UP polls phase 7: 54 seats across 9 districts set to vote tomorrow, parties give final push
Top leaders of the ruling BJP, Samajwadi Party (SP), Congress and other parties on Saturday addressed scores of rallies in Uttar Pradesh in an attempt to reach out to the maximum number of voters as campaigning for the seventh and last phase of the Assembly elections came to an end.
A total of 54 seats in the districts of Mirzapur, Azamgarh, Bhadohi, Chandauli, Ghazipur, Jaunpur, Mau, Sonbhadra and Varanasi will go to the polls in this phase on March 7.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath addressed five public meetings, the highest by a BJP leader, in Azamgarh, Sonbhadra and Bhadohi districts. His rival and Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav addressed eight back-to-back rallies across 16 assembly constituencies that fall in Mirzapur, Jaunpur and Azamgarh districts.
Following the elections in March 2017, when all eyes were on the high-stakes political drama a hung Assembly had thrown up, Irom Sharmila made a quiet exit from Manipur after her upsetting electoral loss.
Five years have passed since, and as another election ended in Manipur on Saturday, far away in her apartment on the outskirts of Bengaluru, Sharmila said she has made sense of the loss. (Read full report by Tora Agarwala)
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Top leaders of the ruling BJP, Samajwadi Party (SP), Congress and other parties on Saturday addressed scores of rallies in Uttar Pradesh in an attempt to reach out to the maximum number of voters as campaigning for the seventh and last phase of the Assembly elections came to an end.
A total of 54 seats in the districts of Mirzapur, Azamgarh, Bhadohi, Chandauli, Ghazipur, Jaunpur, Mau, Sonbhadra and Varanasi will go to the polls in this phase on March 7. (Read full report by Lalmani Verma)
One day before the election campaign ends in Gorakhpur, Yogi Adityanath’s roadshow is about to begin from Town Hall in the heart of the city, from where he is also the candidate. The Chief Minister is yet to arrive, saffron balloons bob under a hot sun, exhortations go up from a makeshift stage: “Sanatan dharm ko bachana hai toh Yogi-Modi ko lana hai (Yogi and Modi must return to power if Hinduism has to be saved)”.
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Slogans vie with snatches of song: “Hindu hain hum, bas Ram ki baat karein (We are Hindus, talk only of Ram)… Sabko pension aur shauchalaya (pension and toilets for all)… Yeh dharm yudh hai (this is a religious war) … Mathura Vrindavan abhi baaki hai (Mathura and Vrindavan are yet to come)… Jai Shri Ram… Har Har Mahadev”. (Read full report by Vandita Mishra)
As the fiercely contested Uttar Pradesh assembly elections enter the final round, the Kashi Vishwanath temple here is witnessing a rush of political leaders. They have been making a beeline at the famous shrine dedicated to Lord Shiva since the past few days in Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's parliamentary constituency and the focus of the seventh phase of the Assembly elections.
Friday was a busy day for the temple as Modi, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Union minister Smriti Irani came to offer prayers. The Kashi Viswanath temple is one of the 12 'Jyotirlingas' (special shrines dedicated to Lord Shiva) in the country.
The prime minister, who held a roadshow in the city on Friday to drum up support for BJP candidates, went to temple before the mega programme ended. He is understood to have performed the Shodashupchara Shiva Puja. Hours before Modi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi paid a visit to the temple. Irani had come earlier.
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, who was in the temple town to hold a roadshow on Friday, reached the shrine at night to seek blessings. On Wednesday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee arrived in Varanasi and paid a visit to the temple.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath too offered prayers at the temple on the banks of the Ganga. The list also includes Union ministers Anurag Thakur and Ashwani Choubey, and Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami. "These are top VIPs, the temple saw many other central and state ministers and senior civil and police officials drop by as well," the temple management said. (PTI)
The Election Commission will organise an international election visitors programme (IEVP) for foreign poll management bodies in virtual mode on March 7 when Uttar Pradesh votes for the last phase of assembly polls.
The programme constitutes an important part of the EC's international outreach and seeks to familiarise fellow election management bodies (EMBs) with the electoral system and processes adopted in the world's largest democracy.
IEVP 2022 also provides an opportunity to the EC to share best practices and experience of the conduct of the poll process along with the steps taken to ensure compliance of COVID-19 protocols, an EC statement said.
