News Analysis India

Tag: UP Polls 2022

  • 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.

  • UP: In ‘Madad Palace’ of BJP leader, temple, mosque exist in harmony

    By PTI

    BAHRAICH: In ‘Madad Palace’ of a BJP leader in Uttar Pradesh, almost all religions have found a place.

    Every morning, Arunveer Singh offers prayers at a temple, mosque, gurdwara and church at his home in Hariharpur Raikwari village in Bahraich district.

    The practice has been going on in his house, popularly called Madad Palace, for the past about five decades.

    Arunveer Singh (59), who is fighting the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections from the Muslim-dominant Matera seat, believes that the age-old communal harmony being practiced at the palace will help him in the polls.

    His father Yashveer Singh had built the places of worship in Madad Palace in 1967.

    The purpose was that the palace could represent the mixed culture of the village and surrounding areas, and where people of all faiths could worship.

    “Respect for mixed culture is in our blood. Our grandfather Late Yashveer Singh had built a temple, mosque, gurdwara, church as well as Lord Buddha’s temple in this palace so that people of all religions could worship here,” Arunveer’s son Karanvir told PTI.

    “The doors of the palace were always open for the needy. Maybe that’s why the palace was named Madad,” he said.

    “Our village has a mixed population. When we have a havan in the palace, people from the Muslim community also sit together. We also attend their events in the same way,” Karanvir said.

    Arunveer Singh said that he is proud that he truly represents Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of equal development of all.

    “I claim with pride in all election speeches that I have fully imbibed PM Modi’s slogan ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas’. We rise above caste and religion and work for all including Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and Buddhists,” he said.

    Arunveer Singh had joined the BJP in 2016 from the Samajwadi Party (SP).

    He has been a member of the Legislative Council once from local bodies’ constituency and twice the member of the Legislative Assembly from the Fakharpur seat during the old delimitation when he was in the SP.

    Arunveer’s younger brother Atulveer’s wife Manju Singh is the chairman of zila panchayat.

    Arunveer said that though Matera is a Muslim majority area, given the image of his family and also his own, he expects to get the votes of Muslims as well in the election.

    Former cabinet minister and SP leader Yasar Shah is the current MLA from the seat.

    In the 2017 elections, Yasar Shah had defeated Arunveer by about 1,500 votes.

    This time the SP has fielded Yasar Shah’s wife Maria Shah from Matera.

    The Congress has given the ticket to Ali Akbar, who had finished second in the 2012 state elections.

    The AIMIM and the BSP have also fielded candidates from the Muslim communities.

    Voting for the Matera seat will be held on February 27 in the fifth phase of the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.

  • INTERVIEW | Nationalism, development, good law and order on BJP’s agenda, says Yogi Adityanath

    Express News Service

    The BJP will win 80 per cent seats in the Uttar Pradesh assembly and in the rest of 20 per cent, all other parties will try to find their feet. The BJP’s agenda is nationalism, development, and good law and order, UP CM and BJP leader Yogi Adityanath told Namita Bajpai in an interview. Excerpts: 

    Q. With UP polls already halfway, where do you find BJP standing?

    A. We are going ahead with nationalism, development and good law and order agenda. We are coming back winning 80 percent of seats in the state and forming the government as people have the confidence that BJP can provide them security and development.

    Q. Your statement over 80 per cent vs 20 per cent has drawn strong reactions. Your take

    A. I speak only what is real. I have been saying right from the beginning that this is a tussle of 80 percent and 20 percent. People have interpreted this as per their own perceptions. What I meant by saying it was that BJP will win 80 per cent of seats and in the rest of 20 per cent, all others will try to find their feet.

    Q. The polls in UP have become more or less bipolar between BJP and SP. Will it impact BJP prospects?

    A. In the 2019 General elections, SP and BSP had come together to stitch a mahagathbandhan (grand alliance). Even RLD was also a part of it and Congress had a tacit understanding with them. It had turned out to be a bipolar contest even then as it had become a fight of BJP Vs all. In that election, the BJP had taken a lead on 287-290 assembly segments. It was neither a triangular nor four-corner fight then. It was a straight fight and we won 80 per cent of the Lok Sabha seats. Rest 20 per cent were divided among others. Ironically, Samajwadi Party, leading the grand alliance, had slipped to the number three position. BSP was ahead of it.

