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Tag: Uttar Pradesh polls 2022

  • Curtain comes down on over-two month long election campaign in Uttar Pradesh

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: The high-octane campaign for the seventh and final phase of the Uttar Pradesh assembly election covering 54 assembly seats, including in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary constituency Varanasi, ended on Saturday, with the BJP and its rival parties attacking each other on a range of issues from COVID-19 handling, law and order, economic and security situation to farmers’ stir.

    With this, the curtain came down on rumbustious electioneering over the last two months when assembly polls were also held in four other states – Goa, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Manipur.

    The campaigning in the last phase reached its crescendo with Prime Minister Narendra Modi leading the BJP’s poll blitzkrieg in Varanasi and its adjoining districts.

    Besides addressing election rallies, he also held a roadshow for three assembly constituencies of Cantt, Varanasi North and Varanasi South.

    This phase also saw Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee descending on the pilgrim city to hold a joint rally with SP president Akhilesh Yadav and his RLD ally Jayant Chaudhary.

    Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had been camping in Varanasi for about four days and she along with her brother Rahul Gandhi addressed election meetings, whereas BSP supremo Mayawati also campaigned in the district and neighbouring areas.

    Seeking to override anti-incumbency, the ruling party raised issues like forced migration and law and order problems during the previous Samajwadi Party government.

    The BJP leaders dubbed its rivals as ”dynasts” and its star campaigners warned that the mafia elements, put in jail by the Yogi Adityanath government, will be out if the SP forms its government.

    Besides highlighting the achievements of the ‘double engine’ governments, BJP has also been reminding the free ration distribution among the poor with Prime Minister Narendra Modi spicing up the campaign by mixing a salt allegory in his speech, to deftly play up salt’s co-relation with loyalty.

    Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has been targeting the BJP government on inflation, unemployment, stray cattle menace and farmers’ agitation against the three agri laws, his speeches peppered with potshots at Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

    The mowing down of four farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri has also been highlighted by all the opposition parties as Union minister Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish Mishra is an accused in the case.

    Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra wooed voters with the ‘ladki hoon,lad sakti hoon’ campaign, on issues related to women and their security and questioned the caste and religion-based politics rampant during the past three decades.

    While campaigning on 51 of the 54 seats going to polls in the last phase ended at 6 PM, on the three Naxal-hit seats of Chakiya, Robertsganj and Duddhi, it concluded at 4 PM.

    Polling on these 54 seats spread across nine districts on March 7 will also mark the end of the almost month-long voting process in the politically crucial Uttar Pradesh that had begun on February 10 after the announcement of elections in mid-January.

    A ban on public rallies by the Election Commission due to rising COVID-19 cases affected the campaigning initially but as the curbs were gradually lifted in February, the usual buzz of electioneering was visible.

    The counting of votes will be undertaken on March 10.

    According to the Chief Electoral Officer Ajay Kumar Shukla all necessary arrangements have been made for free, fair and transparent polling in the seventh phase in Azamgarh, Mau, Jaunpur, Ghazipur, Chandauli, Varanasi, Mirzapur, Bhadohi and Sonbhadra districts.

    A total of 613 candidates will be trying their luck in this phase on the 54 seats which include 11 reserved for the Scheduled Castes and two for the Scheduled Tribes by an electorate consisting around 2.06 crores.

    This final round will also be a test of the alliances carved by both the BJP and Samajwadi Party with small caste-based parties.

    BJP’s allies Apna Dal (Sonelal) and Nishad Party and Akhilesh Yadav’s new friends Apna Dal (K), Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) of Om Prakash Rajbhar and others have been trying to rally their supporters.

    Once considered a stronghold of the Samajwadi Party, the region saw BJP making inroads in 2017 by winning 29 seats along with its allies Apna Dal (4) and SBSP (3).

    The BSP got six seats and Samajwadi Party 11 seats.

    For the Samajwadi Party, its patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav made another rare appearance in Jaunpur to drum up support for Lucky Yadav, son of his long-time associate late Parasnath Yadav in the fray from Malhani seat.

