animal for its nurturing.

    As per the senior officials, there is also a proposal to fix a fine as a deterrent to being imposed on the villagers who would be found freeing their cattle to feed upon the crops. The provision of the fine already existed in cities.

    The sources also claimed that under the new scheme of things, the Panchayati Raj department would be entrusted with catching the stray cattle and putting them into the cattle protection centres in the rural areas and the local bodies in the cities. The animal husbandry department’s job may largely be confined toear-tagging, vaccination and treatment of cattle.

  • New faces likely in Yogi Cabinet 2.0; caste balance, performance to decide new team

    By ANI

    LUCKNOW: Days after the BJP retained power for the second consecutive term in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is scheduled to visit Delhi on Sunday to discuss the new cabinet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

    National President JP Nadda, Amit Shah and BL Santosh in Delhi will be present at the meeting. The swearing-in ceremony date will also be discussed during the meeting.

    As per sources, the BJP is also considering several new faces in the Cabinet along with the new Deputy Chief Minister.

    State President Swatantrata Dev Singh, BJP leader Sunil Bansal, state in-charge Radha Mohan Singh will also accompany Adityanath to Delhi on Sunday.

    It is being speculated that the BJP leadership has prepared a basic list of probable Deputy Chief Ministers and Ministers on the basis of qualification, caste and regional equations because BJP gives place to every caste in its cabinet. The Central leadership will have the final say on the list.

    For the post of Deputy Chief Minister, the names of Swatantra Dev Singh, Baby Rani Maurya, Brijesh Pathak and Keshav Prasad Maurya are in talks. Swatantra Dev Singh was the Transport Minister, apart from this he was the BJP state president.

    Keshav Prasad Maurya has definitely lost from Sirathu seat in the elections this time but he is the face of OBC. As Deputy Chief Minister, he has governed the state well, so once again he can be made the Deputy Chief Minister.

    Baby Rani Maurya has been the Governor of Uttarakhand and is a well-known face of Jatav society in Uttar Pradesh. Brijesh Pathak, of the Brahmin community, has been a law minister in the Uttar Pradesh government. UP BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh, who is also a Kurmi leader, was one of the prominent faces behind BJP’s big win in Uttar Pradesh.

    Law Minister Brijesh Pathak, who won from Lucknow Cantonment seat, may get the role of Deputy Chief Minister in the Yogi government to maintain the Brahmin equation.In Yogi Sarkar 2, the leadership is also considering the inclusion of two former police officers in the new cabinet- Rajeshwar Singh and Asim Arun.

    The newly-elected MLA from Sarojini Nagar seat of Lucknow, Dr Rajeshwar Singh was an officer of Uttar Pradesh Police. BJP MLA Aseem Arun has won from Kannauj (Sadar) seat. Asim Arun was an officer of the rank of ADG. Before being the first police commissioner of Kanpur, Asim Arun’s father late Ram Arun was twice the DGP of Uttar Pradesh.

    Many Bharatiya Janata Party leaders have won by a huge margin of votes. In this, the candidate from the Noida Assembly seat and Union Defense Minister Rajnath Singh’s son Pankaj Singh has won by a margin of 1,81,513 votes.

    The BJP senior leaders are also discussing Pankaj Singh getting a place in the Yogi cabinet. Till now, no one from Noida had got a place in the Yogi cabinet, so it is expected that this time Pankaj Singh, who has performed brilliantly in 2017 and now in 2022 too, can be made a minister in the Yogi government.

    Shalabh Mani Tripathi, a Brahmin young face close to Yogi and an experienced journalist, can be made a minister in the Yogi cabinet. Shalabh has also been in ABVP earlier.Allies Apna Dal and Nishad Party would also get a place in the Cabinet-MLC Ashish Patel and Sanjay Nishad can get important roles to play.

    Besides the new faces, old leaders like Suresh Khanna, who won with a landslide victory from the Shahjahanpur seat for the ninth consecutive time, can also be made a minister.Brijesh Pathak and Keshav Prasad Maurya can also be part of the cabinet again.