    Q. Was SP-RLD alliance a setback for BJP in western UP?

    RLD was with the SP in the previous Lok Sabha elections as well. The results were there for everyone to see. It is not going to make much difference.

    Q. Why has there been an apparent shift from development to law and order in BJP’s narrative?

    A. Development becomes real and meaningful only when the poor feel secured and protected. Rule of law is the basic tenet of good governance. The first condition to establish rule of law is a genuine effort made by the dispensation to ensure security and respect to one and all without any discrimination. So we focused on law and order. We have made the state curfew-free, riot-free and fearless. There has been no riot and hence, no prolonged curfews during the last five years. We have inculcated fearlessness and confidence among girls who can now step out freely at any time. It was beyond imagination before 2017. We focused on the issue of rule of law but I have never missed the discussion on the development and welfare of the deprived in my discourse. Possibly, this is the first election post-independence, when people are acknowledging openly that law and order have improved genuinely on the ground.

    Q. Your poll speeches reflect that you are back to hardline and aggressiveness?

    A. There is neither a hard-line nor a soft line in BJP. We have only a single line shown by Lord Ram to rid the earth of demons or the one shown by Lord Krishna in Bhagwad Gita — Paritranaya Sadhunam (for the welfare of holy people). We follow these philosophies. We work to ensure a peaceful life for people bringing anti-social elements and criminals into the ambit of the law. We have tried to work to achieve this relentlessly and have already got our goal and vision set for the next five years.

    Q. SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav feels that your statement — Garmi Utar Jayegi — has offended many.

    A. Naturally, the statement will annoy them. The reason is that all those who used to resort to lawlessness and intimidation of others are associated with them. Be it the person behind Kairana migration or rioters inciting trouble from Saharanpur in the west to Mau in the east or even professional criminals and mafia who were hiding in their confines for the last five years, have come out after getting tickets from the Samajwadi Party. They have started showing their colours again by intimidating voters.  SP leaders feel offended by my statement because all of those who had been on our radar during the last five years used to run the Samajwadi Party government earlier. They had created a mess in UP. They brought infamy and disrepute to the state. So I consoled the people saying that all will be well after March 10. Secondly, their agenda does not include the welfare of the poor and deprived. They believe in patronizing the mafia and empathizing with terrorists. They are doing it even today.

    Q. Do you think the Supreme Court order to withdraw recovery notices against anti-CAA protestors has any impact on BJP prospects?

    A. No impact. The state government has already been working on the issue. When anti—CAA riots were plotted here, we had released an administrative order to handle the situation then. Later, we brought an Act in 2020. The government, under the Act, has already set up three tribunals in Lucknow, Meerut, and Prayagraj. Some of the cases have been handed over to the tribunals and the rest are in process of withdrawal when the SC order has come. The apex court has permitted us to act under the Uttar Pradesh Recovery of Damages to Public and Private Property Act -2020

    Q. Stray cattle is a big issue in this election. Your take.

    A. It is not a new issue. It was always there and is not only limited to UP. Secondly, should we allow the slaughter of Gau Mata? We have closed illegal slaughterhouses and I say with conviction that illegal slaughterhouses will not be allowed to operate. Moreover, we have done a lot for the rehabilitation of shelterless cattle. At present, we are taking care of nine lakh stray cattle of which a lakh have been given to farmers to look after. We give an allowance of Rs 900 per month per cattle to the farmer. Even under the guidance of PM Narendra Modi , a new model to deal with the issue is ready in Kashi and it will be implemented in each UP district.

    Q. Your statement over the Hijab row created a flutter. Your take.

    A. I think personalized attire should be limited to places where there is no defined dress code or uniform. Everyone should abide by a dress code in institutions where it is well defined as it is a matter of discipline. It should not have been made an issue at all as there can be no alternative to discipline. So I feel that the system in the country will be run according to Constitution and not the personal laws.

