Assembly Elections Highlights: Voting for first phase is on Feb 28, and the second phase is on March 5
The voting dates for the two-phase Manipur assembly elections have been changed, the Election Commission said today.
Voting for the first phase is on February 28, and the second phase is on March 5; earlier, voting was scheduled on February 27 and March 3.
Several tribal groups and political parties had asked the Election Commission to revise the voting dates since February 27, the first phase, fell on a Sunday, which would have affected church services.
Meanwhile, the first of the seven-phase polling in Uttar Pradesh -- said to be the semi-final before the general election of 2024 -- ended peacefully on Thursday. 60.17% people voted for the 58 seats in western UP, a shade lower than the 63.5% in 2017.
Here are the Highlights on Assembly Elections 2022:
"UP Is No. 1 In Crimes Now And They Point Fingers At Us?": Akhilesh YadavLashing out at the BJP for blaming the Samajwadi Party for lawlessness under previous governments in Uttar Pradesh, former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Friday said the BJP was trying to hoodwink voters by lying.
"NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau) data should be brought forth. Today, UP is No. 1 in crimes against women, No. 1 in custodial deaths, No. 1 in terms of the number of notices received from the National Human Rights Commission, No. 1 in fake encounters," Mr Yadav told NDTV at an election rally in Suar which votes on Monday.
"Only MP Who...": Arvind Kejriwal's Family Campaigns For Bhagwant MannChannelling the Aam Aadmi Party's efforts at winning over women voters, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's wife Sunita Kejriwal campaigned for the party's Punjab Chief Ministerial nominee Bhagwant Mann in Dhuri on Friday.
Accompanied by her daughter Harshita Kejriwal, Mr Mann's mother Harpal Kaur, and sister Manpreet Kaur, Sunita Kejriwal appealed to the people of Dhuri town to vote for the AAP and ensure the victory of Mr Mann.
"Aam Aadmi Party is the only party that dreams of the progress of every family," Sunita Kejriwal, hard-selling the Aam Aadmi Party's promises like a Rs 1,000 monthly allowance for every woman in the state.
Goa Assembly Polls: BJP True To Its Ideals, Other Parties Family-Run, Says JP NaddaBJP president JP Nadda on Friday said his party was the only one which was faithful to its ideals and believed in "collectiveness", whereas opposition parties were family-run outfits.
Addressing a rally in Priol in poll-bound Goa, Mr Nadda said the BJP was also a party that took its governance report card to the people.
"BJP is the only party which is faithful to its ideas and believes in collectiveness. Except BJP, all parties have become family-run parties," he said.
The PDP and National Conference in Jammu-Kashmir, the Akali Dal in Punjab, the Shiv Sena and NCP in Maharashtra, the YSR Congress in Andhra Pradesh, the TRS in Telangana, the TMC in West Bengal, the RLD and Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh are family-run outfits, Nadda asserted.
Charanjit Channi's Nephew Sent To 14-Day Judicial Custody In Illegal Mining CasePunjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi's nephew Bhupinder Singh Honey was produced before a court on Friday in connection with an alleged illegal sand mining case where he was sent to 14-day judicial custody.
Mr Honey was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in an alleged illegal sand mining case on February 3 from Jalandhar after a day-long questioning.
He was remanded to the ED custody till February 4 after which his custody was extended till February 11.
BJP Flag Flying High After Phase 1 UP Polls, Rivals Depressed: PM ModiPrime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the BJP's flag was flying high after the first round of voting in Uttar Pradesh while the rivals were depressed.
Taking a swipe at the opponents, he said, seeing their hopes getting dashed after the voting, they have started blaming the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM).
He hailed Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's announcement to name a roundabout in Ayodhya after iconic singer Lata Mangeshkar, who passed away on February 6.
UP Elections: Central Government Policies Benefit Its "Industrialist Friends", Says Priyanka GandhiCongress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday hit out at the Central government saying that it formulates economic policies to benefit its 'industrialist friends'.
Ms Priyanka said, "Both the friends of the Prime Minister have become the top two richest industrialists of Asia. The government is doing everything to help its friends. All the resources of the country are being sold to them. The budget policies are also for them. But they have nothing for you."
Further attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Ms Gandhi said that Modi can buy a Rs 16,000 crore plane but didn't help the sugarcane farmers with Rs 14,000 crore. "He is making his friends richer while the farmers are dying standing in the line for fertilizer", said Ms Priyanka.
Goa Assembly Elections 2022: PM Modi Distracting Goans From Real issues, Says Rahul GandhiSenior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of distracting the attention of people of Goa from real issues like environment and employment.
Criticising Modi over his statement that if Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru wanted, Goa could have been liberated "within hours" in 1947 when India attained independence, Mr Gandhi said the prime minister does not understand the situation of those times and what was happening post-World War II.
PM Modi, while addressing an election rally at Mapusa near Panaji on Thursday ahead of the February 14 assembly polls, had said it took 15 years for the Congress government to liberate Goa from the Portuguese rule.
UP Elections 2022: Yogi Adityanath Restored Rule Of Law In UP, BJP Will Receive Positive Mandate In 5 Assembly Polls, Says Nitin GadkariLauding Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for "restoring" the rule of law in the state, Union minister Nitin Gadkari has asserted that the BJP will receive "positive mandate" in the five state assembly polls for its development works and welfare measures for the poor.