    The swearing-in of the Yogi government is likely to be held on March 15 or 21.

    Adityanath on Friday tendered his resignation to Governor Anandiben Patel at the Raj Bhavan in Lucknow.

    Following the massive victory in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, Adityanath on Friday held a meeting with his ministerial colleagues at the party office in Lucknow. Adityanath, a monk-turned-politician, won his first-ever Assembly election by a margin of 1,03,390 from Gorakhpur Urban constituency, defeating the Samajwadi Party candidate Subhawati Upendra Dutt Shukla, who secured 62,109 votes in the recently-concluded UP Assembly elections. Adityanath will be the first Chief Minister in the last 37 years to return to power after completing a full term in the state.

  • ‘Priyanka Gandhi should stay put in UP despite worst ever poll performance’ 

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: With just two seats and a 2 per cent vote share, the Congress fell to its lowest ever tally in Uttar Pradesh under Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as general secretary in charge of the state. Her high voltage campaign and decision to give 40 per cent tickets to women candidates, failed to make a mark but party leaders say she should continue focusing on the state and stay put in order to revive the party.        

    Priyanka addressed over 160 rallies and over 40 roadshows in UP but she started focusing on the state towards the fag end of elections. A senior party leader said that if she would have started touring and focusing on UP a year and a half back, things would have been a little different.

    She should keep focusing on UP and continue her connection with people and that will help the party in 2024,  noted a Congress Rajya Sabha member.

    ALSO READ | Congress campaign focussed on women, youth couldn’t arrest its slide in UP

    “It is very disheartening that we have come to 2 per cent vote share in a state we ruled for several years but Priyanka should continue her work on the ground and focus on the state. She should make Lucknow as her base and stay here rather than making episodic visits ahead of elections,” said a senior UP Congress leader.

    There was no denial that the party and Priyanka herself knew the party’s fate in assembly elections and kept speaking that irrespective of results, she will stay put in the state. “We have just started the fight and we have to keep going with energy and strength,” she told party workers, a day before the results.

    Like brother Rahul Gandhi, many leaders questioned her choice of her core team which made many senior UP leaders feel insulted and uncomfortable. Besides several senior leaders, Priyanka’s close aide Lalithesh Tripathi, RPN Singh, Jitender Prasada, and Anu Tandon left the party in the run-up to the assembly elections.

    Her personal secretary Sandeep Singh and UP Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lalu have been blamed for giving her ground feedback that was far from true.

    “She needs to get a good team who have knowledge about the UP and understand the state. It is a tough task to revive the Congress as the party base has completely eroded and the election trends show that our loyal voters have also shifted this time,” said a former union minister. 

  • UP polls: Political parties await results with bated breath

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: The stage is set for the culmination of the seven-phased electoral battle for Lucknow in the country’s most populous and politically most crucial state of Uttar Pradesh with the counting of votes to 403 assembly constituencies on Thursday.

    While the outcome of the 2022 assembly elections will be in a way a referendum on incumbent chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s performance, for others like the Samajwadi Party (SP), the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Congress, it will be a do-or-die battle.

    No wonder then that the parties breached all barriers in holding a two-month-long high-octane campaign across 75 districts to woo voters outside the ambit of their clout and respective caste bases. However, the Election Commission of India imposed restrictions owing to the omicron-driven third wave of Covid-19.

    In what was appearing to be a bipolar contest between the ruling BJP and the main opposition Samajwadi Party, Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party relatively remained a silent player on the ground with the limited appearance of chief Mayawati in the poll arena. Mayawati has helmed UP for four terms as CM. After forming the government thrice in alliance with the BJP, Mayawati came to power with an absolute majority in 2007. On the other, Congress, which had been put of power in UP since 1989, succeeded in getting visibility through its extensive campaign across the state, this time.

