Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi with Union Home Minister Amit Shah. (Source Twitter/Channi)Elections 2022 highlights: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday assured Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi that the government has taken the matter of alleged support to the AAP by banned separatist group Sikh for Justice and asserted that no one will be allowed to play with India’s unity and integrity. Shah also said it is highly condemnable that to grab power some people go to the extent of joining hands with the separatists and also go to the limits of breaking Punjab and the country.
Congress on Friday released its manifesto for the upcoming Punjab Assembly Elections, promising one lakh government jobs. The party has also promised Rs 1,100 per month to women in the state with eight free cooking gas cylinders per year.
With just two days to go for the Punjab polls, Channi’s ‘UP, Bihar de bhaiya’ remark has stirred a political storm. On Friday, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari likened the controversy to the “Black issue in the US”. “It is reflective of an unfortunate systemic and institutionalised social bias against migrants stretching back to the inception of the Green Revolution,” Tewari said in a series of tweets.
However, Channi has claimed that his remarks were “twisted.” He said he was not referring to migrants who come to Punjab for work but to leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed Channi saying, “By such statements, they not only insulted the people of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar but also Guru Ravidas and Guru Gobind Singh. Where was Guru Ravidas, whose birth anniversary was celebrated yesterday, born? Was he born in Punjab? He was born in Uttar Pradesh’s Kashi and you will not let ‘bhaiya’ of UP to enter here. Will you throw out Ravidassias (followers of Guru Ravidas)? Will you erase Sant Ravidas’ name too.”
Chandigarh administration has declared 'Dry days' in the city from 6 pm of February 18 till the conclusion of Assembly polls in Punjab on February 20 and on March 10, counting day.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah in a letter to Punjab Cheif Minister Charanjit Singh Channi assureed that the Government of India has taken the matter seriously and that he'll personally ensure that the case is looked into in detail.
Earlier, Channi had written to Shah alleging that banned organisation 'Sikhs for Justice' is in touch with Aam Aadmi Party.
BJP president JP Nadda accused Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Friday of shielding terrorists.
Addressing an election meeting here, he said, "On November 23, 2007, there were bomb blasts in three court complexes in Uttar Pradesh. Fifteen people were killed and 50 injured. The Indian Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the blasts. It took the responsibility for the bomb blasts at the Dashaswamedh Ghat, in a Shramjeevi train, and at Sarojini Nagar, Govindpuri and Paharganj in Delhi. It also took the responsibility for the Sankatmochan Varanasi blasts and the Mumbai local train bomb blasts." Nadda said the investigating agencies had nabbed one accused from Azamgarh and another from Jaunpur.
"They faced trial, but Akhilesh withdrew the cases against them when he was the chief minister (of Uttar Pradesh) in 2012. Later, the high court had asked whether it was the government's job to protect terrorists. This is the real face of the SP," he added.
"Akhilesh shielded terrorists. I allege that as the chief minister, he gave shelter to terrorists. The saviour became the attacker. He has misled the innocent people of Uttar Pradesh," the BJP chief claimed. (PTI)
People want to create a 'Nava Punjab' and only the BJP-led alliance can bring all-round progress in the state, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Friday after participating in a road show taken out by Punjab Lok Congress chief Amarinder Singh here.
Rajnath Singh was canvassing for Amarinder Singh on the last day of campaigning for the February 20 polls to the 117-member state assembly. The BJP is fighting the elections along with the Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) and the Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa-led Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt).
"Participated in a road show for Captain Amarinder Singh ji at Patiala, Punjab today. The people here want to create 'Nava Punjab' (new Punjab) and only the BJP-led NDA can bring change," Rajnath Singh, a senior BJP leader, tweeted after the event.
Amarinder Singh, who was made to resign from the post of Punjab chief minister by the Congress last year and replaced by Charanjit Singh Channi, is in the fray from his traditional Patiala Urban seat. (PTI)
Former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Dr Kumar Vishwas responds to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi continuing with the attack on Arvind Kejriwal over Kumar Vishwas's statement, asked the Delhi CM to say if the former AAP leader is telling the truth.
