Elections 2022 HIGHLIGHTS: Campaigning Ends For Goa, Uttarakhand, Second Phase Of UP Polls
Elections 2022 Voting HIGHLIGHTS: Follow this space for all the latest updates pertaining to the elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa
"BJP president JP Nadda will soon visit the state & release the party manifesto for the State Assembly election. PM Modi will also visit the state however the schedule is not confirmed yet": Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on the launch of BJP Creative Campaign, ANI reported
New Delhi [India], February 12 (ANI): The stage is set for Assembly elections in Goa and Uttarakhand as campaigning in both the states came to an end on Saturday. Both the states will go to Assembly polls in a single phase on February 14 and the counting of votes will take place on March 10.
Both the states witnessed heated political turbulence as leaders from various political parties pitched in favour of their respective parties to the voters.
In Goa which has 40 Assembly seats, the state's election observer and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram addressed a press conference along with AICC Incharge Dinesh Gundu Rao. He highlighted the works carried out by the Congress party for the people of the state and slammed the Opposition parties for hampering the welfare of the people in the state.
Goa Pradesh Congress Committee President Girish Chodankar also posted a video message for voters in Goa and lauded the Congress party for their works. Similarly, a press conference was addressed by BJP National General Secretary and Goa Desk Incharge CT Ravi.
Several candidates of BJP, Congress and Trinamool Congress along with other political parties posted a video message and highlighted the developmental works carried out by them in the constituencies.
Similarly, campaigning came to an end today for the 70 Assembly seats of Uttarakhand going to polls on February 14 with a host of star campaigners, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, holding a series of rallies in support of their party candidates.
Electioneering, which drew to a close at 6 pm in accordance with the Election Commission of India's (EC) guidelines, was affected for the most part by COVID-19 restrictions, including a ban on physical rallies, forcing the political parties to resort to virtual rallies and scaled-down door-to-door campaigns.
In Uttarakhand, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath's who hails from Uttarakhand addressed a gathering in Tehri Vidhan Sabha. PM Modi also addressed a huge public meeting in Rudrapur, Uttarakhand today. Union Minister Amit Shah addressed rally in Raipur Vidhan Sabha as well.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday alleged that the policies are being made just for two industrialists who are friends of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Addressing the 'Uttarakhandi Swabhiman' rally in Khatima, the Congress leader slammed the Central government for making the budget that offers nothing for the poor, farmers, middle class, small and medium businessmen. (ANI)
The Election Commission further relaxes the provisions of campaigning for Assembly Elections 2022
Political parties/candidates may campaign from 6 am to 10 pm following all extant instructions, reads the official statement. Political parties/candidates may campaign with a maximum of 50% of the capacity of the designated open spaces or the limit prescribed by SDMA, whichever is less. Pad Yatra with a limited number of persons as per limitations of SDMA allowed, the official statement further added.
Panaji, Feb 12 (PTI) The BJP rebel and son of the former chief minister the late Manohar Parrikar, local heavyweight Atanasio Monserrate of BJP, AAP's former chief ministerial candidate for Goa now contesting on a Congress ticket, and an AAP nominee trying his luck for the third time all are in the fray from Panaji constituency, making it one of the capital contests as Goa votes on Monday.
The ruling BJP has fielded its sitting MLA Monserrate, a former Congressman who had defeated the saffron party candidate in 2019 but joined the BJP in 2020.
Opposing him is Utpal Parrikar, the son of the late chief minister and BJP stalwart Manohar Parrikar. Upset over being denied a ticket by the BJP, the Parrikar junior is making his electoral debut as an independent candidate.
In an interview with PTI earlier this week, Utpal pointed to the criminal cases registered against his main rival and said that he wanted the party (BJP) to give a clean candidate.
Utpal said that no work had taken place in two years in Panaji which has become a family affair Monserrate's wife Jeniffer is an MLA from neighbouring Taliegao and their son is the mayor of Panaji.
"Panaji finds itself languishing and risks moving towards a dystopian city," he said. The state's capital battles with parking problems, a major issue faced by every growing urban centre of the country, he said.
Panaji loses out on this, he added.
Panaji should have got its free share of jobs. My voice would make the state's examination process for recruitment becomes fair. My trust would also make Panaji more investor-friendly so even the private sector jobs can be generated here, Utpal said.
Despite several attempts, Monserrate was unavailable for comment.
The Congress has fielded Elvis Gomes. A former bureaucrat, Gomes was Aam Aadmi Party's chief ministerial candidate in 2017, but later fell out with his party and joined the Congress.
On the other hand, the AAP has fielded Valmiki Naik for the third time from the seat in 2017, 2019 bypoll and now in 2022.
Like Utpal, Naik too pointed out the deteriorating living conditions in Panaji.
He said if elected he would focus on employment in the Panaji constituency and organise ward sabhas that can enable citizens to solve their issues in the presence of the MLA and officials.
Panaji has been slipping in the Ease of Living Index. I want to bring in the top 10 cities in the country in the first five years and number one in the next term, Valmiki told PTI.
Also in the fray is Rajesh Redkar (50) from the Revolutionary Goans Party (RGP).
According to the Election Commission data, Panaji has 22,408 registered voters 10,531 male and 11,877 female.
The constituency houses the Goa Secretariat, offices of all major departments, the Chief minister's residence, and consulates. A large part of the constituency has commercial areas.
But its living conditions are deteriorating, alleged Opposition candidates.
Since 2012, Panaji has seen five MLAs.
