Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh Election 2022 Live: BJP national president JP Nadda during the release of the party's manifesto for the upcoming Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections; (right) Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and others release Congress party manifesto for the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections, in Shimla. (PTI photos)Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly Election 2022 Highlights: Issues related to women and religion form the core of the poll manifestos of the BJP and the Congress, with both parties vying with each other in announcing sops to woo voters for the crucial November 12 Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections, according to an analysis by news agency PTI. While the Congress on Saturday unveiled the “Har Ghar Lakshmi, Nari Samman Nidhi” promising Rs 1500 per month to adult women besides 300 units of free power which too would potentially ease the living of women, the BJP on Sunday launched a dedicated manifesto for the female voters calling the document Stree Sankalp Patra.
Another thrust area of the manifestos of both parties is religion with the BJP promising a “Him Teerath” circuit to link major temples and Shakti Peeths by launching 45 special busses from New Delhi, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Meerut and Mathura. The Congress has for the first time included a stand-alone segment in its manifesto on “Devsthan and Tirth Yatras” (Temples and Pilgrimages).
Former Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Sunday said although he separated from the party, he wasn’t against their policy of secularism. “It was only due to the party’s system getting weakened. I would still want that Congress performs well in Gujarat & HP Assembly polls. AAP isn’t capable to do so,” he said, reported ANI. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the forces that indulged in spreading hatred and defamed Gujarat will be swept out of the state in the next month’s Assembly elections. Meanwhile, BJP national president J P Nadda Sunday released the party’s manifesto for the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections in Shimla. “The BJP Government will bring the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the state. A committee of experts will be formed for the purpose and UCC will be implemented in the state on the basis of their report,” he said.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh holds a sword during a public meeting, ahead of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections, in Mandi, Monday, Nov. 7, 2022. (PTI Photo)
Ahead of the Gujarat Assembly elections, Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar has claimed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are the same team with one following the other.
In an interview with PTI, Kumar also said the BJP is an ideological and cadre-based party and the Congress is its only natural opponent which can provide an alternate ideology in the country.
The Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP has been trying to project itself as the BJP's main contender in the Gujarat Assembly elections. --PTI
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday said the BJP's "double engine" government was there in Himachal Pradesh for the last five years but it probably forgot to fill fuel in it, as she sought to corner the ruling party on the issues of unemployment and the old pension scheme.
Addressing a rally here ahead of the assembly polls, she also hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his remarks that changing medicines frequently neither helps in curing the ailment nor benefits anyone, saying people are being told that they are sick and must keep having the old medicine. --PTI
Congress could not have taken steps such as construction of the Ram temple, the surgical strike or the abrogation of Article 370 because it does not care for the country's security or the sentiments of people, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Monday.
Campaigning for the BJP in this constituency in Himachal Pradesh's Una district, Adityanath said India is touching new heights under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the country's prestige has risen on the global stage. --PTI
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Monday congratulated the Himachal Pradesh BJP unit for its 'Stree Sankalp Patra', a dedicated manifesto for female voters.
"Congratulations to @BJP4Himachal for coming out with the ‘Stree Sankalp Patra’ which further strengthens the objectives of women empowerment & women-led development in the state, as envisioned by Hon’ble @PMOIndia Shri @narendramodi," she tweeted.
India's first voter Shyam Saran Negi, who died on Saturday at his home in Himachal Pradesh's Kalpa, had insisted he wanted to cast his vote at the polling station rather than exercising franchise through postal ballot. Taking note of his health condition, Negi was however urged to cast vote through postal ballot, his grandson Deepak Kumar told PTI.
"He was insisting that he will go and vote on November 12 at the polling station in primary school Kalpa, where he had first cast his vote but he was facing difficulty in walking and standing and was advised against going there," he said.
Three days after casting his vote for the 34th time, Shyam Saran Negi died at the age of 106. Negi, who was the Election Commission's brand ambassador, had voted for the Himachal Pradesh assembly polls through postal ballot on November 2, the poll panel said earlier. (PTI)
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday announced the names of 12 more candidates, including former Patidar quota leader Alpesh Kathiriya, for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections. The Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP, which has been trying to project itself as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) main contender in Gujarat, released its 11th list of candidates on Monday.
With this, it has so far declared 130 candidates for polls to the 182-member Gujarat Assembly which will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5. The counting of votes will be taken up on December 8.