    Q. Why has Aparna Yadav not been given a ticket?

    A. Aparna Yadav has not joined the BJP for a ticket. She has been a very good social worker and she has made it clear that she joined the BJP as PM Narendra Modi’s ‘nation first’ sentiment moved her. She believes in nationalism and the party will certainly think about her in the days to come.

    Q. Do you think the Lakhimpur Kheri incident has been an issue in this election?

    A. BJP is winning all the seats of Lakhimpur Kheri. I have campaigned on all the seats and there is no doubt about the party’s victory there with good margins.

    Q. How do you intend to address anti-incumbency against MLAs in various assembly segments?

    A. Look, people have to vote for government formation and it will be done if we get an adequate number of MLAs. At least, two years of our tenure were spent in fighting Covid. The BJP MLAs have done a good job but many of them might not have come up to people’s expectations. I appeal to the people to vote for BJP and I assure them that the government will address all issues which people have against the MLAs in their constituencies.

  • Assembly Polls 2022 updates: All eyes on Lakhimpur as phase four of UP election gets underway

    By Online Desk

    Voting for 59 Assembly constituencies spread over nine districts in Uttar Pradesh began on Wednesday morning.

    The polling started at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm.

    This is the fourth phase of the Assembly polls in the state, where elections are to be held in seven rounds.

    As many as 624 candidates are in the fray in the fourth phase.

    According to the Election Commission, 2.3 crore people, including 1.14 crore men and 99.3 lakh women, are eligible to vote, for which 24,643 polling booths and 13,817 poling centres have been set up in this phase.

    The districts where the poling is being held are Pilibhit, Lakhimpur Kheri, Sitapur, Hardoi, Unnao, Lucknow, Rae Bareli, Banda and Fatehpur.

  • UP polls: BJP, Congress face challenges to save strongholds in Phase 4

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: With the first three phases of UP assembly elections over in western UP, Rohilkhand, central UP, and parts of Bundelkhand with prominent pockets of Jats, Muslims, and Yadavs, the stage is now set for the fourth phase of polling on Wednesday, February 23, over 59 seats spread across nine districts of Awadh, Terai and Bundelkhand regions.

    In this phase, the seats going to polls fall in strongholds of both the BJP and the Congress. While the Samajwadi Party is trying to breach the saffron dominance of 201, BSP has the challenge of sustaining its relevance.

    Phase -4 includes 16 reserved constituencies. Pilibhit, Lakhimpur-Kheri, Sitapur, Lucknow, Hardoi, Unnao, Rae Bareli, Fatehpur, and Banda districts will go to the polls on Wednesday. While Lucknow, Sitapur, Unnao, and Hardoi are considered to be the strongholds of BJP, Raebareli is the pocket borough of Congress. BSP is eyeing to make gains in Banda and Fatehpur.

    A total of 624 candidates are in the fray from 59 Assembly seats. The maximum number of candidates – 15 – are testing the poll waters in Sawayajpur in Hardoi while a minimum of six candidates each, are contesting for two seats — Palia in Lakhimpur Khari and Sevata in Sitapur.

    ALSO READ | UP polls: Yogi brings the ‘bulldozer’ reference again; Akhilesh counts utility of ‘bicycle’

    In 2017, the saffron juggernaut had taken away 50 of 59 seats while one seat was won by its ally Apna Dal (S). Main opposition SP could win four seats, while two seats each were won by the BSP and Congress. This phase will witness a fierce battle for the state capital Lucknow having nine assembly segments of which the BJP had won eight and SP one in 2017.

    In the fourth phase, the fate of four Yogi ministers including Brijesh Pathak, Ashutosh Tandon, Jai Kumar  Singh ‘Jackie’ and Ranvendra Pratap Singh alias Dhunni Singh are at stake from Lucknow Cantt, Lucknow -East, Bindki and Hussainganj seats in Fatehpur district respectively. Even former ministers like SP’s Dr Abhishek Mishra and Manoj Pandey are also in the fray respectively from Sarojininagar seat of Lucknow and Unchahar of Reabareli.

