NCP chief Sharad Pawar (File photo)2022 Assembly Election highlights: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar on Tuesday said his party would contest the ensuing Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh as part of the Samajwadi Party-led alliance. He also said 13 members of the Legislative Assembly in Uttar Pradesh will be joining the Samajwadi Party.
Talking to reporters, Pawar said people of Uttar Pradesh are looking for parivartan (change) in the northern state, adding it will happen. NCP will also contest the ensuing Assembly elections Goa and Manipur, he said. In Manipur, NCP will have an “understanding” with the Congress, while in Goa, it is in talks with the Congress and the Trinamool Congress, he added. His remark comes after Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday said the BJP wants to ride on the shoulders of the TMC to come to power in Goa. Shiv Sena is part of Maharashtra’s ruling alliance which also includes NCP and Congress.
TMC had earlier proposed a larger alliance of the Opposition parties, including the Congress, to take on the ruling BJP in the coastal state. Expressing the Mamata Banerjee-led party’s willingness to join hands with the Congress and other Opposition parties to fight the BJP in the Goa polls, TMC MP and its Goa in-charge Mahua Moitra, in a Twitter post, had said, “Rest assured, we the AITC will do everything possible to defeat BJP in Goa…@Mamataofficial has done it in past & will not shy away from walking extra mile in Goa too.”
Besides the Congress, Moitra tagged the Goa Forward Party (GFP) and the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) in this tweet. While the Congress has formed an alliance with the GFP, the TMC, a new player in the Goa fray, has tied up with the MGP for the upcoming polls.
Meanwhile, ahead of the Assembly elections next month, Uttar Pradesh Minister Swami Prasad Maurya on Tuesday resigned from the BJP and joined Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party. In his resignation letter, Maurya listed “negligent attitude towards Dalits, backward, farmers, unemployed youth, small and medium businessmen” as reasons behind his decision to step down. He represented the Padrauna constituency of Uttar Pradesh and joined BJP in 2016, after quitting the Bahujan Samaj Party.
Former BJP leader Michael Lobo on Tuesday joined Congress, a day after resigning from the Goa cabinet and quitting the saffron party.
Lobo, along with his wife Delilah who is seeking ticket from Siolim constituency in the next month's Assembly elections, joined Congress in the presence of the party's Goa in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao and Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat.
Lobo, former MLA from Calangute, was Minister for Port in the Pramod Sawant-led Goa government.
Rao said on this occasion that the Congress had a track record of doing things that benefit the coastal state. "We have a great history. Today, the Congress is the only alternative if you want a good and stable government," he said.
With Lobo's induction in the party, Congress will win more than 25 out of 40 seats, Rao claimed.
In a veiled swipe at the Trinamool Congress and Aam Aadmi Party, he said, “People in Goa want to remove the BJP, but some other political parties have come to Goa to create disturbance and help the BJP.” (PTI)
Stating that the first phase of polling in the state falls on a Sunday, the All Tribal Students’ Union Manipur (ATSUM) and the Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM) have urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to reschedule the election date.
The first phase of polling in Manipur is scheduled to be held on February 27, which is a Sunday.
Members of tribal communities, who constitute about 43% of the state’s population, are predominantly Christians. ATSUM has said that Sundays are considered to sacred by the Christian community and it is a day of rest and worship for them. Read more
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar on Tuesday said his party would contest the ensuing Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh as part of the Samajwadi Party-led alliance. He also said 13 members of the Legislative Assembly in Uttar Pradesh will be joining the Samajwadi Party.
Talking to reporters, Pawar said people of Uttar Pradesh are looking for parivartan (change) in the northern state, adding it will happen. NCP will also contest the ensuing Assembly elections Goa and Manipur, he said. In Manipur, NCP will have an understanding with the Congress, while in Goa, it is in talks with the Congress and the Trinamool Congress, he added. (PTI)
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday said the state's people consider his party as an alternative to the BJP and in this assembly polls, they will wipe out the saffron party.
