Elections 2022 HIGHLIGHTS: Father-Son Duo Of Azam Khan, Abdullah Azam To Fight In 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
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Citing significant improvement in the COVID-19 situation, the Election Commission on Saturday further relaxed pandemic-induced restrictions on the assembly poll campaign in five states, allowing padayatras with a limited number of people and increasing the number of hours campaigning can take place in a day.
According to the poll panel, election campaign can now be conducted between 6 am and 10 pm instead of earlier 8 am to 8 pm, following all Covid-appropriate behaviour and protocols of state disaster management authorities.
This will give candidates and parties four more hours to campaign in a day.
According to an EC statement, political parties and candidates can campaign with a maximum of 50 per cent of the capacity of the designated open spaces or the limit prescribed by state disaster management authorities, whichever is less.
So far the limit for such outdoor events such as meetings and rallies was 30 per cent of the open space or ground capacity.
On padayatra, the EC said such a gathering cannot consist of more people than the number permitted by state disaster management authorities. Prior permission of district authorities will be needed.
Meanwhile, campaigning came to an end on Saturday for the single-day election in Uttarakhand and Goa, two states known for political volatility where the BJP is attempting to retain power, and for the second phase of assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh on February 14.
While the BJP leaders have been asking voters to again go for a "double-engine government", a reference to the same party being in power at the Centre and in the state, to ensure development, opposition parties like the Congress and the AAP have been targeting the saffron party on issues like price rise, farmers' protest and alleged divisive agenda.
Polling is scheduled to be held on all the 70 Assembly seats in Uttarakhand and 40 constituencies in Goa, besides 55 seats in Uttar Pradesh, on Monday.
Before the start of the silence period, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami promised to bring the Uniform Civil Code in the state if the BJP is voted to power, bringing into spotlight the controversial issue yet again.
The issue of not allowing Hijab in Karnataka schools and colleges has also been raised by parties with protests being held in several states.
In the second phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh, as many as 586 candidates are in the fray. The prominent faces include senior Samajwadi Party leader Mohammad Azam Khan, who has been fielded from his stronghold Rampur seat, and several state ministers. Khan's son Abdullah Azam has been fielded from the Swar seat.
Notably, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has arrived in Punjab for his election tour scheduled to go on till February 18.
Arvind Kejriwal will be campaigning for AAP candidates in various parts of the state including Amritsar, Jalandhar, and Mohali from Sunday till February 18.
Besides Arvind Kejriwal, Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be campaigning for the NDA alliance in Punjab. On the other hand, Priyanka Gandhi will lead the Congress campaign by holding rallies in the state today.
Punjab will go to the polls on February 20. The counting of votes for all five poll-bound states is scheduled for March 10.
Father-son duo of Azam Khan, Abdullah Azam to fight in second phase of UP polls
Rampur (ANI): With just hours to go for the second phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, some key constituencies are likely to throw interesting electoral battles.
While Samajwadi Party's Azam Khan will fight against Congress's Nawab Kazim Ali Khan in Rampur, his son Abdullah Azam (also an SP candidate) and Haider Ali Khan will contest from Suar constituency. Nawab Kazim Ali Khan and Haider Ali Khan will contest on Congress and Apna Dal tickets respectively.
In Rampur, Akash Saxena is contesting as a BJP candidate against Azam and Kazim. In the past, Kazim won from Suar twice, first in 2007 as an SP candidate and in 2012 as a Congress candidate. Azam Khan has been languishing in jail since February 2020 and is facing nearly 100 criminal cases.
When asked about the clash, Kazim told ANI, "Samajwadi party is on a decline and will face the same fate as BSP. Azam is trying to cling on everything right now. I am occupied in Rampur. I don't know what is happening in Suar. People will decide the fate."
Azam Khan has won the Rampur assembly seat nine times since 1980. In 2019, he won the Rampur Lok Sabha seat while his wife contested in the assembly bypoll in 2019. Kazim's parents won the Rampur Lok Sabha seat seven times as Congress candidates.
His mother Begum Noor Bano won this seat twice in the 1990s. His father Syed Zulfikar Ali Khan won the Rampur Lok Sabha seat five times from the 1960s to the 1980s. Kazim is directly challenging Azam Khan for the first time.
The second phase of the seven-phased Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections will take place tomorrow that will seal the fate of 586 candidates on 55 Assembly seats. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.
Congress forms pre-poll alliance with 'like-minded parties' in Manipur to defeat BJP: State Congress Committee
New Delhi [India], February 13 (ANI): Congress has made a pre-poll alliance with the parties having a similar ideology, principles, and motto of democracy that should prevail in the upcoming assembly elections, Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee informed on Sunday.
Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee Vice President, Kh Devabrata Singh, in an exclusive interview with ANI, said that Congress has gone for a pre-poll alliance with five parties - CPI, CPM, Forward Block, RSP, and JD(S).
The alliance is named Progressive Secular Alliance(MPSA) to fight this year's assembly polls." "We are contesting elections on 54 seats out of a total of 60 assembly constituencies in the state. The six assembly constituencies have been left to the benefit of the alliance. All five political parties have a footprint in our vote bank. They are volunteering that they will campaign for Congress party," said Singh.
He added that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra public meeting is tentatively scheduled on February 15 and Rahul Gandhi for sure visiting the state on February 21 for the election campaign.
When he was questioned about BJP is campaigning more aggressively than Congress in Manipur, he said that BJP and its allies are going against the constitution, and rule of law is completely lost here.