    While the BJP is facing the challenge of saving its pride in the stronghold of former PM and BJP stalwart Atal Bihari Vajpayee in Lucknow, SP is depending upon the anti-incumbency against some of the sitting BJP MLAs who are in the contest again and also some new faces fielded by the party.

    ALSO WATCH |

    It will be interesting to watch how the Lakhimpur Kheri violence issue plays out in the poll arena on Wednesday.  It may be recalled that Lakhimpur Kheri had hit the headlines after a farmers’ protest took a violent turn on October 3, 2021, and eight persons had lost life. The stir had gone violent after four protesting farmers were killed when the crowd of protestors was ploughed in by an SUV owned by Union Minister and sitting BJP MP Ajay Mishra Teni. In the aftermath, three persons were lynched by the angry mob. Teni’s son Ashish Mishra is the keyaccused in the farmers’ killing case and has been granted bail recently by Allahabad High Court.

    The opposition has constantly been targeting the BJP over the incident seeking Teni’s removal from the Modi cabinet.

    ALSO READ | BJP builds on ‘suraksha’, free grains in UP polls; faces questions on unemployment

    This phase is crucial for the BJP which faces the challenge in Pilibhit of Terai region where its MP Varun Gandhi has been humming discordant tunes speaking up against his own party. Varun is BJP MP from Pilibhit, a farmer and Sikh-dominated constituency. In fact, both Pilibhit and Lakhimpur Kheri have a considerable chunk of the Sikh population who were rehabilitated in the Terai region after they took refuge in India following the 1947 partition. Now the community owns a huge expanse of farming land in the most fertile region of UP.

    Moreover, the year-long farmers’ protest over three now scrapped farm laws has some resonance on the ground in the Terai region as it is believed that at least one member had joined the farmers’ stir from every Sikh family.

    While the BJP is facing the challenge from rebel candidates in Sitapur, for the Congress, the biggest challenge of these elections comes in Rae Bareli as both the sitting Congress MLAs Aditi Singh from Raebareli Sadar and Rakesh Pratap Singh from Harchandpur, have turned rebels and are now contesting on BJP ticket.

    Rae Bareli is the parliamentary constituency of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and the party will face major embarrassment if it fails to retain its citadel.

  • UP polls: Fierce battle on cards for capital in phase-4 

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: The seat of power in Uttar Pradesh, state capital Lucknow has an obvious and quintessential ‘Nawabi’ flavour to politics. Set to vote in phase-4 of 7-phased state assembly elections on Wednesday, stakes are high in Lucknow for two prominent ministers of the Yogi cabinet and a high-profile ED officer who took VRS last month to test the poll waters.

    While Brajesh Pathak is in the fray from Lucknow Cantt and Ashutosh Tandon, son of BJP veteran late Lalji Tandon, will test the waters from Lucknow East. Rajeshwar Singh, former joint director at Enforcement Directorate, who not so long ago was investigating many high-profile cases, is now a BJP candidate from the Sarojininagar assembly segment.

    Both Lucknow Cantt and Lucknow East are urban seats with a significant chunk of upper caste voters. While Pathak is facing three-time corporator Surendra Singh Gandhi alias Raju Gandhi from Samajwadi Party and Anil Pandey from BSP, Tandon is fighting it out against SP national spokesperson Anurag Singh Bhadouriya and advocate Ashish Kumar Sinha from BSP. In 2017, SP had fielded Aparna Yadav, the younger daughter-in-law of SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, from Cantt against the then Congress turncoat Rita Bahuguna Joshi who had contested on BJP ticket and had won the seat with a comfortable margin of over 33,000 votes.

    Now Aparna, who joined the BJP recently and was expecting the ticket from Cantt seat, is seeking votes for Pathak.

    Similarly, Rajeshwar Singh is facing the challenge from Dr Abhishek Mishra, an IIM-Lucknow product and former minister in the SP government. While BSP has fielded a Muslim – Jalis Khan– against Rajeshwar Singh, Congress has placed its bet on Rudra Daman Singh, also a Thakur.

