Assembly Elections 2022 LIVE Updates: Counting of votes will be held on March 10. (File)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah met the Punjab BJP leaders at the party office on Tuesday to discuss the candidates for the remaining seats in Punjab and the next list is likely to be declared on January 27.
Talking to ANI after the meet, Punjab BJP in-charge Dushyant Gautam said, "We have already released the names of 35 candidates and 30 more names are remaining. In today's meeting, most of the work has been done on deciding the names of the rest 30 candidates. Tomorrow (January 26) we will finalise them and announce them the day after tomorrow (January 27)."
Meanwhile, RPN Singh, one of the Congress's most prominent leaders in Uttar Pradesh, quit the party on Tuesday and crossed over to the BJP ahead of next month's election in the state. He is likely to contest the UP polls from his stronghold Padrauna, from where he has been elected MLA thrice.
Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Manipur, Punjab, and Uttarakhand will vote over seven phases starting February 10, with counting of votes scheduled for March 10.
A total of 690 Assembly constituencies will vote over the next two months, with the maximum in UP (403 seats) followed by Punjab (117), Uttarakhand (70), Manipur (60) and Goa (40).
Here are the Highlights on Assembly Elections 2022:
Samajwadi's Azam Khan files nomination from Sitapur JailSamajwadi Party leader Mohammad Azam Khan on Wednesday filed his nomination for Rampur Sadar seat from inside Sitapur jail.
The Returning Officer from Rampur visited the jail to get his nomination papers after an order was issued by Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Rampur Court, Jailor RS Yadav told media.
"As of now all paper formalities have been completed," he said.
Akhilesh Yadav Defends Decision To Give Tickets To Azam Khan, Nahid HasanSamajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday defended the party's decision to give tickets to some candidates facing criminal cases and said most of these cases had been filed by the BJP government.
"Gayatri Prajapati's wife doesn't have any case against her, cases are against the husband. Most cases against Azam Khan were lodged under BJP rule. As far as Nahid Hasan is concerned, BJP (government) lodged most cases against him," Akhilesh Yadav said.
Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya on Tuesday slammed Akhilesh Yadav saying that his party and his allies cannot stop BJP from returning to power in the upcoming assembly elections in the state and alleged that SP is giving tickets to criminals.
"SP will not be able to stop the lotus of BJP from blooming in the state. The list of candidates that the SP has released for the upcoming elections shows that it is not a political party but the party of gangsters, criminals, mafias. They are not fighting polls in UP but threatening the people of the state. I wish to tell him that however many criminals you give tickets to, your cycle is punctured and will remain punctured," he had said.
No Ticket For Union Minister Shripad Naik's Son In BJP's 2nd List For Goa PollsThe BJP on Wednesday announced its second and final list of six candidates for the February 14 Goa Assembly elections.
It included Assembly Speaker Rajesh Patnekar who would contest from his current constituency of Bicholim.
But Siddhesh Naik, the son of Union minister Shripad Naik who was reportedly seeking ticket from Cumbharjua, did not find place in the list.
Ms Jainita, former state minister and sitting MLA Pandurang Madkaikar's wife, would contest on BJP ticket from the constituency.
BJP Meet To Discuss Last 30 Seats In Punjab, List Likely On January 27Union Home Minister Amit Shah met the Punjab BJP leaders at the party office on Tuesday to discuss the candidates for the remaining seats in Punjab and the next list is likely to be declared on January 27.
Talking to ANI after the meet, Punjab BJP in-charge Dushyant Gautam said, "We have already released the names of 35 candidates and 30 more names are remaining. In today's meeting, most of the work has been done on deciding the names of the rest 30 candidates. Tomorrow (January 26) we will finalise them and announce them the day after tomorrow (January 27)."
Convinced Akhilesh Yadav In "3 Mins" For Ticket: Samajwadi Party LeaderIt took Roopali Dixit just three minutes to convince the Samajwadi Party chief to give her the ticket to fight the assembly elections from Fatehabad. Or so she says.
