Elections 2022: Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, two states witnessing multi-cornered contests, are set to go to the polls on Sunday.
Polling will take place for all 117 Assembly seats in Punjab while in Uttar Pradesh it is for 59 seats. In UP, elections are being held in seven phases, the third of which will be held on Sunday.
Campaigning for the Sunday polls had ended on Friday wherein senior leaders of the parties made their final efforts to woo voters.
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Punjab Election 2022
According to the election authorities, the voting in Punjab will begin from 8 am and go on till 6 pm, news agency PTI reported.
In Punjab, over 2.14 crore electors will decide the fate of 1,304 candidates in the fray including 93 women.
Interestingly, this time, the state is witnessing a multi-cornered contest. Congress, AAP, SAD-BSP alliance, BJP-PLC-SAD (Sanyukt) alliance, and Sanyukt Samaj Morcha, a political front of various farmer bodies, have emerged as popular options for the voters to choose from.
The ruling Congress has been under severe attack from the opposition over various issues, including drug menace, employment, and corruption.
Congress is seeking votes based on decisions that were taken during incumbent CM Charanjit Singh Channi's 111-day tenure. These include decisions like reduction in electricity tariff and fuel prices.
Aam Aadmi Party has once again emerged as a major contender. It is eyeing to dethrone Congress, promising to bring the Delhi model of governance to Punjab if voted to power.
Shiromani Akali Dal, contesting in alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), is looking to return to power after facing a crushing defeat in 2017.
BJP, which had been a junior partner during its previous alliance with SAD, is fighting the elections as a major partner. The party forged an alliance with Amarinder Singh-led Punjab Lok Congress and Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa-led SAD (Sanyukt). The saffron party has urged voters to go for a "double-engine government" for "Nawa" (new) Punjab.
The Sanyukt Samaj Morcha, comprising various Punjab farmer bodies, is contesting the polls in alliance with Haryana Bharatiya Kisan Union (Chaduni) leader Gurnam Singh Chaduni-led Sanyukt Sangharsh Party.
Prominent Faces In Fray
The prominent candidates who are in the fray include Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, AAP's chief ministerial face Bhagwant Mann, Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, former CMs Amarinder Singh, and Parkash Singh Badal, and Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal.
Besides them, former chief minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Punjab BJP chief Ashwani Sharma, Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia and former Union minister Vijay Sampla are also contesting in the election.
Poll Promises
To woo voters, all major political parties have come up with several major promises. AAP committed to giving Rs 1,000 for all women, while Congress has also promised Rs 1,100 per month for needy women.
The SAD-BSP alliance has promised Rs 2,000 per month to all women heads of blue cardholder families (BPL beneficiaries).
Both Congress and the SAD-BSP alliance have promised one lakh government jobs.
SAD-BSP promised 75% reservation for the youth in public and private sectors. The BJP-led alliance made a similar promise, however, only for the government sector.
AAP has also promised up to 300 units of free power while the SAD-BSP promised 400 units of free electricity.
The high-pitched campaigning in Punjab involved several prominent names such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union minister Smriti Irani, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal.
In the 2017 Punjab Assembly Election, Congress had ended the SAD-BJP alliance's 10-year-regime by securing 77 seats. AAP managed to get 20 seats while the SAD-BJP had won 18 and two seats went into the kitty of the Lok Insaaf Party.
The state government has declared a paid holiday for employees working in shops, commercial establishments, and factories on Sunday.
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Uttar Pradesh Elections 2022 - Phase 3
In Uttar Pradesh, voting will be held for 59 constituencies spread across 16 districts. As many as 627 candidates are in the fray in the third phase where over 2.15 crore people are eligible to vote.
Here, the polling will take place between 7 am and 6 pm.
Districts that will witness polling include Hathras, Firozabad, Etah, Kasganj, Mainpuri, Farrukhabad, Kannauj, Etawah, Auraiya, Kanpur Dehat, Kanpur Nagar, Jalaun, Jhansi, Lalitpur, Hamirpur, and Mahoba.
The voting on Sunday will seal the fate of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav contesting from the Karhal assembly seat. BJP's challenger from the seat is Union minister SP Singh Baghel.
Akhilesh Yadav's uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav, contesting from his traditional Jaswantnagar seat, is also in the fray in this phase.
SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav and all members of his family are slated to cast their votes at booth number 239 of their native village Saifai on Sunday.
According to ANI, the entire Yadav family including Mulayam Singh Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav, Shivpal Yadav, Dimple Yadav, Prateek Yadav, Ankur Yadav, Abhishek Yadav, Aparna Yadav, Tej Pratap Yadav, Sarla Yadav, Premlata Yadav, Abhayram Yadav, Dharmendra Yadav, Ram Gopal Yadav, and Akshay Yadav will cast their vote at the same pooling booth in Saifai.
The voter list has been put up at booth number 239 of Saifai.
In the 2017 elections, BJP had won 49 of the 59 seats while SP settled for nine. Congress got one seat, while Bahujan Samaj Party drew a blank.
Two phases of the seven phased polling for the 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly have been completed. After Sunday, polling for the remaining phases will take place on February 23, 27, and March 3 and 7.
The counting of votes for the five poll-bound states will take place on March 10.
(With Agency Inputs)