He also alleged that the BJP has betrayed farmers and youths, while prices of diesel, petrol and fertilisers have increased manifold during its regime.
"The people of the state consider Samajwadi Party (SP) as an alternative to the BJP and this time, they will wipe it out in the assembly polls and form the SP's government," Yadav said while addressing party workers at the SP's headquarters here.
According to a party statement, he also promised that if voted to power, the SP will provide 300 units free electricity, free laptops to the youth and make arrangements for free irrigation for farmers.
"The party is moving forward taking all sections along and has formed alliances with regional parties. This time old issues will not work. The SP is training its workers for the past few years on how to take forward work done by the SP government and the party's future plans in the interest of people," the former chief minister said. (PTI)
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has appointed a 1993-batch IPS officer, Ishwar Singh, as State Police Nodal Officer (SPNO) for Punjab Assembly polls. He replaces IPS officer Shashi Prabha Dwivedi.
The Congress on Tuesday formed a manifesto committee headed by party MP Partap Singh Bajwa and a Sunil Jakhar-led campaign panel for the February 14 Punjab assembly polls.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi set up a 20-member manifesto committee with Bajwa as the chairman, Manpreet Badal as co-chairman and party MP Amar Singh as convenor.
Punjab Deputy Chief Minister OP Soni, Rana Gurjeet, Jaiveer Shergill, JS Dhaliwal, Anil Vij, KK Agarwal, Manju Bansal, Vijay Kalra and Surjit Swaich are among those included in the manifesto panel.
Gandhi also set up a 25-member campaign committee headed by Jakhar, which has Amarpreet Singh Lally as co-chairman and party MP Ravneet Bittu as the convenor.
The campaign committee includes the likes of Vijay Inder Singla, Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Amarinder Raja Warring, Pargat Singh, Hardip Kingra, Emmaneul Masih and Charan Singh. (PTI)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath attended a key BJP meeting here on Tuesday as party leaders discussed the ongoing campaign for the state assembly polls ahead of the announcement of its candidates for the initial phases in a few days.
Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya and Uttar Pradesh BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh also attended the meeting besides several other leaders, with its national president J P Nadda, who has contracted the coronavirus, attending it virtually.
With the filing of nomination for the first phase of the seven-phase Uttar Pradesh polls set to begin from January 14, the party's CEC may meet soon to finalise the names of candidates, sources said.
The Uttar Pradesh BJP core group has been working to shortlist probable candidates for the assembly elections, especially for the seats which will go to the polls in the initial phases, they said, but there was no official statement on the confabulations in the meeting held at the party headquarters here. (PTI)
With an UP Cabinet minister quitting the state government and three BJP MLAs following him, the Samajwadi Party on Tuesday said it has sent some locks to the state BJP chief to help him down his party headquarters' shutter after the poll results are out.
SP national spokesperson I P Singh, who had quit the BJP in 2019, said he has sent the locks to UP BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh and two other party leaders, including Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, so that they can go home after locking their offices in the BJP headquarters after the March 10 result. "I have sent a lock to the (UP) BJP headquarters as a gift to Swatantra Dev Singh. Return home after March 10. Now, there is no wave but a storm of the SP blowing (in the state)," the SP leader said in a tweet in Hindi.
In another tweet, he said, "There are three locks with this lock which can be used by Swatantra Dev Singh, BJP general secretary (organisation) Sunil Bansal, and Yogi (Adityanath) ji to be used by them according to their convenience," I P Singh said in another tweet.
In a jolt to the BJP in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday, OBC leader Swami Prasad Maurya, who held the portfolio of Labour, Employment and Coordination ministry in the UP government, resigned from the state Cabinet with two other MLAs to following him.
BJP Tindwari MLA Brajesh Prajapati, Tilhar MLA Roshan Lal Varma and Bilhaur legislator Bhagwati Sagar too have announced that they are leaving the party in support of Maurya. (PTI)
Authorities in Uttar Pradesh have seized over 33,000 litres of liquor worth over Rs 82 lakh after the imposition of the model code of conduct for the upcoming assembly polls, Chief Electoral Officer Ajay Kumar Shukla said on Tuesday.
