© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Former Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister Dara Singh Chauhan, who quit the party on Thursday, joined the Samajwadi Party on Sunday. Chauhan, a resident of Azamgarh, is the sitting MLA from Madhuban Assembly seat in Mau district, and held the Forest and Environment portfolio in the state. He was the second minister to resign from the state cabinet after Maurya tendered his resignation on Tuesday.
FIR lodged against Bhupesh Baghel, SP candidate, BJP MLA for flouting Covid norms
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, a Samajwadi MLA candidate and a BJP legislator were booked by the Uttar Pradesh police for allegedly violating Covid protocols during separate events ahead of the elections in the state. An FIR was lodged against Baghel for not complying with Covid protocols during a door-to-door campaign for a Congress candidate in Noida. As per party officials, the CM was holding a door-to-door campaign along with Pankhuri Pathak, the Congress candidate from Noida constituency. According to police, the FIR has been filed against Baghel and others under sections 269 (acts spreading disease), 270 (spread of disease), 188 (disobedience of public order) and relevant sections of the Epidemic Act, in the police station at Noida’s Sector 113.
Meanwhile, the police in Agra booked a Samajwadi Party MLA candidate and at least 40 others on charges of violating Covid-19 protocol, PTI reported quoting officials on Sunday. Madhusudhan Sharma, the SP candidate from Bah Assembly constituency, along with his supporters, had performed a ‘puja’ at Bateshwar Temple on Friday after winning the election ticket, they said.
BJP legislator of Uttar Pradesh’s Purqazi Assembly constituency Pramod Utwal and his 27 supporters were booked after a video emerged on social media, purportedly showing the distribution of ‘khichdi’ at his public meeting in Meghna Chandan village.
BKU national president Naresh Tikait extends support to SP-RLD alliance
BKU national president Naresh Tikait extended his support to SP-RLD candidates in the upcoming elections. The alliance of the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and Samajwadi Party (SP) had on Saturday announced its second list of seven candidates for the assembly elections. All candidates were members of the Jayant Chaudhary-led RLD, according to the list shared by the party on social media. The alliance fielded Rajpal Baliyan from Budhana and Chandan Chauhan from Meerapur, both in Muzaffarnagar district, and Ashraf Ali from Thana Bhawan in Shamli. “I hope people of the state will support the candidates of this coalition,” Tikait was quoted as saying by PTI.
A Samajwadi Party worker allegedly tried to immolate himself outside the party office in Lucknow claiming he was denied a ticket to contest the UP polls. “I have worked for the party in constituency 74 of Aligarh in the last 5 years. I want justice,” Thakur Aditya, SP worker, was quoted as saying by ANI.
After BJP snub, JD(U) to fight UP polls alone
Having failed to seal a poll deal with the BJP, the Janata Dal (United) has decided to contest the Uttar Pradesh polls alone. The party said its leaders will now meet in Lucknow on January 18 to take a call on its candidates. “We waited till last moments for alliance with BJP,” JD (U) national spokesperson KC Tyagi told The Indian Express. “Our party colleague and Union minister RCP Singh had been in talks with top BJP leaders. But it did not work out. We have now decided to go it all alone in UP.”
The JD(U) had submitted to the BJP a list of 31 candidates as a proposal to fight the polls jointly, but said the ruling party had not responded to the offer. Tyagi said although the JD(U) was not adamant on contesting on a specific number of seats, it did not get any “concrete word” from BJP.
Recently, while releasing its first list of candidates, the BJP, which has an alliance with the JD(U) in neighbouring Bihar, had not named the party as its partner for the UP polls. Tyagi, however, said the decision to go alone in UP will not affect the alliance between the two parties in Bihar.