Kathiriya has been given the ticket from the Patidar-dominated Varachha Road seat in Surat city, currently held by former minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Kishor Kanani. Kathiriya was a close aide of quota spearhead Hardik Patel, who joined the BJP earlier this year after quitting the Congress.
Another Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) leader Dharmik Malaviya has been chosen for the Olpad seat in Surat, also held by the BJP. The other AAP candidates are - BT Maheshwari (to contest from Gandhidham seat), MK Bombadiya (Danta), Ramesh Nabhani (Palanpur), Mukesh Thakkar (Kankrej), Lalji Thakor (Radhanpur), Rajendrasinh Parmar (Modasa) and Umesh Makwana (Botad). (PTI)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah Sunday said that BJP will break all its previous records in the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections in terms of winning maximum seats and maximum votes.
Giving reason for this, Shah added that in 2017, voters of Gujarat were in doubt if how the government will work without Modi, but in 2022 they have understood that Modi has created such arrangement that the government will run just like the one under him even if he is not there. Shah said this in an interview to Gujarati news channel Vtv Sunday.
In reply to a question related to estimated number of seats that BJP may be winning in the upcoming assembly elections, Shah said, “BJP is going to break all its records in Gujarat whether it is of winning maximum seats or or getting maximum votes. And a government will be formed under the leadership of Nanredrabhai and Bhupendrabhai.” Read more
The BJP on Sunday released an 11-point manifesto for the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections, promising to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), look into the alleged illegal use of Waqf properties, and increase employment opportunities if voted back to power. Promises such as 33 per cent reservation for women in government jobs and free bicycles and scooters for girl students also feature in a separate manifesto for women.
But the party maintained silence on the restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), which has been a key demand of the significant vote bank of government employees in the state, and said a committee formed to look into the issue would come out with a report on it.
The promise of implementing UCC is a strategy that the BJP followed in the Uttarakhand elections earlier this year and recently in Gujarat, which goes to polls next month. Read more
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Atal Bihari Vajpayee – two former prime ministers from rival parties and stalwarts of Indian politics whose names are still echoing in the campaigns for Himachal Pradesh assembly polls – on the same page in a state ruled by alternate Congress and BJP governments.
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital, Chamba, was established in 2016 during the erstwhile Virbhadra Singh-led Congress government in Himachal Pradesh, and by upgrading existing Regional Civil Hospital, Chamba. The college currently runs from the building from Akhand Chandi Palace, one of the many royal buildings in erstwhile princely state of Chamba. It started with the admission of a hundred students in the first batch.
Initially affiliated to Himachal Pradesh University, it was later transferred to AMRU, a new medical university in the hill state, which too was earlier established as HP University of Health Sciences by an Act in 2017 but then the Act was amended by the Jairam Thakur-led BJP government in 2019 to name it after former PM late Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Read more
The BJP Sunday launched a scathing attack on the Congress for not including party national president Mallikarjun Kharge's image in the cover photo of Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee's official Twitter handle. Sharing a snap of the cover photo, @BJP4Himachal tweeted, "This is the official Twitter handle of @INCHimachal. Where is Congress President Kharge ji? Was made president under compulsion but unable to accept it!"
Clad in a crisp saffron kurta, with a tilak and a Himachali topi, is Dr Janak Raj, 43, a neurosurgeon and former senior medical superintendent at the Indira Gandhi Medical College Hospital (IGMC) in Shimla. He is now the BJP’s candidate from Bharmour in Himachal’s Chamba district, where at a rally on Saturday, he is welcomed with slogans of “Doctor ji ko Jai Sri Ram, Doctor ji ko Jai Ram (Jai Sri Ram to the doctor)”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the forces that indulged in spreading hatred and defamed Gujarat will be swept out of the state again in the next month's Assembly polls which he said BJP would win with a record margin.
On visit of poll-bound Gujarat, Modi addressed a rally in Valsad district and later attended a mass marriage function held in Bhavnagar city.
Addressing his first election rally in his home state after the announcement of the poll schedule, Modi came up with a new slogan in Gujarati - "Aa Gujarat, mai banavyu chhe" (I have made this Gujarat), and also made people chant it several times during his 25-minute-long speech. "Those divisive forces that have indulged in spreading hatred, those who have tried to defame and insult Gujarat have been swept out of Gujarat. The people of Gujarat never accept those who spread hate. (PTI)
The Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) on Sunday announced its first list of candidates for 12 Assembly constituencies in Gujarat, including nine Scheduled Tribe (ST) reserved seats.