Meanwhile, hours after Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking an inquiry into allegations levelled against Arvind Kejriwal by Vishwas, the AAP convener denied the allegations, calling them “comedy”. “I must be the sweetest terrorist in the world for building roads, schools and providing free water and electricity,” Kejriwal told reporters.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday said the time has come for the people of Uttar Pradesh to say "talaq, talaq, talaq" to both the BJP and the SP in the ongoing state Assembly polls.
Addressing a poll meeting in the Madhogarh Assembly constituency of Jalaun district, the Hyderabad MP sought to equate the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP), saying SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath are like brothers, who had got separated.
"The SP and the BJP are two sides of the same coin and it seems that Yogi-Akhilesh are brothers who had got separated. The mentality of both is the same. Both are cruel and arrogant. They do not consider themselves as leaders, but as emperors," he said.
Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief said, "Modi talks about triple talaq. But this time, people should say talaq, talaq, talaq to both the BJP and the SP, and this will end their story (in Uttar Pradesh)."
Campaigning for the candidate of the Bhagidari Parivartan Morcha, of which the AIMIM is a part, Owaisi said, "The Uttar Pradesh chief minister thinks of himself as the wazir (prime minister) of the sultan (king) sitting in Delhi. A person who becomes an emperor in politics has to be removed." He said the time has come for people to make Adityanath and Yadav sit at home. (PTI)
Campaigning for the 117 Assembly seats of Punjab came to an end on Friday evening even as political parties made last-minute efforts to mobilise support for their candidates ahead of the February 20 elections.
The Congress released its manifesto earlier in the day, promising financial assistance for women, one lakh government jobs and creation of corporations for the sale of liquor and sand mining if it returns to power in the state.
Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, AAP leaders Arvind Kejriwal, Bhagwant Mann and Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia took out road shows in Bhadaur, Jalalabad, Raikot and Amritsar, respectively.
Former chief minister Amarinder Singh and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh took out a road show in Patiala. Amarinder Singh's wife and Congress MP Preneet Kaur also part in the road show. (PTI)
The BJP's youth wing on Friday took out a march here, demanding a complete ban on hijab in educational institutions in the country.
Members of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), who took out their march from the Centre Point Market in the Civil Lines area, were heading for the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) crossing, but were stopped by police, leading to angry exchanges. The demonstrators warned that they would intensify their protest in educational institutions in the district.
BJYM district vice president Saurabh Chaudhry said his organisation would hold demonstrations in all educational institutions to check students from wearing hijab or caps inside educational institutions.
Security measures at AMU have been tightened as a precautionary measure to prevent any untoward incident. (PTI)
Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh campaigning in Lucknow's Sarojini Nagar said that Goddess Lakshmi always arrives on a lotus. Hitting out at the opposition, SP, BSP and Congress, he said that the Goddess can never be seen coming on a cycle, elephant or waving her hands.
'It is very clear that prosperity and growth will only arrive if lotus blooms in UP,' Singh said.
Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal held a roadshow in Punjab's Abohar. Campaigning in the state has come to an end, as Punjab will go to vote on February 20.
The Congress on Friday released its manifesto for the February 20 Punjab Assembly polls, promising Rs 1,100 per month for women, eight free cooking gas cylinders per year and one lakh government jobs. The party also promised to end the mafia raj by creating corporations for the sale of liquor and sand mining.
Addressing the media here, state party chief Navjot Singh Sidhu said the party's government will procure oilseed, pulses and corn from farmers. The Congress manifesto has come on the last day of the campaigning for the Assembly polls.
Sidhu said the party's 13-point agenda reflects Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's vision. Sidhu said if the Congress returns to power, it first decision will be to give one lakh government jobs.
Homemakers will be given Rs 1,100 per month as financial assistance besides eight cooking gas cylinders per year, Sidhu said. Oilseed, pulses and corn will be procured from farmers, he added. (PTI)
Hours after Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking an inquiry into allegations levelled against Arvind Kejriwal by former AAP leader Kumar Vishwas, the AAP convener denied the allegations, calling them “comedy”. “I must be the sweetest terrorist in the world for building roads, schools and providing free water and electricity,” Kejriwal told reporters. (Read full report by Raakhi Jagga)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted a number of prominent Sikhs at his residence on Friday. The meeting came two days before the Punjab Assembly polls, with the BJP going all out to woo the Sikh community as it seeks to put up a strong show in an alliance with former chief minister Amarinder Singh's Punjab Lok Congress and the Akali Dal faction headed by Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa.
