Tag: UP Polls 2022

  • Previous UP governments were not concerned with people’s needs: PM Modi

    Modi said the people of Uttar Pradesh have decided that development will be the biggest issue in the upcoming assembly elections.

  • After farm reforms, now Yogi invokes ‘blood of Karsevaks’ to attack Akhilesh

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: The Samajwadi Party’s red caps are painted in the blood of victims of Muzaffarnagar riots and ‘karsewaks’ shot dead in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said.

    Attacking the SP in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Adityanath, have been repeatedly targeting the party’s red cap.

    “The red cap of the Samajwadi Party is painted in the blood of victims of Muzaffarnagar riots and karsewaks who were shot in Ayodhya,” Adityanath said while speaking at an event organised by a channel on Saturday evening.

    Addressing a rally in Gorakhpur in December last year, Modi had targeted the SP, saying those in red caps were a “red alert” and “sign of danger” for the state, while Adityanath had in February last year, said every child sees those wearing red caps as “goons”.

    The chief minister said his government has been working to protect the masses and instil a sense of safety among them while ensuring that “criminals feel scared” and surrender before police with folded hands.

    Accusing the previous SP government of neglecting the poor people of the state, the chief minister alleged that the Akhilesh Yadav-led government worked only for a few friends involved in perfume business.

    “They can deny (allegations) but can’t change what is true,” he said.

    “They (SP) never considered Uttar Pradesh and its people as their own. Their views are family-centric and Pakistan-centric. Before 2017, riots used to occur every third day in the state and girls use to fear for their safety. This has changed under the BJP rule,” Adityanath said.

    Claiming that his government has provided a new identity to Uttar Pradesh, he said, “Now businessmen and people are not forced to migrate from the state. Businessmen are now returning to the state and contributing to its development.”

    Reacting to accusations that the BJP government has targeted the people of a particular religion and why over 80 cases were lodged against SP leader Azam Khan, Adityanath said, “Our government has not lodged any politically motivated FIR against anyone.”

    “The cases against Azam Khan are a result of his wrongdoings. If anyone tries to encroach land belonging to the poor and build an institution there, then action will be taken against that person,” he said “Our government has provided benefits to people from every caste and background. In SP, BSP and Congress governments, the leaders use to build their house first. This has changed in our government. We have worked to provide a house to every family in the state,” he said.

    On sugarcane farmers in western Uttar Pradesh, the CM said, “The Samajwadi Party sold several sugar mills at throwaway prices. Our government has not only ensured smooth functioning of sugar mills but have also established new ones. The SP lacks vision for the development of the state.”

    He said the “double engine” government has taken the state to new heights of development in the last five years.

    The term “double engine” is used by BJP leaders to refer to the party being in power at the Centre as well as in a state.

    “The work done by us has given recognition to the state not only in the country but across the world,” he added.

    Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday assured farmers in Uttar Pradesh that in the event of delay in payment of sugarcanes, they will get the money along with interest.

    He said this announcement will be part of the BJP election manifesto.

    “We have decided to announce in the BJP manifesto that in case of delay in clearance of payments, interest will be realised from sugar mills, and farmers will be paid the money along with interest,” Shah said while addressing “matdaatas” (voters) here.

    The minister said farmers in some regions of the state told him about the delay in sugarcane payment.

    Targetting Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav over the farmers issue, Shah said there were 42 sugar mills, of which 21 mills were closed by the SP and BSP.

    “Whereas during our time, none was closed and payments to farmers were made,” he asserted.

    Uttar Pradesh tops in production of sugarcane and the western region of the state is known for cultivating the crop in bulk.

    The opposition parties have been raising the issue of non-payment of cane prices to farmers while attacking the ruling BJP in the state.

    Uttar Pradesh will go to polls in seven phases beginning February 10.

    BJP president J P Nadda on Saturday launched a scathing attack on Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav saying those who never did any good for the farmers are moving around with a handful of grains making pledges.

    His apparent target was Yadav’s ‘ann sankalp’ (food commitment), the Samajwadi Party’s resolve for the welfare of the farmers, a crucial vote bank in the state.

    Akhilesh Yadav has made several promises to the farmers of Uttar Pradesh, including MSP for every crop, free irrigation facilities, payment of arrears to cane-growers in 15 days, interest-free loans, and insurance and pension if his party-led alliance comes to power.

    At a public rally in Etawah, Nadda said, “Those who never did any good for the farmers are today moving around with a handful of grains. Akhilesh Yadav should tell the people of Uttar Pradesh what had done for the farmers during the five years of his rule (2012-2017).”

    “Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the government of Yogi Adityanath waived the worth Rs 36,000 crore loans of 86 lakh farmers. Over 10 crore farmers of the country have got Rs 1.80 lakh crore under the Kisan Samman Nidhi, of which 2.5 crore are from Uttar Pradesh,” the BJP national president said.

    He asserted that Uttar Pradesh was the number one in producing sugarcane, sugar, potato and green peas.

