In the latest blow to the BJP ahead of Assembly elections, minister and OBC leader Dharam Singh Saini has resigned from the state cabinet. Mr Saini, a four-time legislator from Nakud in Saharanpur, is the third state minister to step down in past three days with the ruling party in what is being seen as a crucial swing ahead of a crucial election.
Seven other BJP MLAs and one from Apna Dal, which is in alliance with the BJP, have also exited the party in the last three days.
The Congress has fielded the mother of 2017 Unnao rape victim as its candidate for next month's assembly election in Uttar Pradesh. Asha Singh, the Unnao victim's mother, was among those who were named in the list released by the party today.
"Our list sends a new message that if you have been a victim of harassment and torture, the Congress will support you," said Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, as she released the list.
The high-profile exits of two ministers and four MLAs from the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh, less than 30 days before an Assembly election, were followed a day later by three lawmakers - two from the Samajwadi Party and one from the Congress - moving the other way.
Swami Prasad Maurya, whose resignation from Yogi Adityanath's cabinet has set off a flurry of exits, Wednesday said he "hasn't quit the BJP or joined the Samajwadi Party" yet.
"I have only quit as a minister. I will quit the BJP soon. For now, I am not joining the Samajwadi Party," Swami Prasad Maurya told NDTV, teasing a big reveal on Friday.
"I have rejected the BJP...there is no question of going back," he qualified in the same breath.
Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Manipur, Punjab, and Uttarakhand will vote over seven phases starting February 10, with counting of votes scheduled for March 10.
Here are the highlights on Assembly Election 2022:
Punjab Election: Navjot Sidhu Says Not Running For Any PostPunjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu on Thursday clarified that he is not running for any post in the upcoming Assembly polls in the state. Read here.
"I've given my resignation; met Akhilesh Yadav today, will join him. This government is a liar, no development has been done. Soon, more people will join us": Chaudhary Amar Singh, MLA Apna Dal, Uttar Pradesh
- NDTV (@ndtv) January 13, 2022
(ANI)#ElectionsWithNDTV pic.twitter.com/RzjqszSXUH
UP Polls: Apna Dal MLA Quits BJP-Alliance, 11th Exit In 3 DaysUttar Pradesh MLA Chaudhary Amar Singh of the Apna Dal today quit the BJP-led alliance just weeks ahead of polls - this is the eleventh resignation for Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in three days. Akhilesh Yadav has yet again benefitted. Read here.
Congress Must Realise They're Not India's Emperors: Trinamool
Election News: Sena Tests Farmers' Pulse As It Plans Foray In UPThe BJP is trying to facilitate registration of a specific party with the Election Commission by bending rules, alleged Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Raghav Chadha on Thursday.
UP Election: 300 Candidates, Including 90 Dalits, Finalised: BSPThe Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP) has already decided at least 300 of its total 403 candidates for Uttar Pradesh. Of these, 90 are Dalits, party general secretary S C Misra said on Thursday. Read here.
The BJP will win the 2022 Uttar Pradesh election by a bigger margin than its victory in 2017, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya declared Thursday afternoon, after a meeting of the party's Central Election Committee that was led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Mr Maurya said the names of 172 candidates had been finalised in today's meeting.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the meeting- held at the party's headquarters in Delhi - after joining online. This was after 42 staff members tested positive for Covid yesterday.
Actor-activist Sadaf Jafar - who was "kicked in the stomach by a male cop" after being arrested during anti-citizenship law protests in Lucknow in December 2019 - will contest next month's Uttar Pradesh election from the Lucknow (central) seat on a Congress ticket.
Ms Jafar, who is out on bail following arrest on egregious charges of rioting and attempted murder, told NDTV she would fight to raise and address issues that matter to the people of Uttar Pradesh.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today revealed an unusual solution to a raging war within over a Chief Minister candidate in Punjab. The party has asked voters to dial 7074870748 to name their choice.
The phone line is jammed already, claimed AAP in a tweet.
The Congress is likely to give preference to sitting MLAs while selecting candidates for the Uttarakhand Assembly polls that are due next month, according to the party's screening committee chief Avinash Pandey.
"Chances of sitting MLAs are strong. Last time those who fought elections and did well, it is quite natural that preference will be given to them. The process of choosing candidates is on. Tomorrow is our screening committee meeting. Very soon we will take this list of candidates to Central Election Committee (CEC). Many candidates have been shortlisted," Mr Pandey told ANI.
A seventh BJP MLA and backward caste leader Mukesh Verma quit the BJP today as exits continued for the third day from Uttar Pradesh's ruling party less than a month before elections. Mukesh Verma posted his resignation on Twitter and surfaced at the home of Swami Prasad Maurya, who started the exodus.
Mukesh Verma, an MLA from Firozabad in western Uttar Pradesh, is also an OBC (Other Backward Class) leader like Swami Prasad Maurya and four others who have quit the BJP in the last three days.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is chairing a meeting of the BJP's Central Election Committee ahead of the Assembly election in Uttar Pradesh next month. The PM joined the meeting - being held at the party's headquarters in Delhi - online, after 42 staff members tested positive for Covid yesterday.
Apart from the Prime Minister, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, both of whom have also tested positive for Covid, also joined virtually.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) Wednesday issued a notice to the AAP for allegedly violating the model code of conduct as its leaders and workers approached people in groups of more than five for door-to-door campaigning.
The poll panel issued the notice shortly after the Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal launched the door-to-door campaigning from the Kharar assembly segment.
As the pre-poll violence continued in Manipur, two powerful bombs, including an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) detonated remotely, went off in front of the residences of two Congress leaders in two districts on Wednesday damaging the properties, police said.
No one was, however, injured in the blasts that occurred in Imphal West and Imphal East districts.