    Mulayam Singh had earlier campaigned for his son and party president Akhilesh Yadav on Karhal seat in Mainpuri.

    Besides UP Tourism Minister Neelkanth Tiwari (Varanasi south) other ministers in the fray in the last leg are Anil Rajbhar (Shivpur-Varanasi), Ravindra Jaiswal (Varanasi north), Girish Yadav (Jaunpur)and Ramashankar Singh Patel (Marihan-Mirzapur).

    Dara Singh Chauhan who had resigned from the Yogi Adityanath cabinet and joined the Samajwadi Party is also in contesting from Ghosi in Mau.

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

  • Assembly polls: Record seizure of cash, drugs from Uttar Pradesh

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: A record Rs 328 crore worth of inducements to voters such as cash, liquor and narcotics have been seized in Uttar Pradesh since the announcement of the assembly poll schedule on January 8, Election Commission sources said on Thursday.

    The cumulative seizure of such illegal inducements in the five poll-going states — Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Goa and Punjab — stood at Rs 1,039.50 crore, the sources said, adding that it included drugs worth Rs 571.34 crore.

    The seizure figure in Uttar Pradesh up to Thursday was Rs 328.33 crore, 1.70 times more than the total combined seizure of Rs 193.29 crore in the entire assembly polls held in 2017 in the state.

    Like last time, this time too assembly polls in the state are being held in seven phases.

    While voting is over in Punjab, Goa and Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Manipur still have one phase each to go.

    The commission, the sources said, has been laying special emphasis on inducement-free elections and curbing the malaise of undue money power, liquor and freebies.

    A total of 128 expenditure observers have been deployed in Uttar Pradesh for effective monitoring.

    Over 1,800 flying squads and 2,104 static surveillance teams were operationalised to check movement of cash, liquor, drugs and freebies in Uttar Pradesh.

    Eight air intelligence units of the Income Tax Department have been formed in Uttar Pradesh.

    Voting for the sixth phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls began on Thursday morning, with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and several prominent faces among the 676 candidates who are contesting on 57 seats spread across 10 districts.

    Around 2.15 crore people are eligible to vote in this phase.

    Till now, voting for 292 of the 403 Assembly seats has been completed.

    The final phase of the elections in the remaining 54 seats will be held on March 7.

  • BJP is ‘losing’ in Uttar Pradesh: Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee while campaigning for Samajwadi Party

    By PTI

    VARANASI: Describing herself as a “fighter”, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday alleged that she was attacked by BJP workers after she arrived for campaigning in Uttar Pradesh in support of the Samajwadi Party.

    “I was coming from the airport yesterday and going to the (Dashashwamedh) ghat. Midway, some BJP workers, who have nothing in their brain except violence, stopped my vehicle. They hit my car, pushed me and told me to go back,” Banerjee claimed.

    “It was then that I thought, they are going out (of power). They are completely gone, their defeat is imminent,” the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief said.

    Banerjee said she was in Uttar Pradesh for a political meeting and wondered why the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was so bothered about it.

    “I am not a coward, I am a fighter. I have fought for a long time. The CPM attacked me in the past, I was attacked with sticks and shots were fired at me several times in the past. But I never bowed down,” she added.

    Banerjee said when “abuses were being hurled” at her on Wednesday, she got down from the car and stood silent for some time to see what the attackers could do.

    “I wanted to see what you can do. How much strength you have. But you are a coward. I saw it and thanked them. They attacked my car, pushed me. I said thank you because I knew the message is clear that the BJP is losing, why else attack me,” she claimed.

    She said if her coming to Uttar Pradesh once can ensure BJP’s defeat, she would come to the state a thousand times.

    “It’s not so easy, Khela hoga,” Banerjee said, referring to the Hindi variation of the Bangla phrase which was the poll anthem of the TMC in West Bengal elections last year in which it defeated the BJP.

  • Centre should realise humanity is more important than politics: Mamata Banerjee on Russia-Ukraine crisis

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: Asserting that it is the Centre’s responsibility to bring back Indians stranded in war-hit Ukraine, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said the Union government should realise that humanity is more important than politics.

