News Analysis India

Tag: Uttar Pradesh elections 2022

  • Uttar Pradesh polls: IPS officer-turned-politician Asim Arun seeks financial support

    By PTI

    NOIDA: “Is it possible to be in politics without leaving the path of honesty,” wonders IPS officer-turned-politician Asim Arun as he seeks financial support from people to fight the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

    The former Kanpur police commissioner had in January opted for voluntary retirement from the service and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has fielded him from the Kannauj (Sadar) seat for the polls.

    In his appeal on social media, 51-year-old Arun says he is now into “Lok Seva” (service of the people), which requires money for works to be done but he does “not want to compromise his basic principles”. He also suggests measures like maintaining less number of vehicles, having less staff and “transparency” in expenses for people in public service to keep the expenditure in check.

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    “My father late Shriram Arun is often cited as an example when it comes to honesty and I have always tried to follow his path. Now I am in ‘Lok Seva’ but on the condition that I will not compromise with my basic principles,” Arun said.

    “On the other hand, public service requires money for works to be completed. This is the reason why conscious people feel that they would have fixed certain problems if they were in a position of power but get discouraged thinking of the expenses required to fix the problem,” he added.

    “I consider my life to be an experiment in which I am now testing whether it is possible to engage in politics without leaving the path of honesty? I know several public representatives who have been successful at this and are inspiration to me,” Arun said in a statement.

    Appealing for crowd support, he said complete transparency would be maintained with the financial assistance which could be made through his website – “http://asimarun.in”.

    Kannauj (Sadar) falls in the Kannauj district of Uttar Pradesh. The seat is reserved for SC candidates and is a so-called bastion of the Samajwadi Party. The assembly seat goes to the polls on February 20 during the third phase of the elections in the state.

  • Don’t believe in opinion polls: BSP supremo Mayawati to voters

    By PTI

    BAREILLY: BSP supremo Mayawati on Monday took a swipe at the opinion polls conducted by the electronic media and asked voters not to take them seriously.

    Addressing an election meeting here, the BSP chief cited the opinion polls done in the 2007 Assembly elections, in which her party was shown at the third spot, but it won and formed its government.

    “When the Assembly elections were held in UP in 2007, the opinion polls were telling that the BSP would remain at No.3 but the BSP came at No.1. The party, which was being shown at No.1 was pushed to No.3. Don’t believe in opinion polls,” the BSP supremo said.

    Attacking her political opponents, she said the Congress has not done any work for the Dalits and poor.

    “The Congress has always been anti-Dalits,” she said.

    On the Samajwadi Party, she said, “The goons and the mafia dominated the scene during the SP government. It was a government of riots and loot.”

    She also accused the BJP of being casteist and spreading hatred on the basis of religion.

    “The policies of the BJP and the RSS are casteist, and spread tension and hatred in the name of religion,” she said.

    She said crime has increased during the BJP government while the Dalit and backward classes have been unable to get the benefit of reservation.

  • AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi declares ex-Uttar Pradesh Minister Babu Singh Kushwaha as his front’s CM face

    By PTI

    AMROHA: AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday declared former state minister Babu Singh Kushwaha as the chief ministerial candidate of his party’s pre-poll alliance “Bhagidari Parivartan Morcha”.

    The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief made the announcement while also launching a scathing attack against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in an election rally in Hasanpur here.

    “If the Bhagidari Parivartan Morcha forms its government in UP, Babu Singh Kushwaha will be its first chief minister,” said Owaisi, who had earlier said that if his pre-poll alliance is voted to power, he will have two chief ministers in UP.

    Owaisi, however, had not explained under what provision of the Constitution, he would have two chief ministers in a single state.

    In his Hassanpur rally, he also promised to have three deputy CMs for the state.

    “We have also decided that there will be three deputy chief ministers in UP of which one will be a Muslim and two others from the most backward section of the society,” he added.

    For the UP assembly elections, the AIMIM had forged a pre-poll alliance ‘Bhagidari Parivartan Morcha’ on January 22 along with Kushwaha’s Jan Adhikar Party and the Backward and Minority Community Employees Federation, headed by Waman Meshram.

    A minister in the Mayawati government, Kushwaha had been made convener of the Morcha.

    Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he asserted that he has the courage of speaking with Modi while looking in his eyes.

    “If the BJP is doing something wrong, I will raise my voice against it. This country was liberated by our ancestors. We got this country free with our blood. This country is mine and everyone else’s,” he asserted.

    “But today when the BJP talks about changing the secular character of this country, Owaisi will look into the eyes of Modi and speak and he will continue to do so,” he said.

    The Hyderabad MP also attacked UP Chief Minister Adityanath, calling him “Baba” and saying that he has only one solution to all problems: Defeat Mughals.