    ALSO READ | UP polls: Yogi brings the ‘bulldozer’ reference again; Akhilesh counts utility of ‘bicycle’

    In all, Lucknow has nine assembly segments of which the ruling BJP had won eight in 2017. One seat of Mohanlalaganj in the rural pocket of the state capital had gone to the SP. Other BJP candidates to watch out for are Jai Devi from Malihabad (SC), wife of Union minister and BJP MP Kaushal Kishore, and veteran worker and functionary Yogesh Shukla from Bakshi Ka Talab. A similar situation prevails in Mohanlalganj with Amresh Kumar from BJP taking on former SP MP Sushila Saroj.

    On the other side Samajwadi Party has fielded strong contenders Ravidas Mehrotra from Lucknow Central, Arman from Lucknow West and Gomti Yadav from Bakshi Ka Talab, all having the potential to sway voters towards their side. Congress has fielded anti-CAA protestor Sadaf Jafar from Lucknow West. Zafar was arrested in connection with the stir that had turned violent leading to large-scale arson in state capital in December 2019.

    As per the pulse on the ground, voters of urban Lucknow including seats – Lucknow East, West, North, Central, and Lucknow Cantt are voicing concern for local issues ranging from traffic blues to illegal construction and narrow lanes, betterment of infrastructure and cleanliness. However, people are impressed by the performance of the incumbent government over uninterrupted power supply, refurbished law and order, and the issue of nationalism. Even the Modi factor is also playing out on the ground prominently. BJP had won all five constituencies in 2017.

    While Diwakar Mishra, of Lucknow-North, pitches in for the BJP saying every issue becomes irrelevant when it comes to the nation first. Mishra, a professor in a local degree college, claims this is not a normal election. “This election will decide the fate of not only UP but the nation also. My vote will go to the party that talks of nationalism and put the nation first. I can resolve my minor issue myself. The government has a bigger task at hand,” says Mishra supported by Rajneesh Jain, dealing in the trade of chikan clothes.

    “Hit by back-to-back waves of the pandemic, trade took an obvious hit but the third wave has passed easily with losses to trade being not as much as the second wave. We are getting back on track and the government’s one district, one product (ODOP) scheme is helping out us in a big way,” says Jain. Chikan business is to the tune of over Rs 10,000 crore annually in and around Lucknow.

    However, Ajit Sonkar of Lucknow Central is irritated with frequent traffic jams. “Traffic jam is a permanent issue here. No government has been able to resolve it,” says Sonkar, who owns a medical store in Qaiserbagh.  For Javed Alam of Aminabad, encroachment has been a major issue. “Authorities do not pay heed to regular complaints lodged against encroachments in Aminabad which is one of the most prominent markets of Lucknow,” says Alam. It slows the traffic leading to long jams, he adds.

    Gyanesh Verma of Lucknow East feels that lawmakers should become more active and remain in constant touch with the people after getting elected. Manya of the same assembly segment feels that the Yogi government should come back and bring the promises of investment to the ground. “More opportunities for youth should be generated and a better atmosphere for business be created. Only BJP can do it,” says Manya, a boutique owner.  However, Mohammad Faraaz is fed up with the cancellation of papers paper leaks, and delayed results of competitive exams.“Sometimes the wait is so long that aspirant becomes overage,” he substantiates his point.

    ALSO READ | BJP builds on ‘suraksha’, free grains in UP polls; faces questions on unemployment

    “Roads should be taken proper care of,” says Dr LD Mishra of Vineet Khand in posh Gomti Nagar. He also wants the health infrastructure to be improved further.  “There should be no paucity of doctors. Appointment of doctors should be made a priority,” he says.

    Sudhakar Pandey and Vinit Singh of Rajajipuram in Lucknow West are of the view that the elected MLA should be readily available. “Power supply has improved a lot. During COVID second wave, oxygen paucity was there but the government was present on every door with free medicines and ration. It is commendable. Civic woes like sewage, drainage, and garbage disposal need more attention,” says Pandey.