In the ongoing legislative assembly elections in Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, there is a combined electorate of 183.4 million (one million is equal to ten lakhs), one of the largest to vote amid the COVID-19 pandemic. While voting has been completed in Goa, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Manipur, the seventh and last phase of elections in Uttar Pradesh will be held on Monday. (PTI)
BSP supremo Mayawati on Sunday said it is essential to form a strong government that takes cares of all sections of the society.
'Voting on 54 seats in nine districts of Uttar Pradesh will be held in the last phase of polling tomorrow. The neglected people facing poverty and unemployment can work to change their fate and that of the state with the power of their votes. It is necessary to form an 'iron government' of BSP to ensure the welfare and happiness of all,' she said in a tweet in Hindi.
'It is well known that all kinds of lucrative promises and assurances of opposition parties have not been met. Instead of taking care of the people of UP under their governments and bringing in 'good days' (achhe din) as promised, the condition (of people) is continuously deteriorating. Now, it will be wise not to fall for their words,' she added.
Mayawati added that the opposition tried hard to take the assembly polls in their favour by adopting all kinds of tactics, but people of the state aggrieved due to inflation, poverty, unemployment, autocracy of the government and stray cattle menace, are sticking to their basic issues. (PTI)
The police on Sunday ordered a probe against an SHO after a video surfaced on social media in which he purportedly suggests BJP state vice-president Dayashankar Singh would be a cabinet minister in the next government. Singh is contesting the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections from the Ballia Sadar seat.
Additional Superintendent of Police, Ballia, Vijay Tripathi said Deputy Superintendent of Police Bhushan Verma has been ordered to probe the video of Dubhar SHO Raj Kumar Singh, and submit a report at the earliest. "Necessary action will be taken on the basis of the findings of the inquiry," Tripathi said.
In the widely shared video, the SHO can be heard saying, "Sir, I am your SHO." He also extended his "best wishes", suggesting that the BJP leader would be a cabinet minister. The police officer then said he was escorting him for the "first time". Later, the SHO said he was only trying to diffuse the situation as Dayashankar Singh and his supporters had reached the police station and SP workers were arriving too. (PTI)
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday interacted with students who returned to India from Ukraine in Lucknow. He said that 33 new medical colleges and 2 new AIIMS hospitals established in the state. In next one year, there will be a medical college in every district, the CM said.
As the campaign for the last phase of Assembly polls ended in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress on Saturday hit out at the BJP saying it evaded real issues and that its leaders addressed the media as "last-ditch efforts".
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate dubbed the press conferences of Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief J P Nadda as "directionless". She said she is thankful to the people of Uttar Pradesh and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for the "courage" to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Shrinate sought to know from Shah what he would like to say to Asha Singh, whose husband was killed and their daughter raped in Unnao, as the home minister had been lavishing praise on the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh in the last five years.
Top BJP leaders on Saturday exuded confidence that the party will retain power in four states and make impressive gains in Punjab. Addressing a joint press conference here ahead of the final phase of voting in Uttar Pradesh, BJP president JP Nadda and Union
Home Minister Amit Shah said those hoping for any dilution in the party's mandate in the state would be disappointed and it will get a massive majority. "The BJP is set to come back with a firm majority in the states we were in the government - Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur," Nadda said.
Both Shah and Nadda were emphatic in rejecting the possibility of the BJP needing the support of parties outside its alliance to form a government in Uttar Pradesh.
BJP state President Sukanta Majumdar on Saturday claimed the TMC has unleashed an "unofficial emergency" in the state, where working for BJP was 'nothing short of a crime.'
He also alleged the ruling Trinamool Congress and CPI(M) had entered into a 'secret pact' in the recently held civic polls where BJP could not win in any of the 108 municipalities. The ruling TMC reacted to the charges claiming that these were 'wild allegations' made by a party which did not enjoy the confidence of the electorate.
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav Saturday took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying those who were "defaming" the SP's red cap have been "forced by people" to wear a cap, although of a different colour.
Yadav made the comment at an election rally here apparently referring to Prime Minister Modi donning a saffron cap during his roadshow in Varanasi on Friday. This is also being seen as a response to Modi's attack on the Samajwadi Party last December when he had said in Gorakhpur that people with red caps -- the SP's poll symbol -- are "red alert" for Uttar Pradesh.