BTP's Gujarat president Ramesh Vasava said the party will field its candidates on all the 27 ST-reserved seats across the state for the next month's elections. The party had won two seats in the 2017 polls in the state.
Apart from nine ST-reserved seats for which it declared the candidates, the BTP also announced its nominees for Karjan, Jambusar and Olpad, the seats for general category candidates. The remaining nine seats are - Bhiloda, Jhalod, Dahod, Sankheda, Nandod, Vyara, Nizar, Dang and Dharampur. (PTI)
The Congress hit out at the ruling BJP on Sunday over its Himachal Pradesh poll manifesto, terming it a "cut-copy-paste" of their five-year-old promises and in parts borrowed from the grand old party's 2022 election document.
The Congress' in-charge for Himachal Pradesh Rajiv Shukla and party leader Alka Lamba termed the BJP's manifesto a "cut-copy-paste" document. "Jairam Thakur has used cut, copied and pasted the BJP's 2017 manifesto and borrowed points from the Congress' 2022 manifesto," Lamba claimed.
At a press conference here along with Lamba, Shukla alleged, "Their manifesto of 2022 is a bundle of lies. When they did not implement the previous one, will they do it now?" Shukla also said the BJP's manifesto has not uttered a word about the old pension scheme, restoring which has been a key demand of government employees. "Implementation of the old pension scheme is a big demand, but they are not doing anything about it. Our governments in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh have implemented it," he said. (PTI)
Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Sunday termed the BJP's manifesto for the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections a document that will take the state to new heights and asserted that his party will form government again.
Thakur during a 'Jan Sampark Abhiyan' in the state's Sujanpur assembly segment touched upon the salient points of his party's 'sankalp patra' manifesto and said Himachal Pradesh is once again ready to form a double engine government.
This 'sankalp patra' is a blueprint to give new energy to the youth, empower women, increase the happiness of farmers and take forward the interests of all sections, the information and broadcasting minister said. (PTI)
Issues related to women and religion form the core of the poll manifestos of the BJP and the Congress, with both parties vying with each other in announcing sops to woo voters for the crucial November 12 assembly elections. Women account for nearly half (49 per cent) of the population of the hill state and the principal rivals have gone out of the way to impress them this time.
While the Congress on Saturday unveiled the "Har Ghar Lakshmi, Nari Samman Nidhi” promising Rs 1500 per month to adult women besides 300 units of free power which too would potentially ease the living of women, the BJP on Sunday launched a dedicated manifesto for the female voters calling the document Stree Sankalp Patra.
The BJP manifesto for women promises bicycles for schoolgoers, scooties for college students and enhanced 'shagun', which includes monetary assistance, for the marriage of girls from BPL families. “Stree Shakti Sankalp” also ambitiously offers 33 percent reservation to women in government jobs and educational institutions. A corpus fund of Rs 500 crores for interest-free loans to women entrepreneurs will be set up for homestays and financial support for the marriage of girls belonging to below-poverty-line families will be raised from Rs 31,000 to Rs 51,000 under the ongoing Mukhmantri Shagun Yojna.
Another thrust area of the manifestos of both parties is religion with the BJP promising a “Him Teerath” circuit to link major temples and Shakti Peeths by launching 45 special busses from New Delhi, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Meerut and Mathura. The Congress has for the first time included a stand-alone segment in its manifesto on "Devsthan and Tirth Yatras". (PTI)
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister and Congress Himachal Pradesh in-charge Bhupesh Baghel spoke with The Indian Express during an intense campaign phase, with polling a few days to go. The party is looking to make gains, as BJP faces rebellion heat. It’s not a double-engine, but a trouble-engine sarkar, he says. Check out the full interview here
“Shimle ni vasna, Kasauli ni vasna, Chambey jaana zaroor (I won’t settle in Shimla or in Kasauli, but I must go to Chamba for sure)”.
Prem Lal, the owner of a shop near Chamba’s ancient Laxmi Narayan Mandir notes the irony of this popular Himachali folk song that celebrates the temple town. Even as it invites all to come to Chamba, reaching it is an impossible task, he says. “The roads are treacherous over their best stretches. Then there are others where there is no road at all, just slush.”
A month ago, in a pre-poll flurry, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated two ambitious hydel projects in the district, apart from several PM Gram Sadak Yojna projects. However, as Prem Lal puts it, no one is impressed. Read full Political Pulse here
Ninety-year-old Balubhai Patel pores over sheets of paper containing data of a dozen-odd “tough” seats for the Gujarat Congress, all of which he plans to tour in the coming days. Patel is chairman of the Election Coordination Committee of the state Congress.