After Manohar Parrikar vacated the seat in 2014 to join the Union Cabinet, Sidharth Kuncalienker won the seat in a bypoll.
He won the seat again in the 2017 Assembly polls but vacated it for Manohar Parrikar who returned to the state as the chief minister.
In 2019, following the death of Manohar Parrikar, Atanasio Monserrat won the polls on a Congress ticket.
BJP releases a list of 9 candidates for Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. Kalicharan Rajbhar to contest from Zahoorabad constituency against Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party chief Omprakash Rajbhar.
New Delhi, Feb 12 (PTI) Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Saturday attacked Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami over his remarks that the BJP will constitute a committee to prepare a draft Uniform Civil Code if re-elected, saying this shows the BJP is losing the polls in the hill state and he needs some legal advice.
Sibal asked Dhami not to "embarrass" his party and himself by making such announcements.
In a video statement, Dhami said the BJP, if re-elected to power in Uttarakhand, will constitute a committee to prepare a draft Uniform Civil Code soon after its new government is sworn in.
The panel will comprise legal experts, retired people, intellectuals and other stakeholders, the chief minister announced on the last day of campaigning for the 70 assembly seats in the state going to polls on February 14.
Reacting to the remarks, Sibal tweeted, "Pushkar S Dhami, Please don't embarrass your party and yourself when you make announcements about implementing the Uniform Civil Code in Uttarakhand if BJP comes to power."
"This shows your party is losing in Uttarakhand and that You need some legal advice," the former Union minister said.
Noida, Feb 12 (PTI) Among the candidates in the fray in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections' second phase, 114 are educated up to Class 8 while 12 have declared themselves to be "illiterate", according to an analysis report.
There are also 102 'post graduate' candidates and six with Ph.D in the fray, stated the report by polls reforms advocacy groups Uttar Pradesh Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
Voting is scheduled for February 14 on 55 assembly seats spanning nine districts of Amroha, Bareilly, Bijnor, Budaun, Moradabad, Rampur, Saharanpur, Sambhal and Shahjahanpur in western Uttar Pradesh.
The report is based on the analysis of self-sworn affidavits of 584 candidates out of 586 who are contesting the second phase elections, it stated.
Affidavits of two candidates could not be analysed because they were either badly scanned or incomplete,the report said.
According to the analysis, 12 candidates are 'illiterate', 67 'literate', 12 have passed Class 5 and 35 have passed Class 8 while 58 have cleared Class 10 and 88 have cleared Class 12.
There are 108 'graduate' candidates, 89 'graduate professionals', 102 'post graduate', six 'doctorate', five 'diploma' holders in the fray while two contestants have not presented their education details, it noted.
In terms of age, 56 candidates are between 25-30 years, 150 between 31-40 years, 179 between 41-50 years, 130 between 51-60 years, 62 between 61-70 years, six between 71-80 years and one contestant is aged between 81-90 years, according to the report.
Of the analysed candidates in the second phase, 515 (88.2 per cent) are men and 69 (11.8 per cent) are women, the report noted.
The elections in Uttar Pradesh are being held in seven phases. Election results will be announced on March 10.
Akhilesh Yadav, who is challenging the Yogi government in UP, will also hold public meetings at three places today. Akhilesh has a campaign program for two seats in Badaun and one seat in Shahjahanpur.
In Uttar Pradesh, on February 14, the second phase of voting is to be held on 55 seats, in view of which the noise of the election campaign will stop today i.e. at 5 pm on Saturday. Apart from UP, elections are also going to be held in Uttarakhand and Goa. Today, on the last day, all the veterans will put their weight into the campaign. In the campaigning leaders, all the political leaders will address election rallies in favor of their respective candidates.
Background
Elections 2022 HIGHLIGHTS: Hello and welcome to ABP Live for our LIVE coverage on the ongoing elections!
Union Home Minister Amit Shah will campaign in Uttarakhand today. Amit Shah will hold rallies at three places in Uttarakhand-- Dhanaulti, Sahaspur, and Raipur. In Haridwar, he will participate in a door-to-door campaign.
Ahead of the February 14 Uttarakhand election, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will also address three rallies in the hill state's Khatima, Haldwani, and Srinagar.
The first rally in Khatima is in the home constituency of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, who is again contesting from the seat, and she will set try to set the tone for her party which is trying to unseat the BJP.
The Congress has fielded former Chief Minister Harish Rawat from the adjacent Lal Kuan constituency.
The Saturday campaign is basically focused in the Kumaon region, which was a stronghold of Congress due to ND Tiwari and Indira Hridyesh both now deceased.
Uttarakhand will vote on February 14 for the 70-member assembly, in which the Bharatiya Janata Party currently has 57 MLAs at present.
Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief JP Nadda will hold four election rallies in Punjab today.
JP Nadda will address a rally at Balachaur at 11:15 am. Following this, he will hold rallies in Ropar at 12:45 pm, in Rajpura at 03:15 pm and in Ghanor at 04:45 pm.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar will also hold election campaigns in Punjab on Saturday. ML Khattar will hold public rallies at Gill, Jagraon, and Kapurthala. Union Minister General VK Singh will also address three public meetings in the state. His public meetings will be in Amritsar North, Amritsar East and Baba Bakla.
Punjab will go to the polls on February 20 and the counting of votes will take place on March 10.
The second-phase polling for the Uttar Pradesh assembly election is slated to be held on February 14. Following this, polling for the UP election will take place on February 20, 23, 27 and March 3 and 7.
The counting of votes for all five poll-bound states is scheduled for March 10.
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