The model code is a set of guidelines, issued by the Election Commission, for political parties, candidates, government and the party in power during elections concerning speeches, announcements, election manifestos and general conduct.
Giving details of seizure, Shukla said 33,276 litres of liquor worth Rs 82.83 lakh has been seized after imposition of the poll code. Also, over 10 lakh political campaign items were removed, he said, adding of these, 7,96,626 items were removed from government properties and 2,59,892 items from private land. (PTI)
The Exit of long-time OBC leader Swami Prasad Maurya from the BJP is likely to help the Opposition’s campaign that the Yogi Adityanath government is a pro-upper caste regime. While Maurya had been sitting on the fence for long, his move sets back the BJP in its efforts to woo OBCs, just ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.
On the contrary, SP, which is emerging as the BJP’s main rival, is hoping Maurya joining the party will be a big boost to its bid to add non-Yadav OBCs to its solid Muslim-Yadav vote bank. Non-Yadav OBCs are estimated to constitute over 35% of the electorate. Read more
The Trinamool Congress on Tuesday launched its 'Mhaje Ghar, Maalki Hakk' campaign in poll-bound Goa, aimed at giving housing rights to people living in the coastal state before 1976.
TMC MP Mohua Moitra and other leaders of the Mamata Banerjee-led party launched the scheme, whose title means 'my home, my right', here.
It is a landmark housing rights scheme, TMC leader Kiran Kandolkar said, adding that providing such rights was the Constitutional duty of any government and is interpreted as a fundamental right under Article 21.
"Within 250 days of coming to power, the TMC will ensure all Goan families residing in the state before 1976 are given title and ownership rights of the land under their possession. We also plan to give 50,000 subsidised homes to the homeless," Kandolkar said. (PTI)
BJP MLA Brijesh Kumar Prajapati resigns from primary membership of the party. "Swami Prasad Maurya is the voice of the backward classes. He is our leader and I am with him," Prajapati states in his letter.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar said on Tuesday that the party is in talks with Congress and Trinamool Congress on forging an alliance for the Goa Assembly polls. His remark comes after Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday said the BJP wants to ride on the shoulders of the TMC to come to power in Goa. Shiv Sena is part of Mahrashtra’s ruling alliance which also includes NCP and Congress.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday hit out at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over his remarks that the assembly polls in the state will be about '80 per cent vs 20 per cent', and urged the youth to make the elections about issues such as employment and education.
The Congress general secretary said remarks such as "80-20" were aimed at diverting attention from real issues of the youth.
At an event on Saturday, Adityanath had said it will be a "80 per cent versus 20 per cent" election in Uttar Pradesh and the BJP will retain power in the state.
Several Opposition leaders have attacked the chief minister over his comments, alleging that it was an attempt at polarisation by the "80-20" reference which they said was aimed at pointing to the ratio of Hindus to Muslims in Uttar Pradesh.
Making remarks like '80-20' is a way to fraudulently divert attention from the issues of the youth, Priyanka Gandhi said. The reality is that under the BJP government, out of every 100 people, 68 have no work, she said.
"My young friends, with your power, make the UP polls, an election of issues such as employment and education," Priyanka Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi. (PTI)
“The people of Punjab will decide who becomes the next CM. Who told you that the (Congress) high command will decide?” says Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu.
Uttar Pradesh Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya says, “I do not know the reasons which made Swami Prasad Maurya tender his resignation. But I appeal to him to engage in talks. Hasty decisions often prove to be wrong.”
“I have resigned from the Yogi Cabinet keeping in mind the government’s attitude against Dalits, backward classes, farmers, youths and traders…Dozens of MLAs will resign in the coming days,” says Swami Prasad Maurya. Read more
Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati will not contest the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, party general secretary S C Misra said in Lucknow on Tuesday. Misra said he will also not contest the state elections, which will be held in seven phases starting February 10.