    On shifting the focus to rural pockets of Lucknow comprising three segments including Malihabad, Bakshi Ka Talab, and Mohanlalganj. In Malihabad, a reserved seat has around three lakh voters and is identified as one of the main centres of the famous Mango belt, a combination of Yadav, Pasi, and Muslims are believed to be the deciding factor. Here the ruling party’s sitting MLA Jai Devi is a tough challenge from Surender Kumar of SP and also Jagdish Rawat of BSP. Around 23,589 hectares of land in Malihabad is covered under mango cultivation.

    Similarly, people in Mohanlalganj, another reserved seat, complain of lack of development. As per the pulse of the ground, Samajwadi Party, which had won the seat in 2017, has an upper edge this time as well. However, free ration, free power connection, cylinders, houses, and toilets have a resonance among voters on the ground. Having Yadavs around 45,000 and scheduled castes around 1.25 lakh, voters of Malihabad admit that the BJP has been able to sensitize people over the issue of Hindutva. However, unemployment is an issue here.

    “Our vote, even if given to the BJP, would be counted as given to SP. So why not give it to SP,” says Dinkar Yadav, 65, a farmer. He is interrupted by his son Anil, a science graduate and preparing for civil services. “It is very difficult to convince the older generation. They will go with SP. However, youngsters will vote as per their choice,” says Anil of Kankaha village of Mohanlalganj.

    However, Suresh Lodhi, owning a paan kiosk is happy that the BJP has fielded its own candidate from the seat, a stronghold of SP and BSP, for the first time. “Please come on March 10 to see the difference,” says Suresh having the caste configuration of Mohanlalganj on his fingertips. However, common voters crave development in the constituency.

    In Bakshi ka Talab, the fight is tough for the saffron brigade which has replaced the incumbent MLA Arvind  Trivedi with a new face but a veteran BJP worker Yogesh Shukla. SP has fielded the popular face Gomti Yadav and BSP has fielded a Muslim Salauddin Siddiqui.

    Interesting contests are also unfolding in other districts of the Lucknow division. Among the ones which are being closely tracked are Bangarmau and Purwa in Unnao. During the Modi wave, BJP managed to sweep Bangarmau for the first time in 2017. The BJP MLA of that time Kuldeep Singh Sengar was convicted in a rape case following which bypolls were held. BJP had secured the seat yet again and is trying to repeat its performance. The party has fielded sitting MLA Shrikant Katiyar while SP has Munna Alvi. Meanwhile, in Purwa, a seat that was won by the BSP in 2017, BJP has fielded Anil Singh, the sitting BSP MLA who switched sides in 2018.

    In Sitapur, seven out of nine seats were won by the BJP. Political observers feel that the fight is intense on four seats including Sevata, Maholi, Misrikh (reserved), and Hargaon.

    In Hardoi, the Naresh Agarwal family is dominating the scene. Naresh Agarwal’s son Nitin joined BJP to contest the polls. His family has a lot of clout in Hardoi. Anil Verma from SP and Shobhit Pathak from BSP are fighting against him. 

  • UP polls: Tikunia incident haunts some; price rise, stray cattle, cane dues also issues for Kheri voters

    Express News Service

    LAKHIMPUR KHERI: Tikunia ….. The township, bordering Nepal, was sleepy and non-descript till October 3, 2021, when it witnessed one of the most gruesome incidents of violence which brought disrepute to it. Eight persons including four farmers lost their lives. The farmers were run over allegedly by an impudent son of a union minister and in the aftermath of it, three persons were lynched by angry mob. The anger that spilled across the district was hard to handle by dispensation.

    An eerie silence prevails in Banveerpur village of Union Minister Ajay Mishra Teni, sitting BJP MP from Lakhimpur Kheri and Union Minister. People busy in daily grind go silent when one asks them about October 3 violence. On changing the topic they return to spirited discussion. “We are getting free ration, power supply, house for poor but price rise has offset whatever positive the government has done,” says Ram Autar Singh, a farmer, who also claims that all issues aside, his choice is the ‘Phool’ (lotus).