Yadav said on Saturday, "Those who have been defaming our caps have been forced by the people of Uttar Pradesh to wear a cap. It is another thing that they have changed the colour of their cap." (PTI)
Top BJP leaders on Saturday exuded confidence that the party will retain power in four states and make impressive gains in Punjab. Addressing a joint press conference here ahead of the final phase of voting in Uttar Pradesh, BJP president JP Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah said those hoping for any dilution in the party's mandate in the state would be disappointed and it will get a massive majority. "The BJP is set to come back with a firm majority in the states we were in the government - Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur," Nadda said.
Both Shah and Nadda were emphatic in rejecting the possibility of the BJP needing the support of parties outside its alliance to form a government in Uttar Pradesh. Nadda also dismissed the view that there is a close fight in the state, saying such claims are often made during the polls but the BJP ends up winning a strong majority. (PTI)
There is an American colloquialism that reads ‘when the going gets tough, the tough get going’.
I have always wondered what is ‘tough’. The word has different meanings in different contexts. ‘Tough’ can mean determination; ability to endure hardship; difficult (as in a tough game); or obstinate (as in a tough nut). Tough can also mean a bully or a rough and violent person.
From Liberator to Tough
Usually, a democratically elected leader, loath to step down after long years in power, becomes ‘tough’. Hitler was before I was born. Growing up, I was dismayed to see Jawaharlal Nehru’s close friends turn from liberators into ‘tough’ leaders: Kwame Nkrumah, Josip Broz Tito, Gamal Abdel Nasser and Sukarno. Each one led the liberation struggle in his country, was elected by a popular vote, was admired by the people, but finally became ‘tough’ and buried democracy and his own legacy.
Jawaharlal Nehru was the sole exception among the five signatories of Panchsheel. Every election under his Prime Ministership — 1952, 1957 and 1962 — was a truly democratic election. His election speeches were lessons in democracy. The vast majority of the gathering did not understand English but sensed that he was talking about democracy, secularism, the difficult task of building a nation, eradicating poverty, the role of government and so on. Nehru was a loved leader, he never became ‘tough’. Read more.
Follow this space for the latest updates on the Assembly elections in UP, Goa, Manipur, Punjab and Uttarakhand.
To be Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party in this election can be a boon or a bane. The 58-year-old, the party candidate from Mubarakapur in Azamgarh, wears the fact lightly.
It’s the third time in as many elections that the party has fielded this “much-liked” leader and loyal SP worker from the seat, despite his loss both times (the second time by just 688 votes).
As Yadav arrives on a Thursday afternoon at S P S School in Sonpaar village to campaign, he is welcomed by loudspeakers blaring the SP anthem “Janta pukaarti hai, Akhilesh chahiye (It is the people’s call, they want Akhilesh)”. It is clearly meant for his namesake, but those gathered are as willing to bestow the blessing on their “very own” Akhilesh Yadav. Read more
Manipur on Saturday recorded a voter turnout of 76.04 per cent till 3 pm, according to data put out by the Chief Electoral Officer, Manipur. Chandel recorded 76.71 per cent, Jiribam recorded 75.02 per cent while Thoubal recorded 78 per cent turnout as of 5 pm on Saturday.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday took a swipe at the Modi government over impending fuel price hike after assembly polls and asked people to get their petrol tanks filled as he said the “election offer” will end soon.
He took to Twitter to take a dig at the central government as campaigning for the last phase of assembly polls in five states ended on Saturday. Read more
Polling personnel reach Chandel headquarters as voting comes to end.
Manipur on Saturday recorded a voter turnout of 67.77 per cent till 3 pm, according to data put out by the Chief Electoral Officer, Manipur. Chandel recorded 70.30 per cent, Jiribam recorded 67.80 per cent, Thoubal recorded 67.17 per cent turnout as of 3 pm on Saturday.
BJP national president J P Nadda on Saturday accused the Congress of misleading farmers in the name of loan waiver, and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given Rs 6,000 to farmers every year under the PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme.
"Today many people call themselves farmer leaders, but they did nothing for the community. The Congress has misled the farmers in the name of loan waiver. (On the other hand) Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given Rs 6,000 every year to farmers under PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi," he said at an election meeting. "When the prime minister started the Jan Dhan Yojana, the opposition made fun of it. (SP chief) Akhilesh ji, who was born with a silver spoon, and Rahul (Gandhi) ji asked what will happen with bank accounts for the poor? Today, the money given under the PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi, Prime Minister Awas Yojana and other schemes goes directly into the bank accounts of the poor, and there are no middlemen," he said. --PTI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday described the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls as "pro-incumbency", saying the people themselves are fighting for continuation of the government. Addressing an election rally at Khajuri village in Varanasi, the prime minister said that due to their aversion towards him, "dynasts" were make fun of 'vocal for local' and the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
Even on the Ukraine issue, the opposition is busy doing politics and adding to the people's woes, Modi said. In a swipe at the Congress, he said the party which derived political mileage for years from Khadi now hesitates to even take its name. Modi added that his government has made Khadi and yoga international brands.