The Sikh personalities who attended the meeting with Modi included Delhi Gurudwara Committee president Harmeet Singh Kalka, Padma Sri-awardee Baba Balbir Singh ji Sichewal, Mahant Karamjit Singh of Sewapanthi, Yamuna Nagar, Baba Joga Singh of Dera Baba Jang Singh in Karnal and Sant Baba Mejor Singh Waa of Mukhi Dera Baba Tara Singh Waa in Amritsar, official sources said. (PTI)
Hitting back at BJP leaders over their "dynast" jibe against him, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Friday said a person who has a family understands its pain and asked will those without a family be able to feel the pain of families.
Addressing an election meeting in Jalaun in Uttar Pradesh, Yadav said, "They are terming me a 'ghor pariwarvadi' (ultimate dynast). A person who has a family understands the pain of the family. The BJP leaders do not have any family, will they be able to feel the pain of families? Only a family person can understand his responsibility. A family person can understand what inflation is. People who have families are sitting here and they can feel (pain of) price rise. The youth feel (pain of) joblessness."
BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, in some of his campaign speeches, has said the 'S' in the SP means 'sampatti ikattha' (amassing wealth) and 'P' means 'pariwarwad' (dynasty). Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also accused the SP of being "ghor pariwarvadi".
Sharpening his attack on the BJP, Yadav alleged that the money deposited by people in banks after the demonetisation exercise has been stolen by industrialists, who have subsequently fled the country. (PTI)
Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to order a probe into former AAP leader Kumar Vishwas' allegations that Arvind Kejriwal is supporting separatists during the campaign for the assembly elections.
Aam Aadmi Party leader Raghav Chadha had already described the allegations as 'malicious, unfounded and fabricated.' In a tweet, Channi said, “As CM of Punjab, I request Hon'ble PM @narendramodi Ji to order an impartial enquiry in the matter of @DrKumarVishwas Ji's video'.
'Politics aside, people of Punjab have paid a heavy price while fighting separatism. Hon'ble PM needs to address the worry of every Punjabi,” Channi said in a tweet.
On Thursday at a rally in Abohar, Modi, who did not name Vishwas in his speech, had said that the accusation the poet, once a close friend of Kejriwal, had made was “very dangerous” and that it explained his (Kejriwal) “character”.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at a rally in Bassi Pathana had even questioned the silence of the Delhi chief minister over the accusation. (PTI)
Gangster-turned-activist Lakha Sidhana is in the fray from the Maur Assembly seat in Punjab's Bathinda district and appeals to people to read newspapers, pool funds to open libraries while saying he wants to promote the Punjabi language.
Sidhana is one of the accused in the last year's Delhi Republic Day violence and has been fielded by the Sanyukt Samaj Morcha, a political outfit of various farmer bodies. Forty-two-year-old Sidhana, who is facing several criminal cases, was quite active in the farmers' agitation against the Centre's farm laws, which were later repealed.
“I am a fearless person who can raise voice for my people. You all have seen my contribution to the farmers' agitation,” says Sidhana wherever he goes for campaigning. Sidhana invariably mentions the need to promote “maa boli Punjabi” (Punjabi language) and Punjabiyat.
He and his supporters had even blackened signboards written in Hindi and English in Bathinda and had asked the authorities to use Punjabi as primary language. (PTI)
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath during a rally in Karhal said a grand temple of Lord Ram will be ready in Ayodhya by 2023.
"This Ram Temple will be 'Rashtra Mandir' of India,"he added.
The Samajwadi Party has fielded the maximum 52 candidates having assets worth over Rs 1 crore while the BJP stands second in the list with 48 such contestants for the third phase of the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, according to a report.
The Bahujan Samaj Party has fielded 46 such candidates while the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party have 29 and 18 contestants, respectively, the report by Uttar Pradesh Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) said.
The UP Election Watch and the ADR said they have analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 623 candidates out of 627 who are contesting the polls on February 20. The affidavits of remaining four candidates were either badly scanned or incomplete, it added.