    “If anyone thinks my voice will be suppressed for speaking against the UP chief minister, remember that as long as I am alive, I will keep speaking the truth. Your power will not suppress me,” said Owaisi.

    Accusing the Adityanath government of inaction, he said, “Baba’s government was there for five years but Baba did nothing. If you talk about your problems with Baba, Baba will just say, ‘O young man, you vote for us, we have to defeat the Mughals.”

    “And the SP-BSP will say that you vote for us and defeat the BJP,” he said, adding: “They say the BJP wins only because of the Majlis entering into the electoral fray.”

    Owaisi also took digs at the chief minister’s various other purported remarks during the ongoing electioneering.

    “Yogi Adityanath says he will create cold in May-June. Chief Minister, you should become a meteorologist. You (Yogi) say that you will remove the heat (garmi nikal denge), Are you a doctor of dysentery, is Baba selling Isabgol?” he asked.

    “Listen to our message, Baba. The heat that Majlis has created in youths, will neither be reduced by your heat nor your cold. The heat we have created is on the foundation of truth, on the basis of reality to get respect and to gain our share. Even if I die, these people will go ahead with our message,” he asserted.

    “I want freedom from radical forces. I want freedom from those parties who are fielding RSS candidates and are telling me that you do slavery. I want brotherhood so we have formed the morcha,” the AIMIM chief said in his rally.

  • UP polls: PM Narendra Modi pitches development agenda, accuses previous state governments of loot

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: Pitching in for the development agenda ahead of the first phase of UP assembly polls on February 10, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday lashed out at the previous state governments accusing them of drifting away from people’s issues and their needs and focusing on their only agenda to loot the state.

    Addressing voters in Mathura, Agra and Bulandshahr days before the first phase of the state assembly polls virtually, Modi said the people of Uttar Pradesh had decided to go with development as the biggest issue in the upcoming assembly election.

    “The people of UP have decided to ignore those who do politics on the basis of money, muscle power, casteism, communalism, they will not get the love of the public,” he said.

    Modi said it a the age of those politicians who serve people by becoming their ‘sevak’ (servant) and got their blessings.

    Taking a swipe at Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav over his recent statement that he saw Lord Krishna in his dream, the prime minister said, “Witnessing the immense support for the BJP, these people are now seeing Lord Krishna in their dreams.”

    Meanwhile, in a bid to give a further push to the prospects of saffron, Union Home Minister Amit Shah to sought people’s support in Baghpat for putting  Uttar Pradesh at number one among the most developed states in the country.

    “Today UP is the second largest economy in the country. Give us another opportunity to make it there to most economic power in the country,” said Shah while addressing a gathering in Baghpat on Sunday.

    Both PM and Shah commenced their speeches by paying tribute to Lata Mangeshkar, the nightingale of India, who passed away on Sunday morning.

    Shah listed the development projects undertaken by the Yogi Adityanath government in jat land of Baghpat during the last five years.

    In 2017 assembly election, BJP has won the Baghpat seat and the party has repeated sitting MLA Yogesh Dhama while SP-RLD has reposed faith in Ahmad Hamid of Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD).

  • BJP names 45 more candidates for Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The BJP named 45 more candidates on Sunday for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, fielding Sanjay Sinh from Amethi and Daya Shankar Singh from Ballia Nagar.

    Daya Shankar Singh and his wife Swati Singh, currently a minister in the state government, were both seeking the party ticket to contest from Sarojini Nagar, a seat currently represented in the Assembly by the latter, but the ruling party fielded former Enforcement Directorate (ED) officer Rajeshwar Singh from there.

    The party has dropped the incumbent MLA, Surendra Singh, and fielded state minister Anand Swaroop Shukla from Bairia.

    Sinh hails from the erstwhile royal family of Amethi and had joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2019 after quitting the Congress.

  • Brahmin not caste but superior way of living life: Uttar Pradesh Deputy CM Dinesh Sharma

    By PTI

    NOIDA: Brahmin is not a caste but a superior way of living a life, senior BJP leader Dinesh Sharma said on Sunday, noting that his party works for all without any discrimination.

    Addressing a poll campaign in Jewar in Gautam Buddh Nagar, the Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister hit out at opposition parties for being “casteist”.

    While campaigning for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Dhirendra Singh in Jewar, Sharma said he has been travelling across the state in the run up to the assembly polls and is often asked about his views on Brahminism and the party’s position on casteism.

    “Someone asked me for my thoughts on Brahmins, I said BJP wants ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas’. Neither Brahmin, nor Gujjar or Jats. Every caste has its significance and that’s why we have a bouquet of all castes here in support (of the BJP),” Sharma said.