Varanasi will vote in the last phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections on March 7. (PTI)
Ahead of the March 10 results of the Goa Assembly polls, Congress leader Michael Lobo met AICC general secretary K C Venugopal in Delhi and discussed likely political scenarios and government formation. A day after Lobo met with Venugopal, Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) chief Girish Chodankar and Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat are visiting senior party leaders in the national capital on Saturday to discuss likely political strategies to be adopted post result, sources said.
"Had fruitful interaction about post-political scenario and Government formation with @INCIndia AICC General Secretary (Org) Shri @kcvenugopalmp ji, AICC Goa I/C. Told him that people of Goa believe in @INCGoa and have voted us to form people-centric Govt," Lobo tweeted after meeting Venugopal. (PTI)
Election for 80 municipal boards comprising 977 wards across Assam will be held on Sunday, State Election Commission (SEC) sources said. Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will be used in the elections, for the first time in the history of civic elections in the state.
As many as 2,532 candidates are in the fray, with BJP fielding maximum number of nominees at 825, followed by Congress with 706 candidates and Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) with 243 candidates, the sources said. The number of eligible voters are 16,73,899, comprising 8,32,348 males, 8,41,534 females and 17 transgenders.
The elections will be conducted in 24 districts of the state, they said. Campaigning for the civic elections had been a high pitched one with parties and candidates going all out to woo the voters. (PTI)
In last 7 years, nationalism has been dominant theme even in panchayat polls, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Varanasi rally on Saturday.
Chandel recorded 48.95 per cent, Jiribam recorded 49 per cent, Thoubal recorded 47.48 per cent as of 1 pm on Saturday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that Uttar Pradesh may not have seen such an election in decades as the government sought votes on its “work, on its honest image, on development without discrimination and favouritism, and on the strength of improved law and order.”
Speaking at a public rally in Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday said, 'Those who live in palaces don't know the troubles that a poor mother goes through in absence of a toilet at home. They have to either think of answering nature's call before sunrise or bear the pain throughout the day and do so only after sunset: PM Narendra Modi in Varanasi.' (ANI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday said that after the results of the on-going elections in UP is announced on March 10, the campaign to provide pucca houses to the poor will intensify. "After March 10, the work of giving gas connections to the poor will be accelerated. After March 10, the work of giving employment will be faster," he said.
Manipur on Saturday recorded a voter turnout of 47.16 per cent till 1 pm, according to data put out by the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO Manipur)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that the Oppositon was indulging in politcs even during the on-going crisis in Ukraine.
"When some challenges crop up before the nation, these dynasts look for their political interest in it. If India's security forces & people fight a crisis, they do everything to make situation more critical. We saw this during pandemic &today during Ukraine crisis," Modi said.
Ahead of the seventh and last phase of the Uttar Pradesh polls, PM Narendra Modi Saturdya said that the people of Uttar Pradesh "don't want 'parivaarwadis'". Speaking in Varanasi, Modi said that BJP will form the government in UP. (ANI)
On the last of campaigning before Uttar Pradesh heads towards the seventh and final leg of a long-drawn election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday is addressing a public rally in Varanasi.
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A CISF jawan died and 11 more were injured when the bus they were travelling in fell into a gorge in the Markundi valley here, police said on Saturday. The bus was taking the jawans from Kushinagar to Obra (in Sonbhadra) on election duty, they said, adding that there were 37 jawans in the vehicle.
Robertsganj police station SHO S N Mishra said, 'A Roadways bus carrying 37 CISF jawans had left for Obra from the Robertsganj area (in Sonbhadra) on Friday night. Around 12.30 am, as the bus reached the Markundi valley under the Chopan police station area, the driver lost control over the vehicle, and it fell into a gorge after breaking the road railing.' The injured jawans were admitted to the district hospital, he said.
