News Analysis India

Tag: UP Polls 2022

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

    By PTI

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    By ANI

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    By PTI

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    There is no need to panic, he asserted.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    By PTI

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • ‘BJP out to defame SP in alliance with IT, ED’: Akhilesh attacks Yogi

    Yadav made the allegation claiming that his party has nothing to do with Kanpur-based perfume trader Piyush Jain, who, he asserted, was close to the BJP.

  • UP polls: Amit Shah to hold programmes to scale up BJP’s campaign; Modi to visit Varanasi

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: To scale up the BJP’s campaign for the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, Union Minister Amit Shah will tour the state in the coming days and will cover more than 140 constituencies, sources said on Tuesday.

    During his trip, which will span over a week starting December 24, Shah, the party’s key strategist will travel to at least 21 different locations in the state and in each location, he will hold a programme for seven cluster constituencies, they said.

    Keeping caste equations in mind, each programme will be attended by people from three OBC-dominated constituencies, two urban constituencies, one scheduled caste-dominated constituency and one minority-dominated constituency, they said.

    Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh are due early next year.

    Among the key features of Shah’s visit will be his late evening meetings with party workers to deliberate on strategies for the upcoming elections, they said It was under the leadership of Shah as BJP chief that the party had won a massive majority in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, and won 67 Lok Sabha seats out of 80 in 2019.

    In 2014, when he was Uttar Pradesh in-charge, the BJP had won 73 Lok Sabha seats.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Varanasi on Thursday and launch multiple development initiatives, including inaugurating and laying the foundation stones of 22 projects worth over Rs 870 crore, his office said on Tuesday.

    It has been the constant endeavour of the prime minister to work for the development and economic progress of his Lok Sabha constituency, Varanasi, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a statement.

    Moving ahead in this direction, he will visit Varanasi and launch multiple development initiatives at around 1 pm on Thursday, it added.

    The prime minister will lay the foundation stone of the “Banas Dairy Sankul” at the Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Authority Food Park, Karkhiyaon, Varanasi.

    Spread across 30 acres of land, the dairy will be built at a cost of about Rs 475 crore and will have a facility for processing five lakh litres of milk per day, the PMO said.

    This will strengthen the rural economy and help the farmers of the region by creating new opportunities for them, it added.

    Modi will also digitally transfer a bonus of about Rs 35 crore to the bank accounts of more than 1.7 lakh milk producers associated with the Banas Dairy.

    He will lay the foundation stone for a biogas-based electricity generation plant for a Milk Producers’ Cooperative Union plant in Varanasi’s Ramnagar, the statement said.

    It will be a key step towards making the plant energy self-sufficient, the PMO said.

    Modi will also launch a portal and a logo dedicated to the Conformity Assessment Scheme of milk products, developed by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) with the help of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB).

    The unified logo, featuring both the BIS logo and the NDDB quality mark, will simplify the certification process for the dairy sector and reassure the public about dairy product quality.

    In another effort to reduce the number of land ownership issues at the grassroots level, the prime minister will virtually distribute the rural residential rights record, “Gharauni”, under the Swamitva scheme of the Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj to over 20 lakh residents of Uttar Pradesh, the PMO said.

    The programme will also witness Modi inaugurating and laying the foundation stones of 22 development projects worth over Rs 870 crore, it said, adding that this will further strengthen the ongoing 360-degree transformation of Varanasi.

    The prime minister will inaugurate multiple urban development projects, including six projects of redevelopment of the Old Kashi wards, a parking-and-surface park at Beniabag, the beautification of two ponds, a sewage treatment plant in Ramna village and the provisioning of advanced surveillance cameras at 720 locations under the Smart City Mission.

    Projects in the education sector that will be inaugurated by the prime minister include the Union Education Ministry’s Inter University Centre for Teachers Education, built at a cost of around Rs 107 crore, and a teachers’ education centre at the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, built at a cost of over Rs 7 crore, the PMO said.

    Further, residential flats and staff quarters at the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and the ITI, Karaundi will also be inaugurated by the prime minister.

    In the health sector, a project comprising a doctors’ hostel, a nurses’ hostel and a shelter home, amounting to Rs 130 crore, at the Mahamana Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya Cancer Centre will be inaugurated by the prime minister.

    He will also inaugurate a 50-bed Integrated Ayush Hospital at Bhadrasi, the statement said.