Raised in the era of the Independence movement, Patel, barring the few years he was with the breakaway Janata Dal led by Chimanbhai Patel, is a staunch, khadi-donning Gandhian and Congressman, who scoffs at the very idea of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). “Tall leaders like Chimanbhai and Shankersinh (Vaghela) also could not create a third force, then what is AAP?” he argues. Read more
Winds of change are blowing across Himachal Pradesh and come November 12, the people of the state will say "Jai Ram ji ki" to Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot said on Sunday. 'Jai Ram ji ki' is an expression often used in north India while bidding farewell to someone.
Addressing a public meeting in Sulah in support of Congress candidate Jagdish Sipahiya, Pilot exuded confidence that his party will form the government in Himachal Pradesh. "You (BJP government in Himachal) cannot run away from your promise, you will have to fulfil your commitment and for not doing so, people will press the button in front of the 'hand' symbol on the EVM machine. The Congress will form the government with a huge mandate," Pilot said to loud cheers. (PTI)
Former Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Sunday said although he separated from the party, he wasn't against their policy of secularism. "It was only due to the party's system getting weakened. I would still want that Congress performs well in Gujarat & HP Assembly polls. AAP isn't capable to do so," he said reported ANI.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the forces that indulged in spreading hatred and defamed Gujarat will be swept out of the state in the next month's Assembly elections. Addressing his first election rally in his home state after the announcement of poll dates, Modi came up with a new slogan in Gujarati - "Aa Gujarat, mai bnavyu chhe" (I have made this Gujarat), and also made people chant it several times during his 25-minute-long speech.
"Those divisive forces that have indulged in spreading hatred, those who have tried to defame and insult Gujarat have been swept out of Gujarat. In this election also they will meet the same fate," he said. (PTI)
Addressing a public meeting in Gujarat's Valsad district, PM Narendra Modi Sunday said that the state will sweep away divisive forces that have spent the last 20 years defaming it, PTI reported.
Clad in a crisp saffron kurta, with a tilak and a Himachali topi, is Dr Janak Raj, 43, a neurosurgeon and former senior medical superintendent at the Indira Gandhi Medical College Hospital (IGMC) in Shimla. He is now the BJP’s candidate from Bharmour in Himachal’s Chamba district, where at a rally on Saturday, he is welcomed with slogans of “Doctor ji ko Jai Sri Ram, Doctor ji ko Jai Ram (Jai Sri Ram to the doctor)”.
As Raj, a member of the gaddi Rajput community, enters Brehi, a small village in the tribal constituency, he instantly connects with the villagers who are mostly from the Gaddi community in their local dialect. Raj then goes on to target his opponent, the former forest minister and the seat’s Congress candidate, Thakur Singh Bharmouri, who had faced allegations of illegal tree felling and corruption during his tenure as minister. Divya Goyal writes
BJP president JP Nadda attended Jan Sampark Abhiyan in Shimla on Sunday. ' People have given much love to PM Modi & have made up their minds to bless BJP in the upcoming election,' he was quoted saying by news agency ANI.
As reported by news agency ANI, while addressing a rally in Nagrota in Himachal's Kangra district, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said, "When I was coming here, I saw a rally of the Congress candidate. The venue mentioned some '10 guarantees'. Guarantees of only those people are believed who have some record. Who will believe in your guarantees?"
In view of the upcoming Assembly polls in Gujarat, the Election Commission (EC) has directed all banks in the state to keep a watch on suspicious transactions of more than Rs 10 lakh in the accounts, officials said on Sunday.
The banks have been instructed to also report transactions of more than Rs 1 lakh in the accounts opened by poll candidates, they said.
As per the EC's guidelines, poll candidates cannot spend more than Rs 40 lakh during campaigning and they have to open a separate account for that purpose. All the transactions above Rs 10,000 must be done through cheques, RTGS (Real-Time Gross Settlement) or drafts, a senior state official said.
To convey these instructions, nodal officers of the expenditure monitoring cells in all 33 districts of Gujarat convened meetings with senior bank officials in the last two days, said Sahdevsinh Solanki, accounts officer at the office of Gujarat's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO). (PTI)
Prime Minister Modi is set to address a public meeting in Kaprada, Gujarat today. After that he will go to Bhavnagar to attend “Pappani Pari” group wedding. "Such programs reflect the basic nature of our society to engage in social responsibility," he tweeted.