    “In five years, our double engine government has given Rs 1.48 lakh crore to sugarcane farmers, which is more than the payments made during the rule of the SP and BSP. We have also cleared the dues accumulated during the Akhilesh Yadav government.”

    “In the governments of the SP and BSP, 21 sugar mills were shut down, while in our government, three new sugar mills were opened and there has been an expansion of some sugar mills,” Nadda said.

    Sharpening the attack at Akhilesh Yadav, the BJP chief said the Samajwadi Party “sprinkles perfume” while the Yogi Adityanath government work for development.

    He was referring to the ‘Samajwadi perfume’ that was launched by Yadav in November last year with a “hope of spreading the scent of socialism” in the state.

    “Akhilesh Ji, no matter how much perfume you sprinkle to hide the wrongdoings, good smell will not emanate. Of the SP candidates declared some are fighting from jail, while others are on bail.”

    “What is the compulsion that his friendship with the mafia and criminals is still intact,” Nadda wondered, adding, “They cannot break their friendship with the mafia and criminals, because that is the identity of the Samajwadi Party.”

    Training his guns at the Bahujan Samaj Party, the BJP president alleged that if the Mayawati-led party comes to power then there would be “development of a caste.”

    “When the Samajwadi Party comes to power, then along with casteism crime also makes its presence felt. We have during BSP and SP governments that people from one particular caste were selected in recruitment examinations. Our government worked for the welfare of people without any appeasement with a focus on ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikaas (with all, development for all).”

    The BJP national president undertook a house-to-house campaign in Bareilly and offered prayers at the Barha Baagh Hanumaan Mandir, the party said in a statement.

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

    By PTI

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

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

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

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

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

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

    By PTI

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

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

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

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

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

    Sources said Arun may file another set of affidavits.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    By PTI

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    However, the RLD leader gave a terse response.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    By PTI

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • UP polls: Congress nominee for Suar seat leaves party, to fight as Apna Dal candidate

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: BJP’s ally in UP Apna Dal (Sonelal) on Sunday declared Haidar Ali Khan as its candidate from the Suar assembly constituency in the Rampur district.

    Khan was declared earlier on January 13 as the Congress candidate from the Suar assembly constituency.

    Khan’s father Nawab Kazim Ali Khan is still in the Congress and is to fight the assembly elections from the neighbouring Rampur seat.

    Khan is the second Congress candidate to leave the party after being declared its candidate, the first one being the candidate from Bareilly Cantonment, Supriya Aron who joined the Samajwadi Party on Saturday.

    National spokesperson Rajesh Patel of Apna Dal (Sonelal) on Sunday told PTI, “The party has decided to field Haidar Ali Khan as its candidate from the Suar assembly seat.”

    “Khan took the membership of the Apna Dal (S) a few days ago in Delhi after being impressed by the party leadership. The Congress had already declared him as the party candidate from Suar,” he said.

    Khan had figured in the first list of Congress candidates declared on January 13.

    Earlier in the 2017 assembly elections, Abdullah Azam Khan, son of veteran Samajwadi Party leader and Rampur MP Azam Khan, had fought from the Suar assembly seat as an SP candidate and had won it.

    Explaining his rationale for joining the Apna Dal (S), Haidar Khan told PTI, “I joined the Apna Dal (S) so that I can ensure the development of my constituency.

    “I have been inspired by the struggle of my party leader Anupriya Patel. The UP government in the past five years has worked tremendously,” he said.

    “A bridge which was broken by Azam Khan was repaired by this government. There are various factors which prompted me to take this decision,” he added.

    Asked about his son leaving the Congress and if he too would follow suit, Haidar’s father Nawab Kazim Ali Khan told PTI, “I am still the Congress candidate from Rampur. And, I have no plans to leave the party.”

    On Saturday, Congress candidate from Bareilly Cantonment Supriya Aron had joined the Samajwadi Party in Lucknow in the presence of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav.

    Aron, a former mayor of Bareilly, joined the SP along with her husband and former Congress MP Pravin Singh Aron.

    SP president Akhilesh Yadav announced her candidature from the same seat, dropping Rajesh Agarwal who was earlier declared as the SP nominee.

    Journalist-turned-politician Supriya Aron’s name had figured in the first list of Congress candidates declared by party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on January 13.

    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.

  • Haj House vs Amar Jawan Jyoti: Samajwadi Party, BJP attack each other ahead of UP polls

    By PTI

    GHAZIABAD: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday took part in a door-to-door campaign in Ghaziabad and launched a scathing attack on the Samajwadi Party, saying while a Haj House was built here earlier, his government constructed the Kailash Mansarovar Bhawan.

    During the day, Adityanath addressed his party workers in Krishna Dental College of Sahibabad and in Saraswati Shishu Mandir in Nehru Nagar, besides the door-to-door campaign in Rajiv Colony of Sahibabad.

    “Earlier Haj House was made in Ghaziabad. Our government constructed Kailash Mansarovar Bhawan. Earlier the mafia used to harass traders, but now no mafia can dare to grab property of any trader, doctor or a poor person,” he said.