Since elections are being held in several states, including Punjab and Uttarakhand, along with Uttar Pradesh, the BSP president will not contest the polls and help party candidates win, Misra said. Currently, Mayawati is neither a legislator nor an MP.
Misra is a Rajya Sabha member. The BSP will contest all 403 seats in Uttar Pradesh alone. (PTI)
With the Election Commission putting a moratorium on holding public rallies and gatherings in view of spurt in coronavirus cases, the BJP on Tuesday launched its door-to-door campaign to reach out to voters across the Uttar Pradesh.
Starting the campaign in the state capital Lucknow, UP BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh knocked doors of houses in Ballu Adda area and pasted stickers outside the homes and also applied 'tilak' on the forehead of some house owners. One of the BJP's sticker reads 'Poore hui aas, ghar ghar huaa vikaas' (aspirations have been fulfilled, development has reached to houses).
While announcing a complete no to holding of physical rallies and other forms of public gatherings like Nukkad Sabha till January 15 in the five states going to polls, the EC on Saturday had permitted door-to-door campaigns with not more than five persons at a time.
"As per the guidelines of the Election Commission, the BJP is reaching to the beneficiaries of various schemes of the Centre and state governments. We are giving our report card to the public, and taking suggestions from them as well. This is the first government, which is going door-to-door," Singh told reporters. He added that the party has sought the blessings of the public through the Jan Vishvas Yatra.
UP BJP spokesman Rakesh Tripathi said that several party MPs and ministers participated in the programme in all 403 assembly seats different parts of the state. (PTI)
Ahead of the Assembly elections next month, Uttar Pradesh Minister Swami Prasad Maurya on Tuesday resigned from the BJP and joined Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party.
Welcoming Maurya to the party, Yadav tweeted, "Warm welcome and greetings to the popular leader Shri Swami Prasad Maurya Ji, who fought for social justice and equality and all the other leaders, workers and supporters who came with him in SP. There will be revolution of social justice."
Uttar Pradesh Minister Swami Prasad Maurya on Tuesday submitted his resignation and listed "negligent attitude towards Dalits, backward, farmers, unemployed youth, small and medium businessmen" as reasons behind his decision to step down.(ANI)
Ahead of the Assembly elections next month, Uttar Pradesh Minister Swami Prasad Maurya on Tuesday resigned from the state cabinet. He represented the Padrauna constituency of Uttar Pradesh and joined BJP in 2016, after quitting the Bahujan Samaj Party.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Deputy CM KP Maurya and others arrived at party headquarters in Delhi for BJP core committee meet ahead of assembly elections on Tuesday.
Several leaders from Punjab including former MLA Arvind Khanna, SAD leader Gurdeep Singh Gosha, and former Amritsar councillor Dharamveer Sarin on Tuesday join BJP in presence of Union Ministers Hardeep Puri and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.
State Minister Brajesh Pathak carried out a door-to-door campaign in Cabinet Ganj area of Lucknow on Tuesday. "BJP workers, in groups of 5 people, are going door-to-door to seek public blessings... We will form the govt again with more seats this time," he said.
BJP workers from Tuesday will go door-to-door, in groups of 5 people, to meet the 3.5 crore beneficiaries of schemes the BJP governments in the state and at the Centre, Uttar Pradesh Minister Siddharth Nath Singh told ANI.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) entered the 2017 elections with a lot of hype but ended up with a subpar performance, following which the party saw a string of desertions and exits. Now, with days left for the Assembly elections, AAP seems to have got its act together and is now back in the reckoning.
While the turnaround is being attributed to deep divisions within the ruling Congress, the failure of the Shiromani Akali Dal to rebuild itself post the 2017 poll debacle, and the desire for change among the public — all of which have ended up making the AAP look good — the party has also worked to claw its way back. (Read Man Aman Singh Chhina's full story here)
With their high-decibel campaigns so far, the BJP and the Samajwadi Party may appear to be locked in a direct fight in Uttar Pradesh. But others threaten to open up the field a bit.