Mr Adityanath is a very successful chief minister who has done "unprecedentedly" well on the issue of law and order and ended "goonda raaj" in Uttar Pradesh, Mr Gadkari told PTI in an interview.
With the BJP in power in four of the five states facing the polls, he expressed confidence that the party will again win in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur and emerge as a strong force in Punjab, where it is contesting the elections for the first time as the lead partner of an alliance after Akali Dal severed ties with it.
UP Assembly Elections 2022: Past Trends Show Kasganj Seat In UP Has Key For Government FormationIn the city of temples locals believe that whoever wins in Kasganj forms the government in Lucknow even while the constituency has never been a stronghold of any political party.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) had won Kasganj seat in 2007 when the party formed the government in the state. In 2007 the BSP's Hasrat Ullah Sherwani had won the seat, but Samajwadi Party (SP) wrested the constituency in 2012 when the party came to power in the state. Sherwani had lost to SP's Manpal Singh in 2012.
In 2017 when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) formed the government the party's candidate Devendra Singh Rajput won by a margin of over 49,000 votes against SP's Manpal Singh.
Kasganj, a city and the district headquarters of Kasganj district, lies in the 'Braj region'. Braj, was known as 'Khasganj' during the Mughal and British periods.
Prominent farmer's leader Kuldeep Pandey will be seen contesting for congress against BJP's sitting MLA Devendra Singh Rajput from the key battleground in UP.
Former MLA Manpal Singh has got tickets from SP whereas party worker Prabhudayal Verma is the nominee of the BSP.
Since the 1977 elections in Uttar Pradesh, BJP won four times and Samajwadi Party two times from the Kasganj constituency.
There are 715 villages, 10 municipal corporations in Kasganj. According to the last Census, the population is 14,36,719 and has a 61 per cent literacy rate.
Uttarakhand's Development Among Top Priorities Of Government: PM ModiThe development of Uttarakhand is among the top priorities of the BJP's double engine government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday at a rally in Almora for the February 14 assembly elections.
He also said that infrastructure development in the state's border villages is the BJP's priority and people will benefit from the Parvatmala and the Vibrant Village projects.
The prime minister announced that work on the Jamrani Dam project will start soon.
Punjab Polls: Sidhu Moosewala Hopes To Get Foothold In MansaHe is already an established name as a Punjabi singer with his chart-bursting numbers. Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu aka Sidhu Moosewala, the Congress candidate from Mansa seat, now hopes to make his presence felt in the constituency.
Touted as a "youth icon" and an "international figure" by Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu when he joined the party in December, the 27-year-old singer is seen easily connecting with people of all ages, obliging especially the youth for selfies and taking blessing of elders during his campaign rounds.
Karhal: Fight Between 'Ghar Ka Ladka' Akhilesh Yadav & Union Minister SP Singh BhagelThe BJP has fielded a heavyweight in Karhal but this does not seem to bother the Samajwadi Party as people are still rooting for 'Ghar ka Ladka', local lad Akhilesh Yadav, reported PTI.
The BJP has declared Union minister of state SP Singh Baghel against Akhilesh in the Karhal assembly seat in Mainpuri district where voting will take place in the third phase on February 20.
Congress has not fielded its candidate against the Samajwadi Party chief while BSP has nominated a little known Kuldeep Narayan in the constituency.
Silent Wave In My Favour: Manohar Parrikar's Son, An Independent In GoaAsserting that there is a silent wave in his favour, Utpal Parrikar, elder son of late Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar, who is contesting the February 14 Assembly election as an independent candidate from the Panaji seat, has said he was a favoured choice after his father's death in 2019, but was denied poll ticket by the BJP due to local politics.
On the BJP offering him three seats other than Panaji for next week's election, Mr Parrikar (41), a businessman, said the fight was "never for options".
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh To Campaign In Uttarakhand TodayDefence Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajnath Singh will address election meetings in Ghansali, Karnaprayag and Narendranagar Assembly constituencies in Uttarakhand on Friday.
"I shall be campaigning in Uttarakhand today ...shall address election meetings in Ghansali, Karnaprayag and Narendranagar Assembly constituencies. Look forward to it," Mr Singh said in a tweet on Friday morning.
Manipur's Ibobi Singh Files Nomination, Congress Flags BJP Facebook PageThree-time Manipur Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition in the Manipur legislative assembly Okram Ibobi Singh today filed his nomination from his traditional Thoubal seat and said that this election will be a new chapter for Manipur, a chapter of change.
"I know the mindset of people of both hill and valley and I am sensing a mood for change and we will form the new government," the Congress leader told reporters.
UP Man, 71, Dies Outside Polling Booth After Casting VoteA 71-year-old voter died shortly after casting his vote at a polling booth here on Thursday morning, police said.
Nathi Lal Baghel, a resident of Nagla Pipri, who had gone to cast his vote along with his nephew suddenly collapsed after coming out of the door of Shahpur polling booth near the village.
He was immediately rushed to the hospital where the doctors declared him dead, the Superintendent of Police of Mahavan area said.