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    Tikunia votes under Nighasan assembly constituency, one among the eight which BJP had swept in 2017 under the intense Modi wave. However, as one comes out of the Banveerpur village, one finds that despite the nationwide outrage, October 3 violence somehow is fading from memory.  Some believe it was a plot against Teni. “Monu Bhaiyya (Ashish Mishra, key accused of Tikunia violence) has fallen victim to a well-plotted conspiracy. All those who had assembled at the college ground were outsiders. The incident is a thing of the past,” says Avinash Shukla, an LLB student who studies in Lucknow but has gone to his native village Barotha to cast vote under Phase-iv on February 23.

    Last week, Ashish Mishra came out of jail on bail granted to him by Allahabad High Court. “Despite all that happened on October 3, Teni Maharaj is our saviour. He stands by us in our grief and happiness. He solves our problems, he is our ‘Saansad’ (MP). People are out to defame him but he will come out of it,” says Manish Verma, a Kurmi, hoping that the Tikunia incident does not affect Phool (lotus)  on the ground on the day of voting.

    Ajay Mishra ‘Teni’, Union Minister of State from Home affairs, the sitting BJP MP from Lakhimpur Kheri, had won from Nighasan assembly constituency in 2012. It is a buzz that Teni’s son Ashish, the key accused of the Tikunia incident was claimant of BJP ticket from Nighasan seat but the violence ended his quest abruptly.

    Karamjeet Singh, riding a motorbike, when stopped and asked about the impact of violence on the ground, comes out openly. “You take my words. Granting bail to Ashish Mishra is not right. While he is out, our people accused in the lynching cases are still behind the bars. Is kand ka asar March 10 ko dikhega (the impact of the Tikunia incident will reflect in the result on March 10),” he asserts only to be confronted by a youth Satish Gupta, a grocery shop owner. “Those who were killed were outsiders. It is not going to impact voting patterns neither in Nighasan nor in entire Kheri,” he says. However, people agree that there is simmering anger among the Sikh community which makes around 20,000-40,000 of the population in different assembly segments, over the October 3 incident.

    The discourse shifts to other issues as for Mohammad Mian, husband of Barsola village head, Parveen Sana, Tikunia violence is no issue in the ongoing elections. “Flood is the major problem here. Every year we face the fury of inundated Mohan and Karna rivers as the flood water devours our crops,” he laments. For Jibrail, a farmer, the issue of stray cattle is also prominent but he finds relief as the authorities have become active and infirmed animals are being kept in Gaushalas as he claims. For Shafiq Ahmad, head of Sukhna Barsola village, stray cattle issue is serious.

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    Discontent is palpable among the cane growers of Lakhimpur Kheri, also known as the sugar bowl of UP. Humkum Singh, a cane grower in the Palia assembly segment puts forth the issue. “The private mills are lagging behind in clearing the dues of the cane farmers. The cooperative mills are making regular payments but the government has not been able to prevail over the mills owned by Bajaj. Our dues of 15 days are still pending and the government needs to intervene,” he says supported by Jwala Singh Patel, another cane grower. “We depend for our daily expenses on the payment made to us by the sugar mills. If the mill owners falter in payment, life becomes tough for us,” he says.

    Lakhimpur Kheri has over nine sugar mills of which three are private and owned by the Bajaj group. In Palia, the Assembly constituency adjoining Nighasan, the common perception is that the people of Nighsan will not open up against ‘Teni Maharaj’ who has the image of Kheri’s strongman. “People, especially, the Sikhs will not speak against Teni Maharaj in Nighasan as they know that they have to live there only,” says Anurag Mishra, 45, a teacher of Palia. Mishra thinks that the Tikunia incident brought taint to Lakhimpur Kheri.

    Besides, people are vocal about the price rise and unemployment. “There has been an increase in wages (Rs 300/day) for labourers during the last five years. Moreover, after the COVID, many of us are compelled to work even on reduced rates – Rs 250-270 per day. Why will we vote for this government then?,” asks Sanjeev, a contractor providing labourers.

    “They gave the gas connection and a cylinder free but now we can’t afford to refill it spending Rs 1000. So out women are back to chulha,” says Kamlesh Yadav, working at a saree shop in Palia, spells out his choice in favour of Samajwadi Party.