Mayawati has said it would be a mistake to say that her Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is out of the race in the assembly elections. And led by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the Congress hopes to upset the balance with its women-centric agenda.
The results of the Uttar Pradesh polls will be very surprising due to the anger of the people there towards the BJP government as well as the stellar campaign efforts of his party's general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath said on Monday."The 'Ladki Hoon Lad Sakti Hoon' campaign launched by Priyanka Gandhi has filled the people of every religion and caste with new vigour. The poll results of Uttar Pradesh will be a surprising one," Nath told a press conference at his residence here.
"I have visited UP recently and was associated with the state right from my Youth Congress days. The people are angry with the ruling party. The efforts of Priyanka Gandhi will intensify now and will bring a lot of change. The polls results in UP will be surprising not just for the Congress but the entire state," he added.
Ahead of Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, BJP on Tuesday will launch a massive outreach drive, listing Yogi Adityanath-led government’s achievements before public. From January 14, this will also include door-to-door campaigns by deploying ‘LED Raths’ quipped with large TV screens apprise voters.
The party intends to reach out to every household falling under all 92,821 polling centres comprising 1,74,351 polling booths in the state.
Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) leader Joginder Singh Ugrahan on Monday said his farm body will neither support the Balbir Singh Rajewal-led Sanyukt Samaj Morcha nor its members will contest the February 14 Punjab assembly polls. BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) is one of the biggest farm bodies in Punjab. Its activists had camped at the Tikri border when the farmers' stir against the Centre's farm laws was going on.
SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal on Monday urged the ECI to call an all-party meeting to reach a consensus on the way of campaigning.Badal made the request while asking how could parties reach out to the poor who do not have access to smartphones and the internet.
Talking to reporters here, Shiromani Akali Dal chief Badal said, "It has become a complex situation. There are poor people residing in villages. They do not have smartphones, no resources, no internet," said Badal adding how could they learn about the views of political parties.
Union Minister Ramdas Athawale on Monday said his RPI(A) will contest Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, scheduled in seven phases between February 10 and March 7, and sought some seats from ally BJP.
The RPI is with the BJP in the Assembly polls in five states. The BJP is in power in Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur presently and we will make efforts to ensure it forms the government in Punjab as well," he said.
Residents across Noida and Greater Noida in Gautam Buddh Nagar district can report election-related complaints through email or Whatsapp or a phone call on a dedicated number of the police, officials said on Monday. In view of the assembly polls next month, a complaint cell has been set up at the police commissionerate's election office in Surajpur, Greater Noida, a police spokesperson said.
Residents can use the email id mailto:compgbnpol@gmail.com to report any election-related complaint or simply call or Whatsapp on mobile number 8595902518, the spokesperson said.
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi returned from his foreign visit late last night and held election-related meetings to review the party's strategy in Goa, which is scheduled to vote in assembly polls in February 14. Sources here said Goa Congress president Girish Chodankar and Legislature Party Leader Digambar Kamat have been called to Delhi to discuss the party's possible alliances in the state.
The sources said Gandhi was abroad during the last few days for the New Year and returned last night. He held meetings with senior leaders KC Venugopal and P Chidambaram Monday evening and reviewed the party's preparations and strategy for polls in Goa.
Authorities in Uttar Pradesh have removed over nine lakh political campaign items such as posters following the imposition of the model code of conduct for the upcoming Assembly elections, officials said on Monday.
Over 6,500 litres of liquor worth over Rs 15 lakh has also been seized, they said.
Giving out details, Uttar Pradesh's Chief Electoral Officer Ajay Kumar Shukla said campaign material, including posters, banners and hoardings, numbering 9,60,482 have been removed. Of these, 7,32,186 items were removed from government properties and 2,28,296 items from private land.
Slogans written on walls have also been cleared, he said.