With the Himachal Pradesh polls less than a week away, the BJP Sunday released its manifesto, promising to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the state if voted back to power.
BJP national president J P Nadda released the manifesto along with Chief Minister Jairam Thakur, state’s party chief Suresh Kashyap and Union Minister Anurag Thakur. (Read More)
With the Himachal Pradesh polls less than a week away, the BJP Sunday released its manifesto, promising to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the state if voted back to power.
Speaking to news agency ANI on the UCC issue Himachal CM Jai Ram Thakur said, " It's very important. BJP is a national party & we feel it is a necessity. There are technical aspects but a committee is being constituted. We'll go ahead on the path that will come out.Implementing UCC is our commitment & we'll do it."
BJP president J P Nadda released the party's manifesto for Himachal Pradesh Assembly polls today. He promised 33 per cent reservation for women in government jobs and said that girl students in classes 6-12 will get cycle while those pursuing higher education will get a scooty.
BJP national president JP Nadda releases the party's manifesto for Himachal Pradesh elections, in Shimla. CM Jairam Thakur, state party chief Suresh Kashyap, Union Minister Anurag Thakur and others were also present.
Linking every vote for the BJP to himself and the “double engine” government of the party at the Centre and the state, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday urged people of poll-bound Himachal Pradesh to return the BJP to power, saying every vote for “kamal ka phool” (the party’s lotus symbol) “will come directly to Modi’s account as a blessing”.
Addressing a public rally in Solan where he mentioned his “personal and emotional connect” with the state and its people, Modi said, “Aur yaad rakhiye, hamara Bharatiya Janata Party ka umeedwar kaun hai? Aap ko kisi ko yaad rakhne ki zaroorat nahin hai, sirf kamal ka phool yaad rakhiye. Main aap ke paas kamal ka phool leke aaya hoon (And remember, who is the BJP candidate? You don’t have to remember anyone. Simply remember the lotus. I have come to you with the lotus).” (Read More)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a public meeting in Valsad district of poll-bound Gujarat on Sunday and attend a mass marriage programme in Bhavnagar, a BJP functionary said.
This will be the prime minister's first visit to his home state after the Election Commission declared polls for the 182-member Assembly.
“PM Modi will address a rally in Nana Pondha in Valsad district on Sunday afternoon. He will attend a mass marriage function in Bhavnagar in the evening,” BJP spokesperson Yagnesh Dave said on Saturday.
Elections will be held in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled Gujarat in two phases on December 1 and 5. The counting of votes will be taken up on December 8. (PTI)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah Saturday dismissed the presence of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Gujarat saying the state did not allow space for a third party. “Gujarat has never accepted the concept of a third party… Gujarat’s politics is based on ideologies and a party that has no ideology… There is no possibility for such a party to gain roots in Gujarat. It can be said that it is a direct contest between BJP and Congress,” said Shah during a televised interview with Gujarati news channel Sandesh. (Read More)
In a first in Gujarat, an estimated 10 lakh plus voters, including those who are disabled and are aged above 80 years, will be eligible to vote from the comfort of their homes in the elections in December.
The process, however, is expected to pose a serious “logistical challenge” for the Election Commission that is expected to visit individual houses and collect postal ballots while maintaining complete secrecy of the vote.
“The process has already been initiated and the exact number of people will be known once forms are received in the next five days,” said P Bharathi, Chief Electoral Officer of Gujarat Friday. She, however, did not put a figure to the number of voters who might avail this facility. “We do not have any estimates now,” she said. (Read More)
Residents of both Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti districts, which have a similar topography, have been protesting against proposed hydel power projects in their respective regions. While harvesting and sourcing water is important, the backbone of such projects are constructions of dams, cutting through the mountains, thus weakening the soil and resulting in frequent landslides and sometimes earthquakes.
While a few such projects are already operating in the area, the nightmare came true when landslides started taking place in Kinnaur district. Take a look at the two constituencies that form two districts: (Read More)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a public meeting in Valsad district of poll-bound Gujarat on Sunday and attend a mass marriage programme in Bhavnagar, a BJP functionary said.
This will be the prime minister's first visit to his home state after the Election Commission declared polls for the 182-member Assembly.
“PM Modi will address a rally in Nana Pondha in Valsad district on Sunday afternoon. He will attend a mass marriage function in Bhavnagar in the evening,” BJP spokesperson Yagnesh Dave said on Saturday.
Elections will be held in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled Gujarat in two phases on December 1 and 5. The counting of votes will be taken up on December 8. (PTI)