"They spreading propaganda and they are not going to win. People who have fear of losing their campaign more aggressively," he said.
He was further questioned on BJP taking credit for restoring peace in the state and getting it free from regular strikes or blockades. He said that this argument is baseless as Congress ruled for 15 years till 2017. During the time the atmosphere here was not exclusive to Manipur.
The issues then were completely different from today. "We have always brought peace to the state. We have settled interstate issues and law and order.
N Biren Singh, Chief Minister of Manipur was with us (Congress) till July 2016. He was part of the team that brought peace to the state that's why I am questioning him please be honest with the claim. He is claiming to make happy the BJP bosses," the Singh said.
The Congress leader highlighted that BJP is losing credibility among people. "Because of false claims, BJP is losing credibility among people. During the by-elections in five assembly seats, there was a grave issue of Government machinery to win. We cannot equally break the law as we are law-abiding citizens and we love peace," he added.
"We follow the principles of Gandhi, we cannot behave like them we behave responsibly that is why they are campaigning aggressively. Rahul Ji and Priyanka Ji and all congresspeople are following all SOP by ECI but everyone in BJP is breaking the law," said Singh.
The first phase of Assembly elections in Manipur will take place on February 28 and the second phase of polling is now scheduled to be held on March 5. The results will be declared on March 10. (ANI)
BSP announces candidates on 47 seats for seventh phase of UP polls
Lucknow, Feb 13 (PTI) The BSP released a list of 47 candidates on Sunday for the seventh phase of the ongoing Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.
The list includes candidates for the constituencies of Azamgarh, Mau, Jaunpur, Ghazipur, Chandauli, Varanasi, Bhadohi, Mirzapur and Sonbhadra districts.
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has attempted to strike a fine caste balance in its list of candidates.
The Mayawati-led party has fielded its state president Bhim Rajbhar against mafia-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, who is presently lodged in the Banda jail, from Mau.
Five-time MLA Ansari won the 2017 Assembly election from Mau on a BSP ticket.
The BSP had won four seats in Azamgarh district five years ago but this time, it has re-nominated only Azad Arimardan from the Lalganj reserved seat.
Sukhdev Rajbhar, who won from the Didarganj constituency in Azamgarh in 2017, died last year, while Shah Alam alias Guddu Jamali, who won from Mubarakpur, quit the party subsequently. Vandana Singh, who won the 2017 polls on a BSP ticket from Sagdi, is in the fray from the BJP this time.
The BSP has fielded Shankar Yadav from Sagadi, Abdusalam from Mubarakpur and Bhupendra Singh alias Munna from Didarganj.
In the Zahoorabad seat in Ghazipur district, the BSP has nominated former Uttar Pradesh minister (during the SP regime) Syeda Shadab Fatima against Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) president Omprakash Rajbhar. Fatima, who was in the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) of Shivpal Yadav, joined the BSP recently.
In Varanasi's Shivpur constituency, the BSP has nominated Ravi Maurya against state minister and BJP candidate Anil Rajbhar.
Polling is scheduled to be held in 54 Assembly constituencies in nine districts of Uttar Pradesh in the seventh phase of the ongoing election on March 7.
Punjab Polls: By pressing 'Jhadu' button you can change states's future, Kejriwal seeks votes for AAP
Amritsar (ANI): Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National Convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who conducted 'Nukkad Sabhas' with party's Chief Ministerial candidate Bhagwant Mann in Amritsar on Sunday sought votes for his party, telling the voters that by pressing the 'Jhadhu' (broom) button on the electronic voting machine (EVM) they can change the state's future.
While addressing a gathering in Amritsar East, Kejriwal said, "Voting is on 20th, if you press the 'Jhadu' button then Punjab will get freedom from two people, this is the most important seat. Everyone has to work hard. This time Congress and Akali Dal have to be swept clean.
By pressing the Jhadu, you can change the future of Punjab.'' Kejriwal sought votes in support of his candidates in four assembly constituencies of Amritsar. He campaigned with candidate Kuwanr Vijay Pratap in Amritsar North, Dr Ajay Gupta in Amritsar Central, Jeevanjot Kaur in Amritsar East, and Inderbir Nizzar in Amritsar South. Mann was also present during this entire campaign.
During this event, the AAP Convenor greeted the public and appealed to them to vote in support of the party candidates. Kejriwal said, ''On February 20, Punjab will go to the polls. Everyone has to go and cast their vote. Every vote of yours should be cast for the AAP's Jhaadu Button. The election is now only four days away. During these four days, full emphasis must be placed on Sardar Bhagwant Mann becoming Punjab's Chief Minister.''
In Amritsar East, Navjot Singh Sidhu is contesting from Congress Party and Vikram Singh Majithia from Akali Dal. Showing someone's lost violet in his hand during the campaign, Bhagwant Mann said, ''this is the difference between the other parties and us. They cut people's wallets and we return their lost wallets to them.''
Punjab will go to the Assembly polls on February 20 and the counting of votes will take place on March 10. In the 2017 Assembly polls in the state, the Congress had won an absolute majority by winning 77 seats and ousted the SAD-BJP government which had been in power for 10 years.
Punjab Polls: Amit Shah in Amritsar
#PunajbAssemblyPolls | I offered prayers at Valmiki temple & prayed that religious conversion may not take place here under NDA-led government: Union Home Minister & senior BJP leader Amit Shah in Amritsar pic.twitter.com/0UhDKQSdWL
— ANI (@ANI) February 13, 2022
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