Her pitch to the SP included the mention of the grudge she held against the BJP candidate over a video clip in which he allegedly insulted her father -- who is in jail for murder - and the Thakur community.
While seeking to avenge the "insult", she said she doesn't believe in casteism and wants transparent and proper allocation in government schemes for the poor from all communities.
"I met SP president Akhilesh Yadav and he asked me what I wanted. I said I want to fight against the BJP candidate, Chhotelal Verma, because of the objectionable comment, and I also promise you that I will win this seat," Ms Dixit, who had earlier tried to get the nomination from the BJP, told PTI.
After RPN Singh's Exit From Congress, Rahul Gandhi Unfollows Him On TwitterHours after former Union Minister RPN Singh joined BJP after quitting Congress, Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday unfollowed him on Twitter.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra still follows Mr Singh on the microblogging site along with senior Congress leaders.
Rahul Gandhi, prior to his exit, was following 280 handles, which reduced to 279.
RPN Singh has also changed his Twitter cover photo and uploaded a picture with Dharmendra Pradhan and BJP UP president Swatantra Dev Singh.
Mr Singh was also on the list of star campaigners for Congress in the Uttar Pradesh polls.
"What Legacy?": Manohar Parrikar Son's Rival Challenges Goa Seat ClaimAtanasio 'Babush' Monserrate, the controversial BJP legislator whose announcement as the party's candidate from Goa's Panjim triggered a resignation by its stalwart Manohar Parrikar's son Utpal Parrikar, on Tuesday said that he was the more deserving candidate for the seat.
"I am in the BJP for the past 2.5 years. Not one day till now he uttered a word against me or anything against the party. I am sure he waited to see if I would defect and he would get a chance to contest from Panjim," Mr Monserrate said.
"He is free to contest. The people will elect who is best," he said, insisting that he was not worried about Utpal Parrikar contesting from the seat as an independent following his exit from the party last week.
Punjab Assembly Polls: Congress Announces 23 More Candidates In 2nd ListThe Congress on Tuesday released its second list of 23 candidates for Punjab assembly elections, fielding former chief minister Harcharan Singh Brar's daughter-in-law Karan Brar from Muktsar.
With this, the party has so far announced 109 candidates of the total 117 assembly seats in Punjab.
Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu's aide Smit Singh has been fielded from Amargarh assembly seat, while former Punjab chief minister Rajinder Kaur Bhathal's son-in-law Vikram Bajwa got the ticket from Sahnewal assembly constituency.
Former Punjab minister Ashwani Sekhri has been again fielded from his Batala assembly seat, which he lost last time. Former MLA Harchand Kaur has been fielded from Mehal Kalan (SC) constituency.
RPN Singh "Colluded With BJP": Jharkhand Congress Leaders After His ExitFollowing former Union Minister RPN Singh's exit from the Congress and joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Jharkhand Congress MLA from Barkagaon Amba Prasad claimed that Singh had colluded with BJP for more than a year to overthrow the Congress-JMM (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha) government in Jharkhand.
"The party leadership was also being frequently warned over this. Every true Congress worker of Jharkhand is happy with his going to BJP," Ms Prasad wrote on her official Twitter handle.
Notably, RPN Singh was the AICC in-charge of Jharkhand till the time he tendered his resignation.
Uttarakhand Assembly polls: State BJP president Madan Kaushik files nomination papers in HaridwarAhead of the Uttarakhand Assembly elections, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president Madan Kaushik on Tuesday filed his nomination papers.
He was accompanied by CM Pushkar Singh Dhami, Cabinet Minister Swami Yatishwaranand.
Earlier on January 20, BJP had announced that Kaushik will contest from Haridwar in the upcoming assembly elections.
Mr Kaushik is four times MLA from the Haridwar constituency.
The party has so far announced the names of candidates for 59 out of 70 seats in Uttarakhand for the upcoming assembly polls.
The BJP has fielded Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami from Khatima.