    She also urged the NDA government at the Centre to take lead in peace talks.

    “It is the Union government’s responsibility to bring back Indians stuck in war-hit Ukraine. The Centre should ensure safe return of all the stranded Indians. I am in favour of peace, not war. The COVID-19 pandemic has already destroyed a lot. India can lead talks to maintain world peace,” Banerjee said.

    Her comments came a day after a medical student from Karnataka’s Haveri district was killed in intense shelling in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Tuesday, marking India’s first casualty in the war.

    Banerjee was speaking to reporters here before leaving for Uttar Pradesh to campaign for the Samajwadi Party in the ongoing assembly polls there.

    “Humanity is more important than politics and the central government should realise this. Lives of students are more important than politics,” she said.

    Asked whether her request for an all-party meeting has received any response, Banerjee said, “I have done my duty. Now it is for them to decide. Maybe they are busy with elections.”

    Banerjee had offered unconditional support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Ukraine crisis and requested him to consider calling an all-party meeting to take a united stand on the issue.

  • Sixth phase of Uttar Pradesh polls on Thursday to decide fate of big-wigs, including Yogi Adityanath

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: The sixth round of Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls will see voting for 57 seats on Thursday sealing the fate of political heavyweights such as Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the Congress’ Ajay Kumar Lallu and Samajwadi Party’s Swami Prasad Maurya.

    With voting for 292 out of 403 assembly seats over, the polling has now moved to the Purvanchal region of the state where 111 seats are up for grabs.

    Of the remaining constituencies, 57 seats, spread across 10 districts, will go to the polls on Thursday and 54 in the final phase on March 10.

    The districts where polling is to be held on Thursday are Ambedkarnagar, Balrampur, Siddharthnagar, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Maharajganj, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Deoria and Ballia.

    These 57 assembly segments, of which 11 are reserved, are crucial for the BJP.

    In the 2017 assembly polls, it had won 46 of these seats.

    Chief Electoral Officer of Uttar Pradesh Ajay Kumar Shukla said the campaign for the sixth phase ended at 6 pm on Tuesday and all preparations for voting have been completed.

    Among the 676 candidates in the fray this time are Yogi Adityanath from Gorakhpur Urban fighting his first assembly polls, state Congress president Lallu from Tamkuhi Raj seat and Swami Prasad Maurya, who quit as BJP minister to join the Samajwadi Party, from Fazilnagar.

    The Samajwadi Party has pitted the wife of late Upendra Dutt Shukla, a former BJP leader, against Adityanath.

    Azad Samaj Party founder Chandrashekhar Azad is also a contesting against the chief minister.

    Leader of Opposition in the outgoing assembly and Samajwadi Party leader Ram Govind Chaudhary is contesting from Bansdih.

    Many incumbent ministers’ electoral fate will also be decided in this phase.

    They include Surya Pratap Shahi trying his luck from Pathardeva seat, Satish Chandra Dwivedi from Itwa, Jai Pratap Singh from Bansi, Shree Ram Chauhan from Khajani and Jai Prakash Nishad from Rudrapur.

    Surendra Singh, the incumbent MLA from Bairia in Ballia, who joined the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), a new entrant in Uttar Pradesh electoral politics, will face the electorate in this phase.

    He had crossed over to the VIP after being denied a ticket by the BJP.

    The campaigning in this phase witnessed the political parties go on an all-out attack on each other.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi had attacked the BJP’s rivals by tagging them as ‘ghor pariwarvadi’ (staunch dynasts) who, he claimed, can never make India capable or Uttar Pradesh empowered.

    Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi rebutted by saying the BJP was only against her family, which has not bowed down to the saffron party.

    Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav had accused the BJP of hatching a conspiracy of ending reservation and “selling” government organisations to the private sector.

    There are a total of over 2.14 crore voters in this phase.

  • Uttar Pradesh elections: Voting percentage for all phases same as in 2017 polls

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: Voters’ turnout in almost two-thirds of the assembly seats during five rounds of polling in Uttar Pradesh is more or less the same as in the 2017 polls, leaving political parties and experts guessing whether it’s pro-incumbency or anti-incumbency votes.