Shukla said the police department has so far got 10,007 licensed arms deposited, while nine licences have been confiscated and four of them cancelled.
So far, cases have been registered against 28,474 people and non-bailable warrants issued against 335 of them, he said. (PTI)
A BJP MLA was booked on Monday on charges of violating the model code of conduct and the Covid protocol by distributing blankets, officials said.
MLA Bahoran Lal Maurya from Bhojipura assembly segment in Bareilly district was booked on the complaint of Samajwadi Party leader and former UP minister Shahzil Islam, they said. Islam had lodged the complaint on Sunday, they added.
Citing a viral video, Islam had alleged that the BJP MLA had distributed blankets at Swami Dayanand Ashram, violating the Covid guidelines and the model code of conduct in force after the announcement of the poll schedule.
Bareilly District Magistrate Manvendra Singh on Monday said following the investigation into the video content, Block Development officer Atul Yadav, doubling as an assistant election officer, ordered registration of a case against the MLA for violating various provisions of the Representation of People's Act, Epidemic Act and Disaster Management Act. (PTI)
Union Minister Ramdas Athawale on Monday said his RPI(A) will contest Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, scheduled in seven phases between February 10 and March 7, and sought some seats from ally BJP.
Addressing a press conference here, he said the Bahujan Samaj Party had lost its voter base in UP and his party could help the BJP there.
"The RPI is with the BJP in the Assembly polls in five states. The BJP is in power in Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur presently and we will make efforts to ensure it forms the government in Punjab as well," he said.
The Union minister also claimed that "even in Shiv Sena, there is an opinion that as Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's health is not good the CM post should be given to someone else in the Sena". (PTI)
Punjab’s biggest farm union BKU (Ugrahan) Monday declared that it won’t support any political party in the upcoming Assembly polls. The farmer outfit which has a large base in Punjab’s Malwa belt has also made it clear that it is not going to oppose anyone in the elections which may prove an advantage to those farm leaders who are jumping in the poll battle. Read more
Captain Amarinder Singh’s Punjab Lok Congress to use the hockey stick and ball as its party symbol.
In a major setback to the Congress before the Assembly polls, its prominent minority face from Western Uttar Pradesh, Imran Masood, announced on Monday that he was parting ways to support the Samajwadi Party.
Other leaders close to Masood are expected to leave the Congress in his wake.
Masood had a fast rise within the Congress from being an outsider to being part of ‘Team Rahul’, to a national secretary of the AICC. In 2014, a speech by the firebrand leader attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi had run into controversy. However, Masood’s popularity in the area, that has a large Muslim population, has failed to translate into electoral success. Read more
Actor-philanthropist Sonu Sood’s sister Malvika Sood on Monday joined the Congress, with the party’s Punjab chief Navjot Singh Sidhu describing the development as a “game-changer” ahead of the February 14 assembly polls.
She joined the party in the presence of Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and Sidhu.
“It is very rare that a party chief and the chief minister both have gone to someone’s home to grant the honour, and she deserves it,” Sidhu said. Read more
AAP leader Manish Sisodia on Monday appealed to people of Uttarakhand to see the coming assembly polls as an opportunity to change their lives and get rid of the problems plaguing the state for years.
Initiating the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Nav Parivartan Samvad (dialogue for change) in the poll-bound state virtually, the Delhi Deputy Chief Minister said in the past 21 years of its existence Uttarakhand has failed to achieve the goals for which it was created.
"BJP and Congress have been in power alternately in Uttarakhand but done nothing for its development which was the main objective behind its creation.
All they have done is fill their coffers. Problems like migration, lack of schools and hospitals remain where they were at the time of its creation 21 years ago," the AAP leader said.
"February 14 brings to you an opportunity to vote for change and get rid of the problems plaguing the state for years," he said. (PTI)
The results of the Uttar Pradesh polls will be very surprising due to the anger of the people there towards the BJP government as well as the stellar campaign efforts of his party's general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath said on Monday.
