Assembly Elections 2022 LIVE Updates: Counting of votes will be held on March 10. (File)
BJP today announced candidates for all nine Lucknow seats after a long discussion. High profile hopefuls from the capital Lucknow, Aparna Yadav, the daughter-in-law of Samajwadi Party patriarch and former chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, and BJP MP Rita Bahuguna Joshi's son Mayank Joshi, were both not on the list.
Former Enforcement Directorate officer Rajeshwar Singh, whose voluntary retirement was today accepted by the union government has been given the party ticket from the Sarojini Nagar assembly seat. Swati Singh, state's minister of state for woman welfare, and her husband Dayashankar Singh were both eyeing the seat.
The high-profile Lucknow Cantonment seat, where both Ms Yadav and Mr Joshi were hoping to be nominated, has been given to state minister Brijesh Pathak. This is considered a safe seat for The party. Rita Bahuguna Joshi had defeated Aparna Yadav on this seat in the last elections.
The BJP had won eight out of the nine seats in Lucknow in the last state elections.
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 LIVE Updates on Assembly Elections 2022:
Fight For Amritsar East A Fight To Restart Development Projects: Bikram Singh MajithiaAkali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia on Wednesday said the fight for Amritsar East seat is a fight for restarting development projects in the constituency. He said the work in constituency completely stalled during the last 18 years of Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu's administering it.
Mr Majithia is contesting from Amritsar East seat from where Navjot Sidhu is seeking re-election.
(PTI)
Uttarakhand Polls 2022: Congress Manifesto Full Of False Promises, Says BJPThe Uttarakhand BJP today said the Congress manifesto released by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for the assembly polls in the state is full of false promises. Describing the manifesto as a "pack of lies", Uttarakhand BJP president Madan Kaushik said the Congress has done exactly the opposite of what it has promised in the document while distributing tickets in the state for the elections.
Despite promising to give 40 per cent of the tickets to women, the party cancelled the candidatures of some women it had fielded, including Dalit candidate Barkha Rani and Sandhya Dalakoti from Lalkuan, Mr Kaushik alleged.
"Priyanka Gandhi should first explain this anomaly," he added.
Political Etiquettes: Sachin Pilot On Why Congress Didn't Field Candidate Against Akhilesh Yadav, UncleSenior Congress leader and one of its star campaigners in Uttar Pradesh Sachin Pilot today clarified that the party did not field any candidate against Akhilesh Yadav and Shivpal Singh Yadav out of "political etiquettes".
"As political etiquettes, Congress has not fielded any candidate against Akhilesh Yadav and Shivpal Singh Yadav from Karhal constituency in Uttar Pradesh. When Sonia Gandhi contested from Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat in the state earlier, SP did not field a candidate," Mr Pilot told news agency ANI.
Sonia Gandhi was elected as a Lok Sabha MP from Rae Bareli's seat in 2004, 2009, 2014, and 2019.
Anurag Thakur Jabs Swami Prasad Maurya For "Fleeing" From Bastion PadraunaThe fear of loss makes people "flee even from their bastion" and Swami Prasad Maurya is no different, Union Minister Anurag Thakur said today in a sharp attack on his former colleague. The comments are an apparent jab at the former UP Minister who quit the BJP ahead of the crucial elections in Uttar Pradesh. Mr Maurya's new party - Samajwadi Party - has been fielded not from his bastion Padrauna but from Kushinagar's Fazilnagar seat, raising questions whether he feared contesting against RPN Singh, who recently came to BJP from Congress.
(ANI)
25-Year-Old Pooja Shukla, Arrested For Yogi Adityanath Protest, Is Samajwadi CandidateWaving black flags at Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and her subsequent arrest for what she calls a "democratic protest" opened the doors of mainstream politics for 25-year-old Pooja Shukla.
She is now the Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate from Lucknow North and is among the youngest candidates in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.
Ms Shukla hogged the limelight in June 2017 when she, along with 10 others, tried to stop Adityanath's cavalcade on the Lucknow University Road and waved black flags to protest against government policies.
"Will Remain In Party," Says UP Minister After BJP Denies Ticket To Her SonAfter her son was denied a ticket from the Sarojini Nagar seat by the BJP, Uttar Pradesh Women Welfare Minister Swati Singh today said that she will continue to remain in the party for the upcoming Assembly elections.
Her husband Dayashankar Singh, who is the state BJP vice-president, has failed to get a ticket for the Assembly elections.
Speaking to news agency ANI, Swati Singh said she is a part of the BJP and will continue to remain so throughout her life.
"I am part of BJP and will continue to remain so throughout my life. No worker should question the decision taken by the party leadership. The party must have done it for good," the Uttar Pradesh Minister said on not being given a ticket in this Assembly election.
Hailing the BJP's candidate list, Dayashankar Singh said that this time the party win 9 out of 9 seats.