    A look at the voters’ turnout in the 2019 general elections in the state also doesn’t reflect much of a difference. While some attribute it to coronavirus, others say voters have tested all the parties in the polls and hence are not enthused by new poll promises made by the competing parties.

    Out of the seven-phase elections, the politically important state has completed five rounds and the rest two are lined up on March 3 and March 7. Results will be declared on March 10 along with that of Punjab, Uttrakhand, Goa and Manipur.

    The opening phase of the elections on February 10 saw a voter turnout of 62.43 per cent in the 58 assembly constituencies in western Uttar Pradesh. It was 63.47 per cent in 2017 and 61.84 per cent in the last general elections.

    But, Kairana which had earlier hit the headlines because of reported migration due to bad law and order saw a leap from 69.56 to 75.12 per cent voting this time.

    As per data available with the election office, the second phase of polling on 55 assembly segments on February 14 registered 64.42 per cent vis-a-vis 65.53 per cent five years back and 63.13 per cent in the last Parliamentary elections.

    The hot seat Rampur of jailed SP leader Azam Khan saw almost a ditto voters’ turnout at 63.92 per cent vis-a-vis 63.97 in 2017.

    The third phase which saw voting in the Karhal constituency from where Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav is contesting witnessed a 62.28 voting percentage as compared to 62.21 per cent five years back and 59.73 in the last general elections.

    Reports suggest it is the second-highest voting percentage in Mulayam Singh Yadav’s bastion, after 71.4 per cent in 1974.

    The fourth round on February 23 which saw voting in the state capital Lucknow among others on 59 seats, saw nearly 61.52 per cent voting as per voters turnout App of the Election Commission as compared to 62.55 per cent in 2017 and 60.3 per cent in 2019.

    Fifth-round on 61 seats including that in Ayodhya, Prayagraj, Amethi and Raebareli on February 27 witnessed 57.32 per cent voting while it was 58.24 in 2017 and 55.31 in 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

    For the sixth phase on March 3 which will see voting in the high-profile seat of Gorakhpur Urban from where Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is in the fray, the challenge is to cross the voting percentage of 56.52 in 2017.

    So is in the last round on March 7 which includes Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency where the 2017 mark was 59.56 per cent.

    It was 57.48 in the last parliamentary polls. On voters’ turnout, Yogi Adityanath says it’s more and less the same as last time and it means things are going in the right direction. Former Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi, when contacted, told PTI, “I wonder why the voter turnout has not increased this time. It could be because the voters’ education efforts were less this time?”

    Sanjay Kumar (Professor and Co-Director of Lokniti, a Research Programme at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies) told PTI, “If you compare with the previous elections, the turnout is not very low. It varies by 1-2 per cent.”

    “Normally, whenever people decide to change the government, there is an atmosphere about it, which in turn increases the turnout. This was visible in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, as the polling percentage increased as compared to the 2009 elections,” he said.

    “There is ‘udaaseentaa’ (indifference) in the minds of the voter (towards voting). Now, whether it is indifference towards anti-incumbency or pro-incumbency, it will be known only after the results are declared,” the psephologist said.

    State BJP spokesperson Manish Shukla said, “Irrespective of the voters’ turnout, the BJP voters are coming out of their home and voting for the party. However, the same cannot be said about other political parties, as their voters seem to be inactive. This can be possibly due to the rift within the SP-led alliance.”

    Samajwadi Party spokesperson Rajpal Kashyap said that discrepancies in the voter list and people moving out of the state for work after easing in the covid situation have reduced the polling percentage. “However, the SP is gaining ground in every phase,” he said.

    His Congress counterpart Ashok Singh said, “It is a festival of democracy, and the party is contesting with full energy. We will throw surprising results. The slogan ‘ladhki hoon, ladh saktee hoon’ has ushered in a political revolution.”

    Manoj Goswami (75), a resident of Lucknow central assembly constituency, said, “I did not cast my vote fearing that I will get infected with COVID-19.” Sushil Kashyap, a tea seller in Lucknow Latouche road says, “We have seen all the parties’ governments. They all are almost the same.”

