Assembly Polls 2022 Highlights: Akhilesh Yadav to contest UP polls from Karhal constituency

BJP president J P Nadda on Monday announced the seat-sharing arrangement in the upcoming Punjab elections. The BJP to contest on 65 seats, Punjab Lok Congress on 37 and SAD (Sanyukt) on 15 seats. Opinion polls see the saffron party coming back to power in UP with a comfortable majority, with around 230 seats, well over the 202 seats it requires in the 403-seat assembly. Meanwhile, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on Monday cited the Delhi model, work done in the national capital, urging other states to give AAP a chance in the upcoming polls. Meanwhile, SP's alliances look shaky over seat-sharing talks. Stay tuned on DH for the latest updates.

Harish Rawat to contest from Ramnagar, Congress finalises 11 more candidates for Uttarakhand elections

A former Chief Minister, Rawat will fight from Ramnagar this time while the party has also cleared the candidature of Anukriti Gusain, the daughter-in-law of Harak Singh Rawat who returned to Congress.

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Sidhu calls Amarinder a 'spent cartridge'

Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu on Monday dubbed former CM Amarinder Singh a "spent cartridge", responding to his claim that he had got a request from Pakistan to reinstate the ex-cricketer in his government.

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Manipur polls: NPP to contest alone, releases list of 20 candidates

Making it clear that it would contest the Assembly elections without any pre-poll alliance, National People's Party (NPP), a partner in the BJP-led government in Manipur, on Monday released a list of 20 candidates that included the name of Deputy Chief Minister Y Joykumar Singh.

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Sidhu calls AAP's drive to select CM face 'scam', complaint lodged with poll panel

Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu on Monday dubbed AAP's survey to select its CM face for the state Assembly polls a "scam" and "deceptive scheme" and said his party has lodged a complaint with the Election Commission against it.

Sidhu also launched a scathing attack against Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal, calling him a "trickster and hypocrite".

Addressing reporters at a press conference here, Sidhu urged the Election Commission to register criminal cases against AAP for running a "fake campaign".

AAP had announced its Punjab unit chief Bhagwant Mann as its CM face last week following a survey in which people were asked to call on a phone number to give their preference.

Kejriwal had claimed that they had received over 21.59 lakh responses from January 13 to 17 under the "Janta Chunegi Apna CM" campaign and 93.3 per cent people had given Bhagwant Mann's name.

Azad, Babbar, Hooda from G-23 in Congress' UP list of star campaigners

Prominent G-23 or change-seekers' leader Ghulam Nabi Azad is in the list of 30 star campaigners for the Congress in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh elections.

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Samajwadi Party (SP) releases a list of 159 candidates for UP elections

Good that Yogi didn’t contest from Ayodhya: Ram temple chief priest

The chief priest of the Ram temple here on Monday said it is good that Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath is not contesting the state Assembly polls from this seat as he would have faced a lot of opposition.

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AAP candidate tries self-immolation over rejection of his poll nomination papers

AAP candidate Joginder Singh for Miranpur assembly seat allegedly poured kerosene oil over his clothes to immolate himself before the district collectorate office here on Monday over the rejection of his poll nomination paper by the returning officer, police said. The police, however, managed to foil his alleged suicide bid by overpowering him and stopping him from lighting the matchstick, they said.

BJp asks EC to act against ex-Punjab DGP Mustafa for 'provocative speech'

UP elections: Congress in disarray as candidates defect

Nurturing hopes to regain its lost glory in Uttar Pradesh, where it has been reduced to a fringe player, the Congress is finding it difficult to retain its leaders, even those who were given the party nomination in the forthcoming assembly polls.

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BJP chief JP Nadda announces seat sharing agreement in Punjab

In Punjab elections, BJP to contest in65 seats, Punjab Lok Congress in 37 and SAD (Sanyukt) in 15 seats.

BJP leaders JP Nadda, Amit Shah meet Amarinder Singh

Uttar Pradesh elections: Opinion polls predict BJP’s return, a stronger Samajwadi Party

The electoral battle in the Hindi heartland state of Uttar Pradesh is heating up as the ruling BJP aims to return to power riding on its Hindutva agenda, facing an insistent Samajwadi Party and a somewhat muted Mayawati-led Bahujan Samajwadi Party.

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UP has set benchmark of development in every field in last 5 years: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said Uttar Pradesh has set a benchmark of development in every field in the last five years and asserted that the multi-dimensional development of the state will continue to play a leading role in 'new India'.

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Aam Aadmi Party leader Raghav Chadha submits a letter to Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit "seeking his immediate intervention in the multilayered illegal sand mining racket in Punjab allegedly run by and under the aegis of CM Channi"

'Jo Jinnah se kare pyar, wo Pakistan se kaise kare inkaar': The BJP has mounted a blistering attack on Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav for his statement in which he reportedly said that it is China and not Pakistan which is India's real enemy.

Talking to reporters on Monday, BJP spokesman Sambit Patra said that the SP chief's journey began with Jinnah and has come to its logical conclusion with Pakistan.