The deceased was identified as Krishnabir Singh (45) of Ghaziabad. His body has been sent for a post-mortem examination, Mishra said. Among those injured, M M Beg and T Balakrishnan have been sent to Varanasi for treatment, he added. (PTI)
Addressing a rally in Malhani, Uttar Pradesh, Home Minister Amit Shah Saturday said that "Pakistan killed our soldiers during Sonia-Manmohan govt that ran with the support of SP. This time Pakistan forgot that there's BJP govt and attacked in Uri & Pulwama but we carried out airstrikes in Pak's territory within 10 days." (ANI)
Violence erupted in some places of Manipur hours before the second phase of assembly polls began on Saturday, as a BJP supporter was gunned down allegedly by a Congress worker, while a crude bomb exploded outside the residence of an expelled saffron party leader, police said. L Amuba Singh, 25, succumbed to bullet injuries early on Saturday at a hospital here, a police officer said.
Singh, along with other BJP activists, had gone to the residence of the Congress worker in the early hours in Thoubal district to tell him to stop campaigning as the stipulated time for it was over, the officer said. During an altercation over the issue, he allegedly fired at Singh, who was first taken to a hospital in the district and later referred to another health facility in Imphal, the officer said.
The Congress activist, who is yet to be arrested, was also injured after the visiting BJP workers hurled stones at him when Singh was shot, he added. (PTI)
Addressing a rally at the Malhani constituency, Home Minister Amit Shah Saturday said that while the Samjavadi Party and Bahujan Sanjadvadi Party spoke for the poor, it was the BJP that have worked for the poor. "Modi ji and Yogi ji have worked to strengthen the poor. Work has been done to connect the entire Parwanchal with the road. The BJP government has done the work of weaving the entire Uttar Pradesh Expressway," he said.
Home Minister Amit Shah Saturday said that the over the last five years, the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh had worked towards eliminating criminals from politcs, and reducing the crime rate in the state.
"Today, there has been a significant reduction in crimes in Uttar Pradesh as compared to earlier. We have started the journey to make Uttar Pradesh a crime free state," he said at a rally in Malhani in UP.
On the last day of campaigning, ahead of the final phase of elections in Uttar Pradesh, Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday is addressing a public rally in the Malhani constituency (Jaunpur) in Uttar Pradesh.
Here's where you can watch the speech live:
She may shy away from talking about politics, but mention the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), and Ukhrul’s Sopem Soyarpem Shangchiri has a thing or two to say. “It’s simple. AFSPA must go,” says the 24-year-old. “We have lost far too many innocent lives.” Like Sopem, everyone in Ukhrul, the Tangkhul Naga heartland of Manipur, has a similar view on the controversial AFSPA, which gives sweeping powers to the armed forces to maintain law and order in ‘disturbed areas’.
While its repeal has long been a demand across the Northeast, it got a renewed push last December, after the death of 14 Naga civilians in a botched-up security ambush in Oting, Nagaland. Its ripples were felt in Manipur too, home to a large population of Nagas. Three days after the incident, hundreds took to the street in Ukhrul’s Kranti chowk. Read the full story by Tora Agarwala , Jimmy Leivon
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday said that once elected to power, the BJP would provide free travel to women above the age of 60, along with free water supply for irrigation and farming. Adityanath was speaking at a rally in Sonbhadra (ANI)
The Election Commission has suspended an official deployed as a zonal magistrate for elections in the Kairana Assembly constituency in Uttar Pradesh for negligence in duty, officials said on Saturday. Voting for the Kairana Assembly seat in Shamli district was held on February 10 in the first phase of the Uttar Pradesh elections.
On the directives of the Election Commission, Assistant Commissioner of Commercial Taxes Narender Pratap Singh, who was deputed as zonal magistrate in the Kairana constituency, has been suspended, Shamli District Magistrate Jasjit Kaur said. The district authorities had recommended action against the official based on a complaint stating EVM machines were found unattended in his vehicle after polling in the constituency.
The complaint was lodged by the Samajwadi Party. A policeman and a home guard have already suspended in this connection. (PTI)
Chandel recorded 28.24 per cent, Jiribam recorded 32.68 per cent, Thoubal recorded 29.55 per cent as of 11 am. Here are the polling percentage till 11 am in six districts of Manipur.
Manipur on Saturday recorded a voter turnout of 28.19 per cent till 11 am, according to data put out by the Chief Electoral Officer, Manipur.