    Amid inertia shown by many voters, the five phases witnessed some pleasant examples. In Prayagraj’s Allahpur, 78-year-old Bhuri Pathak suffering from a hip fracture went to the polling station in an ambulance to exercise her franchise.

    In Lucknow, a mother who delivered a baby, turned up at a polling booth the next day. There are over 14.66 lakh first-time voters (18-19 years old) in UP polls this time. Overall more than 52 lakh names of new voters were added for the 2022 polls.

    The count of total voters in UP polls is over 15.02 crore. Due to the COVID pandemic, the Election Commission has extended voting time by an hour.

  • Uttar Pradesh elections 2022: No cakewalk for BJP in temple town of Ayodhya

    Express News Service

    AYODHYA: In the first electoral battle after Supreme Court order settling the vexed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid issue, the temple town of Ayodhya seems to be evenly poised for a tough battle of ballots ahead. It will vote in phase-V on Sunday.

    The temple issue, which has been one of major poll planks of the saffron brigade for  decades, is not so any more in Ayodhya as the temple is now coming up following the court order. However, people attribute it to the BJP saying the party never left the issue.

    “I know the court order has paved way for temple construction but BJP shares our sentiments and Modiji laid the temple’s foundation. I don’t think any other PM would have done that personally,” says Mahesh Prasad Gupta, 52, a businessman.

    Iqbal Ansari, one of the litigants in the mandir-masjid dispute, feels the BJP should come again. “Rule of law is prevailing in Ayodhya. We are living amicably,” he says. Ayodhya Assembly segment is considered a BJP stronghold for it remained with the party since 1991, till the SP wrested it in the 2012 election.

    While the BJP has repeated its sitting MLA Ved Prakash Gupta, SP has given ticket to Brahmin face Tej Narain Pandey alias Pawan Pandey who had defeated BJP’s Lallu Singh in 2012. Pandey was defeated by Gupta in 2017. Though Gupta is facing some anti-incumbency, he seems to have an edge as people are set to vote in the names of Modi and Yogi.

    ALSO READ| BJP internal survey says tough fight in Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls

    With no palpable anti-incumbency in the constituency, Samajwadi Party is banking upon the caste configuration of Ayodhya. SP’s core vote base here comprising Muslims and Yadavs together make a respectable 92,000 voters with Yadavs being 37,000 and Muslims 55,000.

    The party has strategically fielded a Brahmin eyeing some support from the community. “We are confident of support of all castes and win the seat,” says Vishnu Singh, an SP member.

    The development work undertaken by the incumbent government is the main plank of the BJP. “Whatever the BJP government did so far for Ayodhya, no government has ever done and no one will ever do,” says Dinesh Kumar Singh, a private school teacher. 

    Siddharth Rawat, dealing in edible oil, is not ready to acknowledge the development of Ayodhya. “Had BJP government done so much, Yogi would not have gone to Gorakhpur to contest election. He didn’t have the confidence of winning from Ayodhya,” reasons out Rawat.

    The issue of stray cattle is also being raised in debates. “Only this issue needs to be resolved as it is hitting the farmers, otherwise the government has done all-round development of Ayodhya,” says Abhishek Srivatava. Ram Autar Tiwari, a farmer, feels free ration is useless and farmers are helpless due to stray animals.

    Meanwhile, seers of Ayodhya stand in BJP’s support. “The construction of temple has forced politicians like BSP leader SC Mishra, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal to rush here only to draw political gains,” says Mahant Raju Das, priest, Hanuman Garhi temple.

    If Abdul Gaffar feels SP would win majority of seats in and around Ayodhya, Razia, coming out of a PDS shop, acknowledges facilities given by the BJP government.

    Kalpana Mishra, a housewife and mother of two girls, feels safety of women is not at stake anymore. Suraiyya of Sunni Mohal locality begs to differ saying that law and order was equally good in SP regime.

    However, the pain of having sacrificed Babri Masjid still lingers on. “It will always be there till we are alive,” says Haji Yusuf Qureshi.