    “But when I was linked to Brahminism, I said yes, I am a Brahmin and I am proud of it. I do not see it as any disrespect,” he added.

    Sharma said a Brahmin’s work is ‘sarve bhavantu sukhina’, one who feels happiness in others’ happiness is a Brahmin.

    Stating that he is also a teacher by profession, Sharma said earlier, only teachers were called Brahmins as they worked for the welfare of people and “considered as gods” across castes out of respect.

    “So, from where has this new caste come? Brahmin is not a caste, a superior way of living life is called Brahmin. Whether teaching or (in field of) education, or whatever the work, he’s not in conflict with any caste. From birth to death, it is these Brahmins who perform works for good luck,” Sharma said.

    This is not my definition but the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas’, he said, adding that that the BJP works for all.

    “The BJP works for the backward classes, Jats, Gujjars, Thakurs, Vaishya and everyone. We have ministers, MLAs, MLCs across castes. We have not discriminated among people like other parties do,” he said, hitting out at the opposition.

    The deputy chief minister listed several public welfare schemes of the BJP-led central government and the Uttar Pradesh government, to drum up support for the party for the upcoming polls.

    Sharma also recalled his visits and interactions, among others, with the Muslim community in places like Aligarh and Lucknow and said the BJP is getting support from across communities.

    Jewar in Gautam Buddh Nagar district of western Uttar Pradesh goes to polls on February 10 during the first phase of assembly elections in the state.

    The counting of votes will take place on March 10.

  • Uttar Pradesh polls: BSP releases list of 54 candidates, fields Khwaja Samsuddin against Yogi Adityanath

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: The BSP on Saturday released a list of 54 candidates for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, fielding Khwaja Samsuddin against Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath from Gorakhpur Urban constituency.

    In its latest list, the Mayawati-led party has given tickets to seven Muslim candidates.

    The Bahujan Samaj Party has fielded Santosh Tiwari from Fazilnagar assembly constituency in Kushinagar district.

    Tiwari will take on Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate and former BSP leader Swami Prasad Maurya.

    The BSP has given tickets to Prateek Pandey from Katehari and to Chandra Prakash Verma from Akbarpur.

    Both constituencies fall under Ambedkarnagar district.

    In the 2017 state assembly elections, BSP’s Lalji Verma and Ram Achal Rajbhar had won from Katehari and Akbarpur respectively.

    In November last year, Verma and Rajbhar joined the SP at a ‘Janadesh Maharally’ in Ambedkarnagar.

    The BSP has fielded its sitting MLA Uma Shankar Singh from Rasra in Ballia.

    The party has named Rajendra Singh as its candidate from Chillupar in Gorakhpur.

    The seat was earlier held by Vinay Shankar Tiwari, who quit the party and joined the SP.

    The 54 assembly constituencies for which the BSP announced its candidates cover Ambedkarnagar, Balrampur, Siddharthanagar, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Maharajganj, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Deoria and Ballia districts.

    These districts will go to polls in the sixth phase of the state assembly elections on March 3.

  • Criminals will face ‘bulldozer’ after UP polls results: Yogi

    By PTI

    MATHURA: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath here on Wednesday warned criminals that they would face the “bulldozer” once the elections results are out.

    Adityanath was addressing a public rally in Tarauli village of Chhatta assembly constituency. “Bulldozer will move against unsocial elements and mafia after March 10,” Adityanath said, apparently referring to the raising of illegally-constructed buildings by criminals.

    He said they will be sent “notices” for their involvement in criminal activities. He also assured that the killers of Ramveer – a village Pradhan who was shot dead last week – will not be spared.

    The CM referred to riots in Kosi Kalan in Mathura and Muzaffarnagar that broke out under the Samajwadi Party government. He alleged Hindus were killed in those riots and property of traders was devastated incited by activists of Samajwadi Party.

    Adityanath said during the SP regime people were implicated in false cases and massive firing was done on “Ram Bhakts”.

    He said the colour of the cap of SP has been stained with their blood. “How astonishing is it that in spite of such acts, they are shamelessly asking people to support them,” he said in his campaign speech in support of UP minister Laxmi Narain Chaudhary.

    ALSO READ: Fielding Yogi Adityanath from Gorakhpur will also help party maintain hold on other seats in region, BJP hopes

    The CM also addressed public meetings in Goverdhan, campaigning for BJP candidate Megh Shyam, and in Mathura where he campaigned for cabinet minister Srikant Sharma. Adityanath also claimed that the third wave of Covid will be over within a week.