"Jo Jinnah se kare pyar, wo Pakistan se kaise kare inkaar. If Akhilesh has any morality left, he should immediately apologize for his statement," said Patra.

The spokesman further said that if Pakistan was not India's enemy, then why were Indian soldiers being killed in firing in Kashmir and why were terror attacks being orchestrated against India.

Punjab Assembly polls: Family members pitch in for contestants

Fifteen-year-old Aekom Warring maybe too young for politics but not for canvassing and is busy making a connect with voters in her father Amarinder Singh Raja Warring's Gidderbaha Assembly constituency in Punjab.

With folded hands, Aekom Warring goes from house-to-house greeting voters and asking them to elect her father for the development work carried out by him in the last 10 years.

Amarinder Sing Raja Warring is eyeing a third term in a row from Gidderbaha Assembly seat in Punjab's Muktsar district. He was earlier elected from this seat in 2012 and 2017.

In Shamli district, villagers are opposing BJP leaders and workers and preventing them from campaigning. In Lion village, the local residents have put up a notice on their gates and doors saying that only Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) people are allowed.

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The decision of the Election Commission to allow parties use video vans for campaigning in poll-bound states comes with a series of stringent dos and don'ts

The decision of the Election Commission to allow parties use video vans for campaigning in poll-bound states comes with a series of stringent dos and don'ts, including the one which states that the vehicle cannot stop at any "viewing point" for more than 30 minutes.

While extending ban on physical election rallies till January 31 to curb the spread of COVID-19, the EC had on Saturday allowed video vans for publicity with usual COVID-19 restrictions at designated open spaces with a maximum of 500 viewers.

It had cautioned that the video van events should not cause inconvenience to the people and should not be a hindrance to smooth flow of traffic.

The BJP on Monday released its fifth list of one candidate for upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.

With one more candidate in its fifth list, the party has announced 196 candidates for 403 members of the Assembly.

In the latest list, the BJP has fielded Ajay Pratap Singh from Thakurdwara Assembly constituency of the state. In a statement, BJP national General Secretary Arun Singh said that the BJP Central Election Committee (CEC) has approved one name for the polls.

The BJP's decision to give away tickets to leaders who joined the BJP from other parties in the past few days has triggered widespread protests in the saffron party in the western UP region, which will go to the polls in the first phase on Feb 10

Many senior party leaders, seething over the party move, have entered the fray as Independents, queering the pitch for the official candidates.

A concerned BJP leadership held meetings with the senior leaders of the party after party workers organised protests and even burnt the effigies of the official nominees at many places in Agra, Mathura and some other places.

A look at Punjab Assembly under Congress rule

After failing to stitch an alliance with BJP in Uttar Pradesh, the top leadership of Janata Dal-United (JD-U) has started targeting Union Minister R.C.P. Singh.

Singh, a minister in the Modi cabinet, is said to have close links with BJP top leadership despite him becoming union minister under JD-U quota. The party had given him responsibility to make an alliance with the BJP for UP polls, but he failed.

JD-U national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh has already said that the delay in announcement of the candidates for Uttar Pradesh elections is due to R.C.P Singh.

For the last couple of days, JD-U's junior leaders are advocating for R.C.P. Singh to lead the party in the election campaign of Uttar Pradesh. They have pointed out that Singh who was a former IAS officer and served in Uttar Pradesh for a long time, understands the ground situation better there.

BJP trying to take credit for works started by BSP govt: Mayawati

BSP president Mayawati on Monday said the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh is trying to take credit for works started by her when she was chief minister.

She also said that the "biggest" problems in the state are poor law and order, unemployment and migration.

Slamming the Yogi Adityanath dispensation, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief said it is very sad that state is lagging behind.

After polls, I will have dinner with 50 Delhiites whose videos will go viral: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal at the launch of 'Ek Mauka Kejriwal Ko'

Please appeal to your friends and followers in other states to share videos of welfare measures in Delhi and share them across social media: Kejriwal outsources campaigning to Delhites

Kejriwal launches "Ek Mauka Kejriwal Ko" campaign from today. He asks Delhites to make videos telling people of other states about work done by AAP and appeal to them to give Kejriwal/AAP a chance, ahead of polls.

CM Arvind Kejriwal cites Delhi model, work done in Delhi, urges other states to give AAP a chance.

BSP releases list of star campaigners for UP polls' first phase

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has released its list of star campaigners for the first phase of the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, and it includes the names of its chief Mayawati and her brother Anand Kumar.

Party general secretary Satish Misra, former MP Muquad Ali and former Uttar Pradesh Minister Nakul Dubey, are also part of the list of 18 star campaigners.

According to the Election Commission, in the first phase of the elections, 58 assembly constituencies spread over 11 districts will go to polls on February 10.

January 21 was the last date of making nominations. Scrutiny of nomination papers will be held on January 24, while January 27 is the last date for withdrawal of nominations.