    The prime minister will lay the foundation stone of the Rs 49 crore Government Homeopathic Medical College in Pindra tehsil under the Ayush Mission.

    In the road sector, Modi will lay the foundation stone of two “four-to-six lane” road-widening projects for Prayagraj and Bhadohi, the statement said.

    This will improve the connectivity of Varanasi and will be a step towards resolving the problem of the city’s traffic congestion, it added.

    To give a fillip to the tourism potential of the holy city, the prime minister will inaugurate the first phase of the tourism development project related to the Shri Guru Ravidas Ji Temple, Seer Govardhan, Varanasi.

    Other projects to be inaugurated by the prime minister include a speed breeding facility at the International Rice Research Institute, the South Asia Regional Centre, Varanasi, a regional reference standards laboratory in Payakpur village and an advocate building in Pindra tehsil, the PMO said.

  • UP govt presents supplementary budget, reaches out to elderly, famers, divyangs ahead of polls

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: Ahead of the crucial Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in 2022, the Yogi Adityanath government presented a supplementary budget of Rs 8,479 crore and a vote on account of Rs 1,68,903 crore in the assembly on the second day of the winter session, the last under the present dispensation, on Thursday.

    Presenting its second supplementary budget in the current financial year, the UP government tried to reach out to farmers, labourers, unemployed and state workers besides opening its coffers to ensure round the clock power supply across all the tehsils, district headquarters and villages of the state.

    State Finance Minister Suresh Khanna said, while presenting the supplementary budget, that the UP Power Corporation Ltd had been allocated Rs 1000 for the purpose.

    While the state government made a provision to double the pension for senior citizens and farmers. For senior citizens and differently abled persons, the pension has been doubled  to Rs 1000 from Rs 500 per month, it also increased the pension given to persons inflicted with leprosy to Rs 3000 per month.

    ​ALSO READ | 2022 UP polls: Akhilesh, Shivpal bury hatchet, to enter the fray together

    The rise in senior citizen pension will benefit around 56 lakh elderly persons and 11 lakh differently abled persons. While Rs 670 crore have been earmarked for farmers and senior citizen pension fund, Rs 167 crore have been allocated for Divyangs.

    For power sector, the state government has made provision of Rs 3382.50 crore of which for –‘Har Ghar Bijli Scheme’, Rs 185 crore and another Besides, the state government made a provision of Rs 4000 crore for the workers of unorganized sector.

    ​The state government said that it had decided to give Rs 500 as subsistence allowance to the registered labourers of unorganised sector from December till March. The registered daily wagers would get the allowance in two installments of Rs 1000 each. 

    There are about 6.60 crore wagers in unorganized sector of which 2.50 crore are registered. All those who would get themselves registered till December 31, will be able to avail the benefit of this scheme.

    ​ALSO READ | 2022 UP polls: BJP launches massive feedback drive, says Yogi govt fulfilled all promises 

    Three days after, PM Modi inaugurated his dream project, the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor in Varanasi, the state government allocated Rs 10 crore for Kashi Vishwanath Jyotirlinga. Moreover, Rs 10 crore have been allocated to sports department, and Rs 150 crore for Information department which is set to play a significant role in the image makeover of the incumbent government ahead of 2022 assembly polls. Similarly, Rs 10 crore have been sanctioned for UP Gaurav Samman.

    However, increasing the pension provisions, CM Yogi Adityanath launched a scathing attack on SP chief Akhilesh Yadav without taking his name. The CM said that the BJP did not kick its elders out of homes like some political leaders, who have evicted their own father and uncle from their political outfit. 

    “We respect our elders and do not kick them out of their chairs, like some politicians who have  kicked their own father and uncle from their political party as well as home,” he said.

    UP CM claimed that his government always worked on the principle of ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas’ to help make the nation free from all social evils by 2022.  “We are making Uttar Pradesh free from poverty, corruption, communalism, and casteism,” he reiterated.

  • ‘He can do anything for votes before polls’: Mamata Banerjee on PM Modi’s dip in river Ganga

    By PTI

    PANAJI: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi remembers the Ganga river, which is regarded as the “mai” (mother) by lakhs, only during elections to get votes, a day after he took a ritualistic dip in the holy river before inaugurating the Kashi Vishwanath Dham (KVD) in Varanasi.

