News Analysis India

Tag: Uttar Pradesh

  • 60,000 cops, 845 CAPF companies deployed for last phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: Over 60,000 police personnel and 845 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) will be deployed during the seventh and final phase of the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls on Monday, according to officials.

    In the seventh phase, voting is proposed in 54 constituencies across nine districts — Chandauli, Ghazipur, Jaunpur, Azamgarh, Mau, Mirzapur, Sonbhadra, Bhadohi and Varanasi, the Uttar Pradesh Police said in a statement.

    Voting will be held at 12,205 polling stations and 23,535 polling booths in 177 police station areas, it said.

    “Of them, 28 assembly constituencies of Pindra, Rohaniya, Sewapuri, Shahganj, Malhani, Madiyahun, Kerakat, Machhlishahr, Badlapur, Mungarabadshahpur, Jaunpur Sadar, Jafrabad, Mohammadabad, Jamnian, Saidpur, Zahoorabad, Saidraja, Chakia, Azamgarh, Phulpur Powai, Didarganj, Mau Sadar, Gyanpur, Ajra, Shivpur, Varanasi North, Varanasi South, Varanasi Cantonment have been kept in the vulnerable category,” the police said.

    “A total of 701 localities have been marked as vulnerable in the seventh phase, while 3,359 polling places have been considered as critical,” the police said in a statement.

    In the seventh phase, 78 Pink Booths (women booths) have been arranged to motivate women to vote, and 12 women inspectors or sub-inspectors and 216 women constables or head constables have been deployed, it said.

    As per the instructions of the Election Commission, all 12,205 polling stations will be covered by the CAPF.

    For the seventh phase, Uttar Pradesh has received 845 companies of CAPF, it said.

    According to officials, a CAPF company usually has an operational strength of around 70-80 personnel.

    “Out of these, 778 companies have been engaged for booth duty and six companies have been engaged for EVM security duty. The others have been assigned law and order duties, and postings on international and inter-state barriers,” according to the statement.

    Similarly, it said, duties of 6,662 inspectors or sub-inspectors and 53,424 head constables or constables of the Uttar Pradesh Police have been fixed, along with 19 companies of the Provincial Armed Constabulary.

    The Uttar Pradesh Police said 65,987 licensed weapons had been deposited with it in the run-up to the assembly polls.

    Another 34 licensed weapons have been seized and license of 169 arms have been cancelled since the day the code of conduct came into force in the nine poll-bound districts of the seventh phase, it added.

    In view of the possibility of breach of peace during elections, 41,227 preventive actions have been taken against 4,20,389 people, it said.

    Police said they also seized 1,010 illegal arms and 881 cartridges while busting three illegal arms factories.

    “Till now, a total of Rs 2.25 crore cash, illicit liquor worth Rs 4 crore, narcotics worth Rs 3.17 crore have been seized ahead of elections in the region,” the police statement said.

    “So far, 71 cognizable offence and 68 non-cognizable offence cases have been registered for violating the code of conduct in these districts, while 17 cases have been registered regarding violation of the election-related guidelines,” it read.

  • Battle for UP: 7th phase marks end of fiercely contested poll

    By IANS

    LUCKNOW: As the curtain comes down on the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, with just a few hours left for the final and seventh phase of polling on Monday, the stakes have reached an all-time high for major political players in Uttar Pradesh.

    A total of 54 Assembly constituencies of Purvanchal will go for polling on March 7 while counting for all the phases will be done on March 10.

    The districts going to polls in the final phase are Azamgarh, Mau, Jaunpur, Ghazipur, Chandauli, Varanasi, Mirzapur, Bhadohi and Sonbhadra.

    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.

    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.

    Prominent contestants in this phase include UP ministers Neelkanth Tiwari, Anil Rajbhar, Ravindra Jaiswal, Girish Yadav and Rama Shankar Singh Patel.

    Dara Singh Chauhan, who had resigned from the Yogi Adityanath cabinet and joined the Samajwadi Party, is also 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 other prominent candidates in the final phase.

    The BJP is going all out to retain its bastion while the Samajwadi Party is eyeing to regain the constituencies it won in the 2012 Assembly elections.

    Also, the seventh and last phase of UP Assembly elections will be a litmus test for allies on both the sides– from Anupriya Patel in the BJP-led alliance to Om Prakash Rajbhar in the SP-led alliance.

    In this election, the BJP has fielded 48 candidates out of 54 seats on the party symbol while its ally Apna Dal (S) and Nishad Party have fielded 3-3 candidates each.

    On the other hand, Samajwadi Party has fielded 45 candidates on its symbol while its ally SBSP has fielded 7 candidates and Apna Dal (K) has fielded two candidates.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, BJP president J.P. Nadda, Union Ministers, Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah, have been extensively campaigning in Purvanchal to repeat its 2017 success story.

    Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has been camping at Kabir Chaura Math in Varanasi in an attempt to galvanise the Dalit voters in Purvanchal, who are in significant numbers here.

  • 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.

  • UP polls last phase: It’s Modi charisma all the way in Kashi as sitting MLA face anti-incumbency

    By Express News Service

    VARANASI: It’s Subah-e-Banaras… As the nascent sun emerges on the horizon over glittering waves of  Ganga, Varanasi, the city of salvation and now the centre of all the political action, gradually comes to life like a painting truly depicting the calmness of a winter morning in all its glory and hopes nurtured for the day ahead.

    Only a day is left for the biggest festival of democracy in Kashi with eight other districts which will see the culmination of the seven-phase battle royale with voting on Monday, March 7.

    Varanasi, the gateway to Uttar Pradesh, and now the state’s political capital, has eight assembly seats. Retaining all eight is a prestige issue for the BJP as Kashi is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s constituency.

    The PM camped for two days till the high octane campaign ended in Varanasi on Saturday evening. He galvanised BJP workers by imparting them a ‘Vijay mantra’. He held roadshows, delivered poll speeches to seek another term for the Yogi government and again many of his gestures surprised his supporters on Saturday evening. Naturally, the BJP banked upon Modi’s enigma and his charisma to sail through in Varanasi where its sitting MLAs had been facing strong anti-incumbency.

    Vinay Yadav, the owner of a silk garment shop in the lane outside Kashi Vishwanath Temple, is an exception in the caste-ridden political arena of UP. He is a BJP office-bearer. On being asked about his saffron choice, Yadav claims that Modi’s arrival as MP has melted the caste boundaries in Kashi in 2014 “Sangathan mein jaan phhoonk kar chale gaye (he has rejuvenated the cadre),” Yadav exudes confidence of victory.

    ALSO READ | UP polls final phase: Religio-political issues, anti-incumbency dominate voters’ psyche

    In 2017, of eight assembly segments comprising three urban – Varanasi Cantt, Vanaransi North and Varanasi South — and five semi-urban — Pindra, Rohiniya, Sevapuri, Shivpur and Ajagara (SC) – BJP had won six and its allies — Apna Dal (S) had won Sevapuri and OP Rajbhar’s Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) Ajagara. Rajbhar is now in alliance with Samajwadi Party. This time, Apna Dal (S) is contesting on two seats and BJP on six.

    Both Akhilesh Yadav and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, also camped in Varanasi to shore up their parties’ prospects. West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee had also joined Akhilesh in the holy city to conduct a high-voltage poll campaign on March 3. But ask Varanasi electorate who still sound besotted with the charisma of PM Modi and dedication of UP CM Yogi Adityanath while spitting anger against sitting MLAs.

    Locals at the newly-built Kashi Vishwanath Corridor, inaugurated last December, and even at the ghats, swear by Modi and CM Yogi Adityanath.

     “We will only vote for Modi and Yogi — no one has done this level of development in UP. There is no fear now to move around at night. We feel secure,” says Rajiv Tiwari readily joined by his wife Kshama: “Modi-Yogi is unmatched,” refusing to comment on the leadership of Akhilesh Yadav. “For us, Modi is the best. It is Har Har Yogi, Ghar Ghar Modi in Varanasi,” she says.

    On a silent evening by the Ganges, Dharmesh Saini a boatman oozes his heart out. Rowing over waves of Ganga for 25 years, he yearns for a CNG version to replace his three-decade-old boat which he has taken on rent to make both ends meet. A CNG boat for Dharmesh would mean more money in less effort. However, the cost of a CNG boat seems beyond his reach even if he takes a loan. “I can still dream and hope that Yogiji will help me and many like me to own a CNG boat as Varanasi is his boss’s constituency,” says Dharmesh with an ear-to-ear grin.

    On the other, Dheeraj Saini, another boatman, feels the heat of inflation and price rise but supports Yogi as he got a boat licence and free CNG. “No previous government helped us like this. Ghats have become cleaners and beautiful to draw tourists who spend hours here. The corridor (Kashi Vishwanath) has increased footfall and our business,” admits Dheeraj.

    ALSO READ | UP polls: With heavyweights conducting rallies, Varanasi becomes the last big battleground

    “Aayenge toh Yogi hi,” says Abhyudai Singh, a Varanasi local enjoying a boat ride with his wife and two kids. “People of Varanasi can feel the development. For outsiders, it may be minuscule but those living here can feel it every bit. Cleanliness, proper sewage, drainage, ongoing work on roads, and above all controlled crime, have made a big difference,” says Abhyudai.