Overall, 245 (or 39 per cent) candidates are crorepatis in the fray for the third phase assembly polls, the report found.
“The role of money power in our elections is evident from the fact that all major political parties give tickets to wealthy candidates,” it noted. The richest candidate in the fray is SP's Yashpal Singh Yadav with assets valued more than Rs 70 crore. He will be contesting from Babina constituency in Jhansi, the report stated. (PTI)
On the last day of campaigning for the Punjab polls, AAP CM face Bhagwant Mann held a road show at Mullanpur Dakha in Ludhiana. (Express Photos by Gurmeet Singh)
Defence Minister and BJP leader Rajnath Singh held a roadshow, along with Punjab Lok Congress founder and chief Amarinder Singh, in Patiala on Friday.
"Captain Amarinder Singh and Sukhbir Singh Badal are two sides of the same coin," Navjot Singh Sidhu said Friday.
"Choosing Captain or the Badals would be a retrograde step. If change has to be brought, this man (referring to himself) is in front of you with a plan," the Congress leader was quoted as saying by ANI.
Responding to allegations in the Kumar Vishwas' video, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said, "This is comedy. If their allegations are to be believed, I am a big terrorist. In that case, what were security agencies doing in the last 10 years?"
Days after rebel leader Kumar Vishwas accused Arvind Kejriwal of associating with separatist elements in Punjab, the AAP chief on Friday claimed, “I have come to know that the Prime Minister has got a letter written from Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi seeking an inquiry into Kumar Vishwas’s video.”
He added, “Also, I have come to know that an FIR will be lodged against me by the NIA. All FIRs are welcome…they are calling ‘Bhagat Singh ka chela‘ a terrorist.”
In the contentious video, Vishwas accuses Kejriwal of hobnobbing with Khalistani elements. AAP has termed the video malicious.
With just days to go before the Punjab polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted prominent Sikhs from across the country at his residence in Delhi.
On the last day of campaigning in Punjab, AAP CM candidate Bhagwant Mann is all set to hold a roadshow in the Dakha constituency of Ludhiana. In the photos below, workers await his arrival outside the AAP office in Dakha.
Samajwadi Party writes to Election Commission to "deploy additional security forces in Jaunpur district to conduct free and fair elections" ahead of the seventh phase of UP polls. In its letter, the party stated that attempts were made to capture booths in the previous elections in the district, hindering the poor and backward classes from voting.
Migrants, mostly from UP and Bihar, who have over the years come to Ludhiana to work in its industrial hubs before making the city their home, form a key force in the district, with an estimated 19 lakh of them spread across its 14 Assembly seats.
In the migrant hubs of Dhandari and Ram Nagar in Sahnewal constituency and Makkar Colony and Atam Nagar in Atam Nagar constituency, farm laws, sacrilege and drugs – issues which dominate the conversation elsewhere – hardly figure in discussions around the polls. Instead, the talk is about greater political representation for migrants and better living conditions. Read more
Heaps of garbage on the sides and stink in the air, a cavalcade of vehicles bearing Congress flags enters the lanes of Basti Mohan Singh of Moga and the local residents including women, children and elderly all get set to take selfies with actor Sonu Sood, who has come riding his Ford Endeavour to campaign for his younger sister and Moga’s Congress candidate Malvika Sood Sachar.
Riding high on his popularity that shot up due to his philanthropic initiatives that he took during Covid to help migrants, Sood has thrown his weight behind his sister who is contesting polls from Moga, the hometown of the family. For more than a month now, the actor has been camping in Moga and canvassing for her. He is also managing his scheduled movie shoots side by side. Read more
As electioneering draws to a close, Punjab is suddenly filled with a din about Hindus, Sikhs, and turbans from the microphones of vote-seeking leaders. But if there is one thing that you learn from the poll battlefield here, it’s that people seldom vote for a religion or caste, and turbans are not the privilege of the Sikhs alone.
Born into a Brahmin family of Hari Ke Kalan village near Muktsar, Pritpal Sharma, AAP candidate from Gidderbaha, has been wearing a turban all his life.