    Addressing a public meeting at Assnora village in North Goa on the last day of her two-day visit to Goa, the TMC supremo said the prime minister can do anything to get votes and recalled his visit to Uttarakhand for performing “tapasya” (meditation).

    She also alleged that the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh made the Ganga river “impure by throwing unclaimed bodies of COVID-19 victims”.

    ALSO READ | Sonia Gandhi meets Opposition leaders on joint strategy in Parliament, no invite to Mamata’s TMC

    Banerjee said around 23 lakh people visit Gangasgar in West Bengal to participate in the Gangasagar mela like the Kumbh congregation.

    “But we don’t worship the Ganga river only during the time of elections. During the election time, Modi ji went and took a dip in the Ganga river,” she said in an apparent reference to the PM’s visit to Varanasi, his Lok Sabha constituency, on Monday for inaugurating the KVD which houses the world-famous Kashi Vishwanath temple Banerjee said PM Modi took a dip in the Ganga river “only to get votes.”

    “He can do anything to get votes. He had gone to Uttarakhand and performed tapasya. We have no objection to it. Let him do whatever he wants to. He has freedom (to do whatever he wants) but where were you during the entire year?” she asked.

    The swipe at PM Modi came in reference to his visit to a cave near the Kedarnath temple where he had spent a day meditating after the election campaign for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, which the BJP won.

    ​ALSO READ | Mamata declares ‘match’ against BJP in Goa

    The West Bengal chief minister accused the Yogi Adityanath government in UP of throwing unclaimed bodies of the COVID-19 victims in the Ganga river.

    “They have made the Gangamai (mother Ganga) ‘apavitra’ (impure). We call the Ganga water pure. We call the river our mother. But the BJP has thrown COVID-19 dead bodies in the Ganga river. We don’t like it,” she said.

    Banerjee, who is projecting herself as the opposition pivot to take on the BJP and whose party is contesting the maiden assembly elections in Goa, was livid at the “Bengali party” tag assigned to the TMC.

    ALSO READ | Dhankhar vs Mamata again? Bengal Governor asks officials to ensure cooperation between BSF, police

    “They say we are Bengalis, (but) who are they? They are Gujaratis. Did we ever say that he is a Gujarati and he should not come here? If Gujaratis can go anywhere in the entire country, why can’t Bengalis go? If a Bengali can write the National Anthem, can’t he come to Goa?” she questioned.

    Banerjee said Mahatma Gandhi was seen as the leader of the entire nation and not of any state.

    “We don’t think which part of the country he belonged to. A true leader should take the country together,” she commented.

    The West Bengal chief minister said that “Goa will not be run from Gujarat or Delhi but Goans will run their state.”

  • UP polls 2022: Mamata Banerjee likely to visit Varanasi, support Akhilesh Yadav

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: Trinamool Congress president Mamata Banerjee is expected to visit Varanasi next month amid indication that her party will support Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.

    “Didi has already said in Delhi that if Akhilesh Yadav needs our help, we are ready to extend help. The gesture of senior SP leader Jaya Bachchan seeking votes for the TMC during the West Bengal Assembly elections will be reciprocated in Uttar Pradesh,” said Laliteshpati Tripathi, who recently joined the TMC.

    “The target is the same and we have to leave no stone unturned to ensure that these forces (led by the BJP) are defeated. We are also with SP chief Akhilesh ji in his fight,” Tripathi said on Sunday.

    He said Banerjee would visit Varanasi probably around the second week of January.

    “The TMC is holding meetings and deliberating how to strengthen itself in Uttar Pradesh. As far as party chief Mamata Banerjee’s visit to Varanasi is concerned, we have not finalised the dates. We were planning to organise her visit in December, but owing to her previous engagements, we could not get the dates,” Tripathi said.

    Uttar Pradesh is not the immediate focus of the TMC, he said.

    For the TMC, Goa and Tripura are the states of immediate focus, Tripathi said, adding his party is not in the fray in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election due early next year.

    Asked whether Banerjee is visiting Varanasi since it is represented by PM Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha, and possibly because she wants to send across a message, Tripathi said, “No. According to the initial roadmap of the TMC, the party’s Purvanchal unit office was to be based in Varanasi, and Mamata ji wanted to have a darshan (of temples).”