Uttar Pradesh will go to polls in seven phases between February 10 and March 7, with results being declared on March 10.
"The 'Ladki Hoon Lad Sakti Hoon' campaign launched by Priyanka Gandhi has filled the people of every religion and caste with new vigour. The poll results of Uttar Pradesh will be a surprising one,” Nath told a press conference at his residence here.
"I have visited UP recently and was associated with the state right from my Youth Congress days. The people are angry with the ruling party. The efforts of Priyanka Gandhi will bring a lot of change. The polls results in UP will be surprising not just for the Congress but the entire state," he added. (PTI)
Goa minister Michael Lobo and BJP MLA Pravin Zantye resigned from the party as well as the Legislative Assembly on Monday, ahead of the state polls scheduled next month.
The Goa BJP unit later said such moves will not affect the party's prospects in the state Assembly elections, to be held on February 14.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said "a few defections" cannot deter the agenda of good governance and expressed confidence that people of Goa will vote his party to power for another term.
Lobo, who represented the Calangute Assembly constituency and held charge of the state port and waste management departments, submitted his resignation to the chief minister's office and the Goa Assembly's Speaker in the morning. He is likely to join the Congress, according to sources.
“I have resigned from both the posts. I will see what steps are to be taken next. I have also resigned from the BJP,” Lobo later told reporters. Asked whether he will join the Congress, Lobo said he is in talks with other political parties. He claimed that people were unhappy with the ruling BJP in the coastal state. (PTI)
Goa: BJP MLA from Maem, Pravin Zantye resigns
Fifty-five companies of paramilitary personnel will be deployed in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh for peaceful conduct of assembly polls to be held on February 10, an official said.
District Magistrate Chandra Bhushan Singh said the district has six assembly constituencies and 20,20,826 voters, including 9,37,688 women. He said the district has been divided into 25 zones and 156 sectors to be overseen by zonal and sectoral magistrates.
Fifty-five companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) personnel will be deployed in the district for peaceful conduct of assembly polls. One company of CAPF usually has around a hundred personnel.
Senior Superintendent of Police Abhishek Yadav said 238 antisocial elements have been "expelled" from the district for six months and 200 more will be expelled as a preventive measure. (PTI)
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the upcoming assembly elections are a right time to defeat hatred.
The Congress is contesting polls from all the five states - Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Manipur, and Punjab- from February 10 onwards.
The Supreme Court said a panel headed by a retired judge of the top court will probe the security lapse during Prime Minister Narendra’s Modi’s visit to Ferozepur, Punjab.
The committee’s members will include Director General of Police Chandigarh, Inspector General of National Investigation Agency and Registrar General and Additional Director General Intelligence Bureau.
During the hearing of a plea on the security lapse during the movement of the PM's convoy in Punjab, the Solicitor General said Modi's travel was not an unscheduled travel.
"The PM was to travel by air on January 5, but it was intimated to all state agencies that there are climate issues and PM will travel by route also. There was also a rehearsal. There has to be communication that there’s a clear road, and if there’s a blockade stop them 4 kms away. There was complete intelligence failure. If there was violation of SPG Act and blue book, there’s no need of hearing," he said.
Arguing on behalf of the Punjab government, senior advocate Patwalia sought that an independent committee be formed to ensure a fair hearing of the matter.
Meanwhile, the Solicitor General argued that there was no intimation of the crowds from the police till the PM’s car reached the flyover. Reading the blue book provisions governning the PM's security, he further added, 'An important element in protection is identification of elements that pose threat. Besides, state special branch and district intelligence unit, police down to station level need to be activated.'
Hearing a plea seeking an urgent judicial probe into an incident of security lapse in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s security in Punjab, the Supreme Court said the state government has admitted the breach.
The Bench, comprising CJI NV Ramana, Justice Surya Kant and Justice Hima Kohli, said, “The question is if an inquiry is held, what will be its scope. If you want to take disciplinary action against officers what remains for this court to look into?"
The plea also alleges a deliberate lapse on the state government's part.