    “The biggest change has come in the form of Kashi Vishwanath Corridor. You can see its impact in Varanasi. It was beyond imagination to have a grand Corridor of Baba Vishwanath in the middle of a congested city. But Modi has made it ‘mumkin’ (possible),”  says Vinay Gupta, a businessman,  who claims he was ones against the idea of change in the contours of the city as it would have changed its flavor. “I was wrong. The essence of the city of Varanasi is intact,” he says with content.

    His wife Anamika is happy with the uninterrupted power supply. “Akhilesh speaks lies, Yogi does what is right. Earlier, there used to be only 5-6 hours of power supply in Varanasi, now it is 24-hour,” she draws the parallel between two regimes. If improvement in law and order is the most perceptible change in Varanasi for Aarti, a research scholar in BHU, Sarvesh Yadav of Mirzapur, pursuing post-graduation from BHU, is swayed by caste compulsions. “BJP government might have done a lot of good things, but it has failed to address unemployment. Competitive exams have become a mockery. Either paper is leaked or results are challenged. I will vote for change, for Akhilesh Yadav this time,” says Sarvesh admitting that UP voters are guided by caste inclinations.

    The anti-incumbency against the sitting MLAs is driving a wedge in the families. While Anjani Nandan Upadhyaya had made up his mind to vote for SP in Varanasi South seat where sitting MLA and Yogi minister Neelkanth Tiwari is facing a strong challenge by SP candidate and head priest of Mahamritunjay temple Kamshwar Nath Dixit alias Kishan Dixit, his wife was adamant at voting for Modi. “Modi’s roadshow has made me realize that I can’t betray him by voting for SP candidate,” concedes Upadhyaya who otherwise was angry with the arrogance of sitting MLA.

    “Change is sure. Even Modi will not be able to stop it. BJP MLAs are seeking apology but people of Kashi have made up their mind to back SP,” says Rajesh Patel, a school teacher impressed by SP’s promise of resonation of Old Pension Scheme.

    ALSO READ | UP polls: Religious, caste priorities dominate voters psyche in eastern region

    On the contrary, for a BHU employee seeking anonymity, a change in the government at the centre in 2014 followed by a change in the state itself has paved the way for better living conditions in Varanasi. “Ahead of every festival, there used to group seeking donations better called ‘rangdari’ (extortion). The police used to behave like an organised mob of dispensation. We used to look forward to (former SP minister) Shivpal Yadav’s visits because that was the only time we would have uninterrupted power,” he recalls the previous regime.

    Over the past seven years, several projects have been initiated and completed in Varanasi. Projects worth Rs 3,350 crore were inaugurated in February 2019, followed by the inauguration of another set of projects worth Rs 614 crore. In October 2021, the Prime Minister launched development projects worth Rs 5,200 crore for the makeover of the Ghats, cleanliness of the Ganga, construction of bridges, parking places and facilities in Banaras Hindu University; this was followed by the inauguration of the grand Kashi Vishwanath corridor in December.

    “No matter what the opposition says or how long it takes, people are assured that work will be done in Kashi as long as there is (PM) Modi,” says Dashrath Ram Sonkar, a vegetable and fruit vendor.

    However, as one traverses to the semi-urban pockets, the issues of stray cattle, demand for increasing MSPs, procurement centre in every village dominate the discourse but the overriding caste factor rings the most on the ground. Key seats set for big fights include Varanasi (North) where BJP’s two-time MLA Ravindra Jaiswal is in the fray, Varanasi (South) where BJP minister Neelkanth Tiwari is taking on SP’s Kameshwar Nath Dikshit in a ‘Brahmin vs Brahmin fight’, Pindra seat where Congress leader Ajay Rai is seeking election and Shivpur seat where minister Anil Rajbhar is taking on SBSP chief Om Prakash Rajbhar’s son Arvind.

    The contest in the Sewapuri seat of Varanasi is significant too as it has three villages – Jayapur, Nagapur, and Kakarhia adopted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi under the MP Adarsh Gram Yojana. Sewapuri has also been recognised as a “model block” by the NITI Aayog for development, a point that Shukla is raising in the campaign. 

  • UP polls: Phase–6 registers moderate 55.79 per cent voter turnout

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: A total of 57 constituencies across 10 districts covering the religious-political belt of UP from Ambedkarnagar in the central region to Gorakhpur and Kushinagar in the far east bordering Bihar and Nepal on the other side recorded a moderate – 55.79 per cent – voters’ turnout in the penultimate phase of ongoing 7-phased Assembly election of the state on Thursday.

    However, the voting continued till 6 pm and the final figures of Phase-6 will be revised by the state election commission on Friday. After phase-6, voting for 292 of the 403 Assembly seats has been completed. The final phase of polling in the remaining 54 seats across seven districts including Varanasi will be held on March 7.