    Tripathi also reasoned that she chose Varanasi as the first phase of the joining of new members in the TMC was to be held in the holy city.

    Laliteshpati Tripathi, ex-vice president of the state Congress and great-grandson of former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kamlapati Tripathi, and his father Rajeshpathi joined the TMC in the presence of Banerjee in Siliguri on October 25.

    Asked what made him and his father join the TMC, the 43-year-old-leader said Banerjee has the capacity to fight Prime Minister Modi.

    Meanwhile, SP’s national vice-president Kiranmoy Nanda told PTI Sunday, “We have supported her (Mamata Banerjee) in the West Bengal Assembly elections. I myself have campaigned for her in the elections.”

    “We welcome the gesture (of offering support) by Didi. We want to defeat the BJP, and Didi also wants to defeat the BJP. If Didi supports us, we are happy, and we welcome it.”

    When asked as to how he views Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who is trying to mobilise the party cadre (ahead of the polls), Laliteshpati Tripathi said, “Politics is not a game, which is started two-three months before the elections. If I take the example of Mamata Banerjee, she fought the Communists in the state continuously for three-four years by being there. The Congress, too, needs the same thing”.

    “The Congress seems to be fighting now, and for the candidates it is good that the star campaigners are active. Whosoever can take advantage of it, will do so. But, as far as the revival of the party is concerned, it should have been started in 2019,” he said.

    Commenting on the announcement made by Priyanka Gandhi that the Congress will give 40 per cent of tickets in Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls to women, and whether it could be possibly a game changer, Tripathi said, “If this was to be made a game changer, this should have been introduced in states like Uttarakhand, Goa and Punjab, where they could have guaranteed the win of their candidates, and it could have been a strong initiative towards women empowerment.

    “This is a welcome move, but based on it alone, you cannot win the polls as there are a host of other factors,” he said.

    “Didi has shown that she can take on Narendra Modi and defeat him as well,” Tripathi said and added that the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election has become Akhilesh Yadav versus Yogi Adityanath.

    “If Akhilesh is seen on a strong footing, then the prime minister would have to come here and lead the (BJP’s poll) campaign,” Tripathi said.

    Tripathi claimed that BJP’s tally of seats in the 2022 Assembly elections will decrease from its 2017 total of 312, as there is “anger in the society, farmers are worried in absence of proper purchase of paddy and due to non-availability of fertilisers”.

    He also claimed that the BJP will lose seats in the rural areas of Varanasi in the Assembly polls.

    Tripathi said that he and his father have not taken any designation in the TMC and are working to strengthen it in the state.

  • Akhilesh Yadav and Jayant Chaudhary meet to discuss seat-sharing in Uttar Pradesh

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI:  Akhilesh Yadav and Jayant Chaudhary virtually made it official on Tuesday that their parties, the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), respectively, had sealed the deal to contest the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in alliance. 

    The two leaders met in Lucknow, apparently to discuss seat-sharing. They both later tweeted that they were moving together towards change. “Shri Jayant Chaudhary ji ke saath badlav ke ore (With Jayant Chaudhary for change,” the SP chief said in his twitter post. The RLD leader, too, posted a photograph of his meeting with Akhilesh and tweeted, “Badhte Kadam.”

    Speaking to this newspaper over phone, SP spokesperson Manoj Rai confirmed that alliance with RLD was finalised. “The details on seat-sharing would be announced after proper discussion,” he said. Sources, meanwhile, said the seat-sharing was also finalised and the announcement would be made soon.

    Sources from the RLD said the party expected to contest over 36 seats in western UP as it had a strong base here. The RLD had reportedly demanded 50 seats from the SP. The SP is learnt to have agreed to offer 30-36 seats of its choice in western UP to RLD.

    According to sources, the deal between the two parties was earlier stuck over Charthawal assembly seat in Muzaffarnagar district, with Akhilesh adamant to field SP candidate Harendra Malik from there. The sources said the RLD agreed for alliance after the SP dropped its claimed on Charthawal, from which Jayant himself is considering to contest. BJP’s Vijay Kumar Kushwaha was elected in 2017 from the seat.

    The RLD is believed to have consolidated its electoral base in western UP during the farmers’ agitation. “With its strong support among Jats, it can give a tougher fight to the BJP in western UP than the SP,” said a political observer.