Rajnath Singh Addresses Meeting In UP's Lakhimpur Over Phone After Dense Fog Stops Chopper
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh today addressed a public meeting over the phone after dense fog prevented him from reaching the venue in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri.
Rajnath Singh reached Bareilly at 11 am as scheduled and travelled to Lakhimpur Kheri and Pilibhit by helicopter but after several attempts, the chopper failed to land at either of the venues due to poor visibility.
"We Can Build Temple Faster": Samajwadi Party MP After Amit Shah SwipeThe Samajwadi Party has promised to complete building the Ram temple in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya much earlier than the BJP if it comes to power in the country's most populous state, which votes in seven phases starting February 10.
Samajwadi Party MP Ram Gopal Yadav in the Rajya Sabha today responded to a swipe at party chief Akhilesh Yadav by BJP's Amit Shah over "stopping the temple", a line of attack that the BJP has been using in UP to allude that Samajwadi Party prefers to work for Muslims.
Senior Punjab Congress Leader's Claim Spices Up Chief Minister FightA video of Punjab Congress leader Sunil Jakhar, claiming that a majority of MLAs had backed him for the Chief Minister post after Amarinder Singh quit, has sparked a buzz, adding yet another twist to the Congress's campaign for the crucial state election.
In the video that has now gone viral, Mr Jakhar, who has been appointed the Congress's campaign committee chief, is heard saying in Punjabi that he has no complaints and "God does whatever is right".
After Amarinder Singh was forced to step down following a bitter tussle within the ruling party, a majority of legislators chose him for the Chief Minister's seat, Mr Jakhar said.
Manipur Assembly Elections 2022: In Manipur, Which Votes This Month, All Parties Focus On "Remove AFSPA"AFSPA-free Manipur. This is the battlefield slogan that every political party in Manipur is using to win support ahead of the assembly elections in the BJP-ruled state this month.
The National People's Party, or NPP, is a key ally of the BJP in the north-east state and it had helped the BJP form government in 2017 by adding its MLAs to reach the majority mark in the 60-seat house.
This time, the NPP under its chief Conrad Sangma will contest at least 40 seats in Manipur. Mr Sangma is also the Chief Minister of Meghalaya, where the NPP has its roots.
"We have been stressing on repealing the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act. That's very important for the people of Manipur, Nagaland and the northeast. So that's one very important agenda that we are stressing on," Mr Sangma told NDTV.
"I Don't Want To Be Hema Malini": Akhilesh Yadav Ally's Controversial DigUttar Pradesh politician Jayant Chaudhary, the chief of the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), has controversially claimed that his party leader was told by senior BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, "I will make you Hema Malini if you join".
Jayant Chaudhary, who has snubbed overtures made by the BJP more than once, made the comments while campaigning on Tuesday for the Uttar Pradesh election starting February 10.
Referring to his party leader on stage with him, Mr Chaudhary said: "Yogesh (Nauhwar) was saying he was told by Amit Shah -- Yogesh, join us. I will make you Hema Malini." His audience laughed and clapped at his reference to the actor-politician, who is a BJP MP from Mathura.
"No Patronage": Ex Officer On BJP Ticket Day After Quitting Probe AgencyFormer Enforcement Directorate joint director and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Rajeshwar Singh on Tuesday in an interaction with ANI said that he would improve governance and continue his work against mafias.
Mr Singh's name was announced by BJP on Monday from the Sarojini Nagar assembly constituency for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh polls.
"We'll contribute to governance and to the probes launched by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. He is doing great work against mafias. We need to support him. Also, we need to control growing communalism," said Mr Singh.
UP Elections LIVE Updates: October 3 Incident May Dent BJP's Prospects In Lakhimpur Kheri, Say VillagersFor the BJP, the Nighasan Assembly constituency that houses the Tikonia area is expected to be a mixed bag in the upcoming state elections.
Following the killing of eight people, including four Sikh farmers, in the October 3 incident over the contentious farm laws, the Sikh community has allegedly warned its members to not associate themselves with campaigning for the saffron party while another section of the people said the BJP has gained an upper hand as the incident has boosted Union minister Ajay Mishra Teni's sympathizers.
Mr Teni's son Asish has already been arrested in connection with the case.
Members of the Sikh community who attended 'Amavas' festival at the Kaudiyala Ghat Gurdwara near Tikonia said the October 3 killings have caused them great despair, which will negatively reflect in the election outcome for the BJP, news agency PTI reported.
Congress Won't Field Candidate Against Akhilesh Yadav, Shivpal YadavThe Congress has decided that it will not field candidates against Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and his uncle Shivpal Yadav as a gesture of courtesy. The Samajwadi Party, despite its 'on again off again'' relationship with the Congress, does not field candidates against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi from Amethi and Rae Bareli in parliamentary elections. This time, the two parties have not renewed their alliance after the disastrous outcome of their 2017 joint venture.
Akhilesh Yadav is contesting the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls for the first time from Karhal, a seat under his father Mulayam Singh's stronghold Mainpuri.