Married to Dr Mandeep Kaur, he is equally at home in a temple as in a gurdwara. His close aide tells you how “oh saare dharmaan nu mande ne (he believes in all religions)”. Read more
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi will be addressing a virtual rally in Uttar Pradesh today (Friday) at 3 pm.
With two days left for the Punjab Assembly polls, all eyes are on the Amritsar East constituency, where two firebrand leaders – state Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu and senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia – are locked in a pitched battle.
This election is turning out to be a different ball game for Sidhu though, with former minister Majithia giving him a run for his money.
The Sidhu family’s hold over Amritsar East was put to test as soon as the SAD leadership decided to take its battle against the Punjab Congress chief to his constituency by fielding Majithia from there. Majithia had been in Sidhu’s line of fire for months ahead of the Punjab polls over the drugs issue. Read more
In an Express series looking at UP’s political history and changes through its CMs, Shyamlal Yadav writes about Kamlapati Tripathi, a Constituent Assembly member and the only UP CM so far, whose regime was replaced with President's rule by his own party's central government.
Tripathi took his oath as the CM on April 4, 1971 and continued in his position until June 12, 1973, when then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi asked him to resign in the wake of a rebellion in the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) in which nearly three dozen security personnel were killed. Read more
Reacting to the controversy around Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi’s ‘UP, Bihar de bhaiya’ remark, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari likened it to the "Black issue in the US".
"It is reflective of an unfortunate systemic and institutionalised social bias against migrants stretching back to the inception of the Green Revolution," Tewari said in a series of tweets Friday.
"Despite my mother being a Jat Sikh and my father being the foremost exponent of Punjab - Punjabi - Punjabiyat - who laid down his life for Hindu-Sikh amity, because of my (surname) it is said behind my back ‘Eh Bhaiya Kithon Agha’ peppered with the choicest expletives in Punjabi," he added.
Making an appearance for the first time in the ongoing Assembly election campaign in Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party (SP) founder patron Mulayam Singh Yadav on Thursday addressed a public meeting in Karhal in Mainpuri district from where his son Akhilesh Yadav is contesting.
Urging people to ensure Akhilesh’s victory with a huge margin, the 82-year party patriarch said that the Samajwadi Party government would work for “naujawan, kisan aur vyapari (youths, farmers and traders)” and added the party would not disappoint the people. Read more
In a quick turn of events in poll-bound Punjab, a letter by the state’s Additional Chief Electoral Officer restraining political parties from telecasting a recent Kumar Vishwas interview attacking AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal was withdrawn within hours of it being issued. Punjab’s Chief Electoral Officer Dr S Karuna Raju said that the letter had been issued “inadvertently”.
In the contentious video, rebel AAP leader Vishwas accuses Kejriwal of hobnobbing with Khalistani elements. AAP has termed the video malicious. Read more
One of the only two allies of the BJP in the Uttar Pradesh election, the Apna Dal (S) brings to the table the Kurmi vote and a good showing in the past two polls as an NDA partner. As leader of the party and a Union minister, Anupriya Patel has marched ahead of the rival faction of the Apna Dal led by her mother. In the alliance with the BJP too, the 40-year-old has tried to chart her own course, fielding a Muslim candidate (the NDA’s sole one in the state) and underlining that the community is not a pariah for it.
Speaking to Liz Mathew, Anupriya Patel says, "My party politics does not revolve around religion, it has always stood for social justice. So when it comes to an issue pertaining to the cause of a disadvantageous section, we always raise it. Some issues get sorted out. For others it might take time because social justice is a larger agenda." Read full interview here
In this election, across Punjab, numbers are invoked to make a political point: “Sattar saal (70 years)” is shorthand for cynicism against the two parties that have taken turns to rule the state; “saade chaar saal (four and a half years),” a lament about the Captain Amarinder Singh government; “ik sau gyarah din (111 days)”, the time his successor used, or failed to.
“Tin sau assi din (380 days)” is mentioned far less frequently — the time protesting farmers camped out in the open on Delhi’s borders, the time it took to make the mighty Narendra Modi Government backtrack on farm laws it had pushed through, amid a pandemic, without consultation.
And yet, only months after the historic success, and with voting two days away, candidates of the farmers’ movement have almost no visible momentum in the campaign — leaving the field more or less clear for the AAP to woo the vote for change. Read more
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