Former chief minister and Congress leader O Ibobi Singh on Saturday said, "Congress will definitely win with an absolute majority, but in case we fall short by one or two seats, the party is open for a coalition." He is contesting from the Thoubal district.
Two people were killed in separate incidents of poll related violence as voting is underway in the last phase of polling in Manipur. The first incident took place in Thoubal district and the second in Senapati district.
The electoral fate of 92 candidates will be decided on Saturday, including 12 from the BJP, followed by Congress (18), National People's Party (11), Janata Dal (United) and Naga People's Front (10 each).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday arrived at Raman Niwas in Mahmoorganj, Varanasi to participate in 'Prabudh Sammelan'. (ANI)
Unidentified miscreants lobbed a crude bomb at the residence of expelled BJP leader Ch Bijoy in Lamphel area in Manipur's Imphal West district, police said. The incident took place on Friday night, hours before the second phase of the assembly elections was to begin, they said.
Nobody was injured in the blast triggered by two masked persons, who came in a two-wheeler, a police officer said. Bijoy, who was expelled from the saffron party last month for six years on disciplinary grounds, told reporters, "The attack might be a threat to make me politically silent." Further investigation is underway, police said.
Polling for the second and last phase of assembly elections in Manipur began at 7 am on Saturday in 22 constituencies across six districts. (PTI)
Meanwhile, as Uttar Pradesh headed towards the seventh and final leg of a long-drawn election, leaders of three of the principal contenders — BJP leader and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and the Congress’s Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra — led separate rallies and roadshows in a final burst of campaigning. Read more
Manipur on Saturday recorded a voter turnout of 11.4 per cent till 9 am, according to data put out by the Election Commission of India.
The BJP candidate from Heirok assembly constituency Radheshyam Singh on Saturday cast his vote at a polling booth in Manipur and said that he was confident of winning the election by a minimum of 5,000 votes. "Polls will decide future of Manipur. I'll win by a margin of at least 5000 votes," Singh said, ANI reported.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday urged voters in Manipur to go out and vote in large numbers.
"Today is the second phase of the Manipur Assembly elections. Calling upon all those whose constituencies are polling today to vote in large numbers and mark the festival of democracy," he tweeted.
The polling for the second and last phase of the Manipur Assembly Elections began on Saturday at 7 am. Voters stand in queues following Covid-19 protocols and while maintaining social distancing to cast their vote at a polling booth in Jiribam in Manipur.
(Picture Courtesy: Chief Electoral Officer, Manipur/Twitter/@ANI)
In May 2017, just two months after he became chief minister, N Biren Singh inaugurated the five-day-long ‘Shirui Lily Festival’ in Manipur’s Ukhrul district. On the face of it, the festival was dedicated to conserving a rare, endangered flower. But in the Tangkhul Naga hills of Ukhrul, it meant much more. “For the first time, there were so many Meiteis from the valley here in Ukhrul,” says R Kasar, a local. “In my 20 years as a reporter, I don’t think I saw something quite like this,” says a journalist, who lives in Ukhrul town.
Relationship between the Imphal valley, the seat of government in the state, and Manipur’s tribal hill areas has always been strained. The hills lag on various development parameters, and blame it on years of neglect by the state. Read more
Manipur Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Rajesh Agarwal on Friday said that the state government had not violated the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) by releasing stipend to militant groups that have declared Suspension of Operations (SoO). Since the beneficiaries were already identified and approved before the announcement of election and enforcement of the MCC, there is no violation of MCC in connection with the Manipur assembly elections, a CEO release said.
The development came after senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh alleged that the state government had released Rs 15.70 crore to banned militant groups under SoO on February 1 and an additional Rs 92.65 lakh on March 1 to "influence voting" in Churachandpur, Kangpokpi, Tengnoupal and Chandel districts. The CEO had on Thursday sought reports from the Home and Finance departments of the state government on the allegation. (PTI)
The Manipur High Court Friday directed that all voters in the vicinity of 18 years in Heirok constituency of Thoubal district will have to produce two separate documents of proof of date of birth at the polling station. Separate verification counters will be set up in all polling stations in that constituency so that no inconvenience is caused to other voters.
Former Manipur Chief Minister and Congress leader Okram Ibobi Singh cast his vote at a polling booth on Saturday. Singh is contesting from the Thoubal assembly constituency. There was a brief delay while he cast his vote.
"They said that there is some technical error," Singh said, as reported by ANI.