Power cables were used to hang clothes during the previous SP regime: Anurag Thakur takes dig at SP's free electricity promise

In the run-up to the assembly election in Uttar Pradesh, Union minister and BJP leader Anurag Thakur on Sunday targeted the Samajwadi Party over its promise of providing 300 units of electricity free to domestic consumers, saying under the party-led government power cables were used to hang clothes to dry.

The Union Information and Broadcasting Minister took part in a party campaign in Hazratganj area of the state capital.

"Getting electricity for 300 hours a month was difficult in his regime, but now he is talking about giving 300 units of free electricity. This raises doubts," he said, targeting SP president Akhilesh Yadav.

Power cables were used to hang clothes during the previous SP regime, he said.

We want AFSPA lifted but with Centre's mutual consent; National security first priority: Manipur CM

Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Sunday said the people of his state, including himself, want the withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act but only after mutual understanding with the Centre as national security is their top priority.

"I believe AFSPA can be lifted gradually with the consent of the central government. But, we must remember there is no political stability in Myanmar and we share the border with that nation," the chief minister told PTI in an interview here.

The RSS' Muslim wing on Sunday carried out a public awareness campaign in three districts of Uttar Pradesh and held meetings with Muslim clerics and scholars to garner the community's support for the BJP ahead of assembly polls

The campaign was carried out by a 10-member team of the Muslim Rashtriya Manch (MRM) in Amroha, Moradabad and Rampur districts of Uttar Pradesh, the RSS affiliate said in a statement.

The MRM team comprised its national convenor Md Akhtar, head of the outfit's Madrasa cell Mazahar Khan and Uttarakhand Madrasa Board chairman Bilal Ur Rehman, it added.

"In all the three districts, we had long and intense discussions with the maulana of Jama Masjid, Qazi and Muslim intellectuals like doctors, lawyers, and engineers on the problems that the members of the community are facing and their solution,” MRM's national convenor and media in-charge Shahid Sayeed told PTI.

The Samajwadi Party (SP) has lodged a complaint with the Election Commission of India (ECI) accusing Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders and workers of violating the Model Code of Conduct to campaign in the Kairana Assembly constituency and other areas

The complaint comes hours after the party demanded a ban on opinion polls on news channels.

The BJP in Uttar Pradesh is going full steam on its ambitious plan to visit four crore houses of beneficiaries of the Central and state schemes under its 'Har ghar BJP' plan. The party aims at connecting with 12 crore voters through this

The BJP workers are pasting stickers of the party symbol 'Lotus' at the entrance of homes of the beneficiaries and greeting the members with 'tilak'.

While Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launched the party's door-to-door campaign blitz from Kairana and other west UP Assembly seats, the BJP workers are visiting the beneficiaries in other districts.

Yogesh Raj, an accused in the 2018 mob violence in Bulandshahr that led to the killing of two people, including an on-duty police inspector, is contesting the Syana Assembly seat in Bulandshahr as an independent candidate

The Samajwadi Party's alliance seems to be running into rough weather over the issue of seat allotment

While the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), an ally of the Samajwadi Party (SP) in west Uttar Pradesh, is facing trouble over seat allotment in at least eight Assembly segments, another ally has now queered the pitch for the SP.

A day after SP president Akhilesh Yadav named Rita Singh as the party candidate from the Sandila Assembly constituency in Hardoi for the UP polls, his alliance partner Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) has now announced its own candidate for the same seat.

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UP Polls: Rampur to see new generation of old rivals

The Apna Dal (S) has fielded Haider Ali Khan from Suar Assembly seat in Rampur, the pocket borough of Samajwadi Party (SP) heavyweight and jailed MP Azam Khan.

Haider is from Rampur's royal family and the grandson of Begum Noor Bano, veteran Congress leader and former MP of Rampur, whose rivalry with Azam is well known in political circles.

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Manohar Parrikar ji has always worked for BJP's win. I request his son Utpal Parrikar to reconsider his decision & fulfil his father's dream: : BJP General Secretary C T Ravi

Only BJP can give people a stable govt. Home Minister Amit Shah will visit here on Jan 30: BJP General Secretary C T Ravi

Punjab Polls: Filing of nomination to begin from Jan 25, scrutiny of nomination on Feb 2

Samajwadi Party demands ban on opinion polls

Samajwadi Party (SP) on Sunday termed the opinion polls being aired on different media platforms as a 'violation' of the model of conduct and demanded a ban on them.

India's tallest man joins Samajwadi Party, wants to 'dwarf' opponents

Dharmendra Pratap Singh, a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Pratapgarh district, who claims to be the tallest man in the country at 8 feet and one inch, joined the Samajwadi Party (SP).

AFSPA repeal tops agenda of BJP's partner NPP in Manipur

Efforts for repealing the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, (AFSPA), 1958 tops the list of promises National People's Party (NPP), a partner of the BJP-led government in Manipur, made to the voters in its manifesto for the Assembly elections on February 27 and March 3.