  • BJP only working for ‘big businesses’: Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi

    By PTI

    RAEBARELI: Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday said BJP has forgotten it’s “raj dharma” of serving the common people and is only working for big businesses.

    She said this while addressing a rally in Jagatpur area of Raebareli asking people to watch out for those who use “religion and caste” to get votes.

    “BJP leaders have forgotten their religion of serving people. The religion for them has become a means to instigate people to get votes. The government is not following ‘raj dharma’ of serving people,” Priyanka said.

    Talking about inflation, she said the prices of gas cylinder and musterd oil have gone up.

    “You earn Rs 200 daily and a bottle of mustard oil is of Rs 240,” she said.

    She spoke of unemployment among youths and the plight of farmers in the state accusing the government of stoking religious sentiments to divert people’s attentions from these issues.

    The leader also alleged unnecessary expenditure by the centre overlooking the money it owed to the farmers.

    “The entire due amount of sugarcane farmers is Rs 14,000 crore but Prime Minister Narendra Modi has bought two aeroplanes worth Rs 16,000 crore for himself. He is visiting the world in them but not paying the dues of the farmers,” she said.

    “Congress government waived of loans of farmers but these days the loans of big businessmen are being waived,” the leader said.

    Priyanka alleged people are forced to pay electricity bill in every situation even if they don’t get electricity.

    “The three major schemes of BJP are a free cylinder, free ration, and some money you get in your banks.

    “Can the future of your children be strengthened only by free gas cylinder, free ration, and some money. The government must provide jobs and support businesses, something that’s not being done,” she said The Congress leader accused the government of callousness saying Modi didn’t bother to meet victims of Lakhimpur violence, and came up with an apology to protesting farmers only when the election were round the corner.

    “Prime minister visited so many countries in the past few years including Pakistan but has not gone to meet the protesting farmers. The Prime Minister came and apologised for the farm laws just before elections.

    “Why did they wait for a year to do it resulted in death of 700 farmers,” she said.

    Priyanka also attacked Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, saying she never saw him working for people in her three years of work in Uttar Pradesh.

    “I have been actively working in UP for the last three years but never saw Akhilesh Yadav leave his house. Just before elections he has come out in his bus to seek votes. In the last three years Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati were nowhere to be seen.”

  • Uttar Pradesh elections: Rampur’s fierce battle centres around Samajwadi Party’s Azam Khan

    Express News Service

    RAMPUR (UTTAR PRADESH): One of the most keenly anticipated contests in Uttar Pradesh is taking place in the Muslim-dominated seat of Rampur, where jailed Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan is up against Congress’ Kazim Ali Khan and BJP’s Akash Saxena.

    What lends an edge to this contest is how Kazim and Saxena are trying to corner the nine-time MLA, and arguably the tallest Muslim leader in the state, Azam Khan. In fact, as one travels around Rampur, it can be seen that all poll-related conversations are polarised around just one subject – Azam Khan.

    ALSO READ| Uttar Pradesh polls: ‘Ghar ka ladka’ Akhilesh Yadav takes on Union minister SPS Baghel in Karhal

    Against him pitted is his old rival Kazim Ali Khan, son of the last Nawab of Rampur, whose parents won the Rampur Lok Sabha seat seven times on Congress ticket. The other contender, Saxena, also has a history with Azam, as his father, former BJP minister Shiv Bahadur Saxena, lost the Assembly polls from this seat to Azam Khan way back in 1989. Saxena, a lawyer, is responsible for more than half of the cases filed against the SP leader.

    During his poll campaign 46-year-old Saxena boasts about filing 30 of the over 100 FIRs against the SP veteran while Kazim claims he is the one who is to be credited for exposing Azam. “Saxena may have followed up on a few cases but people of Rampur know that I am the one who filed the very first complaint and exposed the many frauds and crimes of Azam Khan and his family,” Kazim says.

    He adds that Azam Khan’s “so-called development was only for himself”. 

    According to retired government employee Ramesh Pandey, this election is about development and good law-and-order brought about by Yogi Adityanath versus Azam Khan’s work in Rampur. “It is true that Azam Khan brought unparalleled development to Rampur but we have to think holistically this time,” Pandey says.