    On the other, Kalyan Gautam, an ardent Mayawati supported refuses to accept that the fight in UP is more or less bipolar with depleted Bahujan Samaj Party. “No Behenji is not out of the race. She doesn’t believe in making noises and personal attacks like BJP and SP. She is fighting the elections gracefully and results will tell a different story on March 10,” he claims. However, law and order seem to have some traction on the ground but then the October 3 incident comes to haunt them.

  • Amid row over ‘Khalistani connections’, Kejriwal begins UP tour, will also visit Gorakhpur

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal begins his four-day Uttar Pradesh tour from Monday to drum up support for party candidates in the ongoing assembly polls, AAP office-bearers said.

    Kejriwal, the Delhi chief minister, will begin the tour with an address at a public meeting in the state capital’s Qaisarbagh area, party spokesperson Vaibhav Maheshwari said.

    “Kejriwal will also be visiting Barabanki and Prayagraj and Gorakhpur during the four-day visit and join various election-related programmes of the AAP,” Maheshwari said.

    Kejriwal will be joined by the party’s Uttar Pradesh in-charge Sanjay Singh, and three-four MLAs from Delhi, where the party is in power, he added.

    Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will be contesting the assembly polls from Gorakhpur (Sadar) seat.

    Meanwhile, the Delhi BJP on Sunday attacked Chief Minister and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, saying he has an “anti-nation mindset”, and accused him of “buying votes” by taking money from Khalistanis.

    Kejriwal has been under attack from both the Congress and the BJP who have questioned him over former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and poet Kumar Vishwas’s accusations of he supporting separatists in Punjab, where voting for assembly polls was held on Sunday.

    In a video, Vishwas also claimed that Kejriwal had spoken about becoming prime minister of a separate state.

    Kejriwal has, however, termed the allegations as “laughable” and said he must be the “world’s sweetest terrorist” who builds schools and hospitals.

    Addressing a gathering during a protest here, Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta said Kejriwal’s “low and anti-nation mindset” had come to the fore when he had staged a sit-in “opposing” the Republic Day parade.

    In 2014, Kejriwal, while demonstrating against the Delhi Police and demanding safety for women, had staged a protest near Parliament and outside the Rail Bhawan.

    He had also issued a threat of disrupting the Republic Day celebrations that year.

    Gupta also said that the protest by the BJP against Kejriwal has entered its third day.

    “The harsh truth is that he is buying votes by taking money from Khalistanis and agreeing with whatever they say. He now calls himself the sweetest terrorist and it is right as well because he included those in his AAP who were involved in the Delhi riots,” he said.

    “Also, it was him who first supported the issue of referendum 2020 by Khalistani supporters in Punjab,” he said.

    At the protest, BJP leader Vijay Goel claimed that Kejriwal is now even prepared to sell the country for his lust of power.

    Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri alleged that the education and health models that Kejriwal has been talking about for the past seven years are hollow.

    “There is a shortage of 24,000 teachers in Delhi schools now and not a new school or college has been built during this period. Besides, he has thrown out 5,000 guest teachers from their jobs,” he claimed.

  • UP polls: EC notice to BJP candidate Sharan Singh over inflammatory remark

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Election Commission on Sunday issued a notice to a BJP candidate in Uttar Pradesh for allegedly making an inflammatory statement, and said he prima facie violated the model code and the electoral law.

    The poll watchdog gave Mayankeshwar Sharan Singh, the BJP candidate from the Tiloi assembly constituency in Amethi, 24 hours to respond.

    According to the transcript of a purported video clip made part of the notice, Singh broadly said in Hindi that “If you have to live in India, (you will have) to chant ‘Radhey-Radhey’, else like all those who went to Pakistan during Partition, you can go too, you are not needed here.”

    The video is being circulated on social media, the EC said.

    The commission noted that an FIR was lodged against Singh on February 18 under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Representation of the People Act.

    “Take notice that in the event of no response from your side within the stipulated time, it will be presumed that you have nothing to say in the matter and the Election Commission will take appropriate action or decision in the matter without making any further reference to you,” the poll panel asserted.