    He complimented Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his handling of the pandemic and held responsible massive vaccination for the stemming of the third wave. He said during the peak of Covid he and his fellow party members worked to help people, while “none of the leaders or activists of SP, BSP, or Congress came out of the four walls of their house.”

    He said the UP government is distributing tablets and smartphones among youths to pave the way for their proper online study.

    Adityanath announced that the Chhatta Sugar mill has been green-lighted and funds to that end have also been released. Besides the sugar mill, the farmers of the area will now also be benefited from the purchase of one lakh metric ton potato by PepsiCo, the Chief Minister said.

    He said factories during the SP regime were not established in the area owing to poor law and order as even people were unsafe then.

  • BJP announced list of 17 candidates, no mention of Hriday Narain Dikshit, Swati Singh

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: The BJP on Tuesday announced a list of 17 candidates for the Uttar Pradesh polls and did not include Assembly Speaker Hriday Narain Dikshit and minister Swati Singh in it while Brijesh Pathak’s seat was changed.

    The names announced on Tuesday included candidates for all the nine Assembly seats in Lucknow.

    Ashutosh Shukla has been fielded from Bhagwantnagar in Unnao district where Hriday Narain Dikshit is the outgoing MLA.

    Rajrejeshwar Singh, who has taken voluntary retirement after being deputed to the Enforcement Directorate from the Uttar Pradesh police, has been fielded from Sarojini Nagar, the seat of outgoing minister Swati Singh.

    Both Swati Singh and her husband Daya Shankar Singh had been vying for the Sarojini Nagar seat.

    Incumbent Lucknow (central) MLA and minister Brijesh Pathak has been fielded from Lucknow Cantonment, burying speculations of the new entrant in the BJP Aparna Yadav, the daughter-in-law of SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, being fielded from there.

    Aparna Yadav had contested from the seat in the previous elections but had faced defeat. According to the BJP’s list, state minister Ashutosh Tandon will contest from his Lucknow east seat.

  • Uttar Pradesh polls: Akhilesh Yadav has family assets worth over Rs 40 crore

    By PTI

    MANIPURI: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, his wife Dimple, and their daughter own assets worth over Rs 40.14 crore, while the couple does not have any vehicle, according to the poll affidavit of the former chief minister.

    Yadav’s rival candidate from the Karhal assembly constituency, the BJP’s SP Singh Baghel, has declared family assets worth Rs 8.75 crore.

    The SP chief’s affidavit also reveals that he owns an exercise machine worth over Rs 5.34 lakh and a phone costing Rs 76,015.

    Yadav, who filed his nomination papers from the Karhal assembly constituency in Mainpuri district on Monday, does not own any firearm, while Baghel has a rifle and a revolver.

    As per the election affidavits of the two leaders, the gross value of assets of Yadav, his wife, and daughter Aditi stands at over Rs 40.14 crore, as compared to over Rs 8.75 crore of SP Singh Baghel and his family — wife Madhu and son Parth.

    Dimple Yadav has a computer worth Rs 1.25 lakh, gold ornaments weighing over 2,774 grams, and diamonds worth Rs 59,76,687, the affidavit said. The Yadav couple does not own any vehicle, according to the affidavit.

    ALSO READ: BJP one short of hitting ‘century’ of candidates facing criminal cases: SP chief Akhilesh Yadav

    The total movable assets of Yadav are worth more than Rs 8.43 crore, while that of Dimple is over Rs 4.76 crore.

    The family’s movable assets are worth over Rs 13.30 crore. Yadav has immovable assets worth over Rs 17.22 crore, while Dimple has immovable assets worth over Rs 9.61 crore. The total worth of their immovable assets is over Rs 26.83 crore. The SP chief has a liability of over Rs 28.97 lakh, while his wife has a liability of Rs over 14.26 lakh.

    As per the election affidavit, Yadav has loaned more than Rs 2.13 crore to his father Mulayam Singh Yadav; while Dimple has given over Rs 8.15 lakh to her husband.

    The total movable assets of SP Singh Baghel (and his wife and son) stand at over Rs 84 lakh — Rs 45.94 lakh belongs to Baghel, over Rs 25.91 lakh to Madhu, and more than Rs 12.14 lakh to Parth.

    ALSO READ: Akhilesh Yadav to file nomination from Karhal; says Uttar Pradesh polls to write history of next century

    The total immovable property of the Union minister stands at over Rs 7.91 crore. Currently, the 61-year-old Baghel, who is the Lok Sabha MP from Agra (SC), is the Union Minister of State for Law and Justice.

    Baghel has no liabilities on him, while his wife has a liability of over Rs 63.33 lakh, according to the election affidavit.

    The union minister in his election affidavit has said that he has three cases pending in court against him, while Yadav has one FIR registered against him, and no case is pending against him.