    ALSO READ | Assembly polls: Stage set for counting of votes in Uttar Pradesh

    While the ruling BJP contested in alliance with its tried and tested partner Apna Dal (S) led by Anupriya Patel, who is a minister in Modi cabinet and NISHAD, led by Dr Sanjay Nishad, an MLC coming from the boatmen community among the most backward castes. The BJP fielded candidates on 376 of the total 403 Assembly segments leaving 24 seats for the allies.

    As for the Samajwadi Party, taking lessons from its back-to-back defeats since 2014, Akhilesh Yadav tried to beat the saffron brigade in its own game this time by stitching a rainbow coalition of seven smaller caste-based parties to do away with the tag of ‘the party of Yadavs and Muslims’.  SP had struck an alliance with Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), Mahan Dal, Janwadi Party (Socialist), Apna Dal faction led by Krishna Patel, Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party, Shivpal Yadav’s Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party and Gondwana Gantantra Party. BSP and Congress did not have any alliance and fielded candidates on all 403 seats.

    The notification for the seven-phases UP elections was issued on January 8 and the voting for 58 seats of 11 western UP districts in the first phase took place on February 10. The second phase for 55 seats across nine districts took place on February 14 followed by the third phase for 59 seats across 16 districts on February 20, the fourth phase for 61 seats across nine districts on February 23, fifth phase for 60 seats across 10 districts on February 27, sixth phase for 57 seats across 10 districts on March 3 and the last phase of voting for 54 seats across nine districts took place on March 7.

  • Assembly polls: Stage set for counting of votes in Uttar Pradesh

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: Counting of votes polled in the crucial Uttar Pradesh elections will take place on Thursday, the outcome of which will decide whether the BJP returns to power for the second consecutive term.

    “Counting in all the 75 districts of the state will begin at 8 am. The postal ballots will be counted first, and then the votes polled in the EVMs will be counted,” a senior election official told PTI.

    Almost all the exit polls have predicted that the BJP will return to power. They have forecast an increase in Samajwadi Party’s tally but not enough to form the government.

    The exit polls have forecast double-digit numbers for the BSP and single-digit count for the Congress.

    Both the SP and BSP have dismissed the exit polls, claiming that they would win the poll comfortably and form their government in the state, which has a 403-member assembly.

    If the BJP comes to power, it would be a record for a party getting re-elected in UP for a second term in over three decades.

    In 2017, BJP had won 312 seats on its own while NDA’s figure was 325. The SP had won 47, BSP 19 and the Congress had won seven seats, two less than Apna Dal (S) at nine.

    The BJP went in the polls this time with Apna Dal (Sonelal) and NISHAD party while Akhilesh Yadav had formed a rainbow coalition with RLD and a string of regional parties, including Om Prakash Rajbhar’s Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP).

    Considering its bearing on the 2024 Parliamentary elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP president J P Nadda and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath aggressively campaigned across the state to drum up support for the saffron party.

    On Tuesday, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav accused the ruling BJP of trying to “steal” votes and claimed a truck carrying EVMs was “intercepted” in Varanasi, but the Election Commission clarified that the machines were for training officials on counting duty and had not been used in elections.

    In a statement issued late on Tuesday night, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer of UP said, “Rumours were spread by people of some political party by stopping the vehicle and alleging that these EVMs were used in elections.”

    According to the report sent by the District Election Officer (of Varanasi), it was found during the investigation that these EVMs were marked for training. “Training has been organised for March 9 (Wednesday),” it had said.

    The voting for the politically-important state was done in seven rounds starting February 10.

    For the opposition, Akhilesh addressed 131 rallies and roadshows to take on the pantheon of leaders from the ruling camp.

    Mayawati, whose absence on the ground had initially triggered speculations that BSP was out of the power race, also hit the streets in favour of her party nominees.

    Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who led the party from the front in UP, attended 209 rallies and roadshows, maximum among top leaders of various parties, in a bid to regain lost ground for her party in the Hindi heartland.

    Sonia Gandhi virtually addressed voters in her Rae Bereli constituency while Rahul Gandhi addressed two rallies – one in Amethi and another in Varanasi.