    “In the past, ration meant for the poor did not reach them and it would go to Bangladesh through the food grains mafia. But today food grains are reaching the poor and 15 crore people have got it. The ‘double engine’ government is making available a double dose of food grains,” he said, referring to the BJP-led dispensations in the state and at the Centre.

    The Haj House in Ghaziabad was inaugurated in September 2016, while the Kailash Mansarovar Bhawan was inaugurated in December 2020.

    Adityanath also targeted the Samajwadi Party over its promise of providing 300 units of electricity free to domestic consumers, saying that during its rule there was no electricity supply.

    He said the SP was making many promises, knowing well that it would not win the elections.

    “We distributed tablets to the youth and they are saying that they will also give smart phones. They know that they are not going to come to power, hence they are promising anything and everything,” Adityanath said.

    He also targeted SP president Akhilesh Yadav over the pension scheme for the elderly.

    Targeting his opponents over the law and order situation, he said, “There was no coronavirus during SP-BSP governments, but curfew was definitely imposed. There is corona in our time, but there is no curfew. Public life is normal. What was the situation in western Uttar Pradesh before 2017? There was an atmosphere of fear everywhere. At some places, there used to be curfew-like atmosphere in evening.”

    Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases between February 10 and March 7, and the results will be declared on March 10.

    Ghaziabad district will vote in the first phase.

    Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday urged the people to light a flame on the Republic Day in the “memory of Amar Jawan Jyoti”, days after its merger with the eternal flame at the National War Memorial.

    In a tweet in Hindi, Akhilesh Yadav said, “In the memory of ‘Amar Jawan Jyoti’, this time on January 26, let us all light a flame at our own level and together raise one voice of one country. (We) will take a pledge on January 26, and will light the Amar Jawan Jyoti once again. Those whose names are not registered in the country’s history, they want to change the history.”

    In a short ceremony on Friday afternoon, a part of the Amar Jawan Jyoti flame at the India Gate was taken and merged with the eternal flame at the National War Memorial (NWM) 400 metres away.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on February 25, 2019, inaugurated the NWM, where names of 25,942 soldiers have been inscribed in golden letters on granite tablets.

    After India defeated Pakistan in the 1971 war, the Amar Jawan Jyoti was constructed as a memorial to Indian soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice.

    It was inaugurated by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi, on January 26, 1972.

    Union minister and BJP leader Anurag Thakur on Sunday targeted the Samajwadi Party over its promise of providing 300 units of electricity free to domestic consumers, saying under the party-led government power cables were used to hang clothes to dry.

    The Union Information and Broadcasting Minister took part in a party campaign in Hazratganj area of the state capital.

    “Getting electricity for 300 hours a month was difficult in his regime, but now he is talking about giving 300 units of free electricity. This raises doubts,” he said, targeting SP president Akhilesh Yadav.

    Power cables were used to hang clothes during the previous SP regime, he said.

    “This is not the new SP, this is the same SP. This is the same SP which the people fear. A person who has given rule of criminals and mafia and corruption to the state, how can the people believe him?” Thakur said.

    He alleged that the SP chief would again blame the electronic voting machines when the poll results are declared.

    He said the SP has fielded people with criminal records in this election.

    Some of the SP candidates are in jail and some others are out on bail, he added.

    “Under the SP government, women felt insecure. But in the five years of the government of Yogi Adityanath, the safety of women has been given top priority. This is the reason Aparna Yadav (of SP), Aditi Singh and Priyanka Maurya (both from the Congress) joined the BJP. The women of the state feel secure in the BJP,” Thakur said.

    “The opposition is making continuous efforts to instigate the public by banking on caste equations and trivial politics. In making such efforts, they were unsuccessful in 2017 and the people are going to reject the Samajwadi Party completely in 2022,” he said.

    Thakur said, “Their (SP) IT cell means ‘Income from Terror’. It has criminals like Atiq (Ahmed) and Nahid Hasan. It was because of them that industrialists, traders and the common people had to undertake an exodus from the state.”

    Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases between February 10 and March 7, and the results will be declared on March 10.

  • UP polls: Shivpal Singh Yadav to contest from Jaswant Nagar

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: Shivpal Singh Yadav will contest the assembly election from Jaswant Nagar in Uttar Pradesh as a candidate of the Samajwadi Party-Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) alliance.

    Jaswant Nagar in Etawah district will vote in the third phase on February 20.

    Yadav, who heads the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia), currently represents the constituency in the assembly.

    In a tweet in Hindi, the Samajwadi Party said, “Shivpal Singh Yadav ji will be the candidate of SP and PSP alliance from Jaswant Nagar assembly seat of Etawah.”

    Shivpal Singh Yadav had got into a tussle with his nephew and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav and formed the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) before the last assembly polls in 2017.

    In december last, they announced an alliance for the assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh to be held in seven phases between February 10 and March 7.

    The results will be announced on March 10.

  • Fighting against BJP in UP polls will not affect alliance in Bihar: JDU

    JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan pointed out that the party has fought elections in many states against the BJP but it has not affected the ruling coalition in Bihar.