    The bigwigs whose fate was sealed in phase-6 included UP CM Yogi Adityanath who made his debut in assembly electoral politics from Gorakhpur Urban. Others included BJP deserter Swami Prasad Maurya from Fazilnagar in Kushinagar, leader of opposition in state assembly Ram Govind Chaudhury of SP from Bansdih and UP Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu from Tamkuhiraj also in Kushinagar. Besides the fate of seven Yogi ministers was also at stake in this phase.

    The voters’ turnout in the sixth phase of the current elections has been slightly lower than the corresponding phase of 2017 Assembly polls as it was 55.52 per cent.

    In the sixth phase, of 57 seats up for grabs across Ambedkarnagar, Deorai, Ballia, Sant Kabir Nagar, Gorakhpur, Balrampur, Maharajganj, Basti, Kushinagar and Siddharthnagar, 48 were won by the BJP and its allies. The Bahujan Samaj Party had fared better than the Samajwadi Party in this phase in 2017 winning five seats. The SP could manage to bag just two seats and Congress one. Amanmani Tripathi had won as independent from Natutanva.

    ALSO READ | BJP politicising evacuation of Indians from Ukraine for UP polls: RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary

    In phase-6, the fate of total of 676 candidates was sealed in the EVMs. Around 2.14 crore voters were eligible to cast their vote to elect their favourite MLA. The trend of voting in phase-6 was in consonance with the corresponding phase in 2017 assembly polls. While Ambedkarnagar recorded the highest 62.66 per cent voters’ turnout, Balrampur logged the lowest count at 48.90 per cent. In 2017, Ambedkarnagar has registered 64.05 per cent voting and Balrampur was at bottom with 50.91 per cent.

    Ambedkarnagar was considered to be a bastion of BSP till 2017 when the party had won three out of five assembly constituencies. However, this time, it would be interesting to BSP bastion on March 10 as the party stalwarts including Lalaji Verma from Katehari, Ram Achal Rajbhar from Akbarpur and Tribhuvan Dutt from Alapur are contesting on SP ticket from their respective constituencies.

    The district which stood out in phase-6 defying the voting pattern of 2017 polls was Gorakhpur, the traditional bastion of Yogi Adityanath. In the land of Gorakshnath, the 11th-century saint, 58.89 per cent of voters turned up to exercise their franchise which surpassed 55.44 per cent recorded in 2017.

    Similarly, Kushinagar has been the other district to have registered 59 per cent voting which was slightly higher than 2017 when 58.16 per cent of voters had turned up to cast their vote.

    Meanwhile,  Ballia had 52.01 per cent, Balrampur 48.90 per cent, Basti 57.20 per cent, Deoria 56 per cent, Mahrajganj 59.50 per cent, Sant Kabir Nagar 52.21 per cent and Siddharth Nagar 51.60 per cent.

    Prominent among those who cast their votes in the morning included Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Basic Education Minister Satish Chandra Dwivedi, Rural Development minister Upendra Tiwari, Leader of Opposition Ram Govind Chowdhury, Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party chief Om Prakash Rajbhar and former minister Narad Rai.

    Additional Chief Electoral Officer (ACEO) BDR Tiwari said that polling was going on peacefully in the state.

    In the re-polling at a polling station in Handia assembly seat in Prayagraj district, 59.55 per cent polling was recorded till 5 pm.

  • 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.

  • Sixth phase of UP polls: Polling begins on 57 Assembly seats, Adityanath among prominent candidates

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: 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 676 candidates, who are contesting on 57 seats spread across 10 districts.

    The voting started at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm. 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 on the remaining 54 seats will be held on March 7.

    The districts where polling is being held on Thursday are Ambedkar Nagar, Balrampur, Siddharth Nagar, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Maharajganj, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Deoria and Ballia.

    Among the 676 candidates in the fray in this phase are CM Yogi Adityanath from Gorakhpur Urban and state Congress president Ajay Kumar Lallu from Tamkuhi Raj seat.

    Swami Prasad Maurya, who was a minister in the Adityanath government and had quit the BJP to join the Samajwadi Party, is contesting from Fazilnagar.

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

    Azad Samaj Party founder Chandrashekhar Azad is also contesting against the Uttar Pradesh chief minister from Gorakhpur Urban.

    The Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly and Samajwadi Party leader Ram Govind Chaudhary is contesting from Bansdih.

    Many incumbent ministers’ fate will also be decided in this phase. They include Surya Pratap Shahi from Pathardeva, Satish Chandra Dwivedi from Itwa, Jai Pratap Singh from Bansi, Shree Ram Chauhan from Khajani and Jai Prakash Nishad from Rudrapur.

    The campaigning for this phase witnessed the political parties going for an all-out attack against each other.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked the BJP’s rivals by tagging them as dynasts, who he claimed can never make India capable or empower Uttar Pradesh.

    Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi rebutted by saying that the BJP is only against her family, which did not bow down before it.

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

    In the 2017 Assembly polls, the BJP had won 46 of the 57 seats.

  • 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.