    Elaborating about arrangements on March 10, the election official said, “Covid protocols, including the use of hand gloves, sanitisers, masks, thermal scanners and adhering to social distancing norms, will be followed at the counting centres throughout the state.”

    “The votes cast through postal ballots, including those by people with disabilities and senior citizens above 80 years, will be counted manually, while the votes of the service voters — ETPBS (Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System) will be done online,” he said.

    Apart from this, VVPAT (Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail) slips of five machines will be counted in every assembly constituency.

    The Supreme Court had on April 8, 2019 directed the Election Commission to increase random matching of VVPAT slips with EVMs to five polling booths per assembly segment, from one, during the then Lok Sabha polls, saying it will provide greater satisfaction not just to political parties but to the entire electorate.

    Video and static cameras have been installed at all the counting centres, the official said, adding media centres have also been set up there.

    “Adequate AROs (Assistant Returning Officers) have been deployed in every assembly constituency for interruption-free counting,” the senior official said.

    Elaborating on the security arrangements, the official said a three-layer security set-up has been made comprising of central police forces, PAC (Provincial Armed Constabulary) and the state police.

    A total of 250 companies of CAPFs (Central Armed Police Forces) have been provided to all the districts and commissionerates on March 10, the police said.

    According to officials, a CAPF company usually has around 70-80 personnel. Of the 250, 36 companies have been earmarked for EVM security and 214 for maintaining law and order. Besides the CAPFs, 61 companies of PAC have also been provided to all districts, they said.

    Officials said 625 gazetted officers of UP Police; 1,807 inspectors; 9,598 sub-inspectors, 11,627 head constables and 48,649 constables have also been put on duty.

    The Model Code of Conduct came into force on January 8 after the announcement of polls in Uttar Pradesh by the Election Commission.

  • 54.18 per cent voting recorded till 5 pm in Uttar Pradesh polls

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: Over 54 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 5 pm in the seventh and last phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections for 54 seats on Monday.

    Voting started at 7 am.

    It ended at 4 pm in Chakia (Chandauli), Robertsganj and the Duddhi (Sonbhadra) seats, while in the rest of the segments, it continued till 6 pm.

    The districts where polls are underway in this phase are Azamgarh, Mau, Jaunpur, Ghazipur, Chandauli, Varanasi, Mirzapur, Bhadohi and Sonbhadra.

    The voting percentage till 5 pm was 54.18 per cent, according to the Election Commission’s ‘Voter Turnout’ application.

    While Azamgarh witnessed 52.34 per cent voting, Bhadohi saw 54.26 per cent, Chandauli 59.59 per cent, Ghazipur 53.67 per cent, Jaunpur 53.55 per cent, Mau 55.04 per cent, Mirzapur 54.93 per cent, Sonbhadra 56.95 per cent and Varanasi 52.79 per cent, it showed.

    A total of 613 candidates are in the fray for the 54 seats, including those falling in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary segment Varanasi.

    The fate of Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party president Om Prakash Rajbhar and several state ministers will be decided in this round, in which 2.06 crore people are eligible to vote.

    Besides state Tourism Minister Neelkanth Tiwari, who is contesting for the Varanasi South seat, other ministers in the fray in the last leg of the elections are Anil Rajbhar (Shivpur-Varanasi), Ravindra Jaiswal (Varanasi North), Girish Yadav (Jaunpur) and Ramashankar Singh Patel (Marihan-Mirzapur).

    Dara Singh Chauhan, who had resigned from the Yogi Adityanath cabinet and joined the Samajwadi Party (SP), is contesting from the Ghosi seat in Mau.

    Om Prakash Rajbhar (Zahoorabad), Dhananjay Singh (Malhani-Jaunpur) as the JD(U) candidate, and Abbas Ansari, the son of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, from Mau Sadar seat, are contesting in this phase.

    Campaigning in this phase reached its crescendo with Modi leading the BJP’s poll blitzkrieg in Varanasi and its adjoining districts.

    The state has 403 Assembly seats and the results of the elections will be declared on March 10.