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    Panwesi Lal, who works at a shoe shop, has a different view. “Rampur is way ahead in development compared to other places in UP so, Azam Khan has to be brought to power again,” he said.

    Lal’s co-worker Ashok Kumar agrees but says Azam Khan’s absence from campaigning has made things difficult for the SP leader, so much so that he could lose his seat for the very first time.

    Lal doesn’t let Kumar finish his argument and points to the e-rickshaw going past saying, “Doesn’t matter that Azam Khan is in jail but people like those who got jobs through e-rickshaws are there to vouch for him.”

    Many in Rampur agreed with Lal’s view. Fahim Khan, a lawyer in the city, said, “Azam Khan’s absence will only bring more votes for Khan as his work is there for everyone to see.”

  • Uttar Pradesh polls: PM Narendra Modi seeks vote for peace for all, security of women in Saharanpur

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: Commencing his poll campaign by addressing first physical rally in Saharanpur, the western tip of Uttar Pradesh on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called upon the voters to support riot-free and peaceful state, criminals behind the bars and security for women.

    The Prime Minister addressed his rally while the first phase of voting was on over 58 seats across 11 western UP districts including those adjoining Saharanpur like Shamli and Muzaffarnagar. In all, the fate of 623 candidates was at stake in the first phase of voting on Thursday.  

    However, Saharanpur will go to polls in the second phase on February 14 when voting would be held on 55 seats across nine districts of western UP.

    Reaching out to other half of the population, the PM stressed that the BJP government was essential for Uttar Pradesh to maintain a secured atmosphere for the women to grow without fear. Claiming that BJP wanted the women to contribute to nation-building, he said that all the sectors were being opened for them. He also raised the issue of triple talaq in Saharanpur where Muslims make around 42 per cent of the population.

    Amid the raging row over hijab in BJP ruled Karnataka, the PM pitched in favour of Muslim women saying the BJP government freed them from the clutches of atrocities in the name of triple talaq by bringing a law against the practice. 

    “When Muslim women started openly supporting Modi government, opponents and self-acclaimed saviors of religion got anxious and started suppressing the voice of Muslim women. But we stand with every Muslim woman,” PM Modi said.

    The PM launched an attack on SP-RLD alliance leaders Akhilesh Yadav and Jayant Chaudhury respectively over the alleged arrogance and compared them with the SP-Congress alliance in 2017 reminding people of its fate then.

    The PM harped on Muzaffarnagar riot rhetoric of the BJP and reminded people of Saharanpur Muslim-Sikh riots of 2014  urging them to vote for peace and security which, he claimed, would take the state on path of development. The PM repeated the ‘pariwarwadi’ (dynastic politics) jibe on SP chief Akhilesh Yadav. 

    “Those who are limited to safeguard the interest of their family will not go beyond it again if given a chance,” said Modi.

    He cited the example of how round-the-clock power supply and infrastructural development were limited to a few native districts of those who were at helm in previous government.

    “Had they been in power during the pandemic, the vaccines would have been sold off somewhere on the way and would not have reached you,” he added. PM claimed that big promises made were usually empty. They [previous governments] promised electricity but kept UP in dark,” he maintained. 

    “What is the harm in making promises as they know that they would not come to power so the question of fulfillment does not arise,” quipped the PM while taking a jibe of opposition for offering freebies.

    Reiterating the BJP tagline of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, the PM claimed that the benefits of the welfare schemes were extended to all sections of society equally in the BJP rule. He reached out to the farmers especially the cane growers promising them that their interests would be taken care of in future as well.

    He claimed that the BJP government was necessary for UP to ensure the poor continue to get houses and free treatment up to Rs 5 lakh at good hospitals.

    “For money to continue to reach farmers’ accounts directly, BJP government is necessary in UP. For the poor to get ration during the pandemic, BJP is necessary,” he said.

    The BJP’s manifesto for UP polls was one of public welfare and that the double engine government had done a lot in the state, said the PM cautioning the people against voting for those who were eyeing an opportunity to take revenge of the action taken on criminals whom they were patronizing.