Category: Uttar Pradesh

Categories
India News Uttar Pradesh

Jailed lawmaker Mukhtar not to contest, hands over baton to son

Mukhtar Ansari, currently lodged in Banda jail, is a five-term MLA and has been representing the Mau Sadar seat since 1996….reports Asian Lite News

Jailed mafia don-and-MLA Mukhtar Ansari’s is now unlikely to contest the ongoing Assembly elections.

His son Abbas Ansari has filed his nomination papers from the Mau Sadar assembly constituency in eastern Uttar Pradesh as a candidate of the Suheldev Bhartaiya Samaj Party (SBSP), an ally of the Samajwadi Party (SP).

Mukhtar Ansari, currently lodged in Banda jail, is a five-term MLA and has been representing the Mau Sadar seat since 1996.

Mau will go to polls in the seventh and last phase on March 7.

After filing his nomination, Abbas Ansari said, “My father is a five-time MLA from Mau Sadar. He will not contest the election this time. It is a son’s duty to carry forward the legacy of his father. Mau is my ‘karmabhoomi’ and I will carry forward my father’s political legacy. I will leave no stone unturned for it.”

Asked why Mukhtar decided not to contest, Abbas Ansari claimed “democracy is under threat today”.

He further said that a conspiracy was being hatched so that his father could not file his nomination. “In such a situation, he has handed over his legacy to me,” Abbas Ansari said.

Mukhtar Ansari’s lawyer Daroga Singh said, “He (Mukhtar) has handed over his political legacy to his son Abbas Ansari. Abbas filed his nomination as the SBSP candidate from the Mau Sadar Assembly seat, which Mukhtar won five times consecutively. Now, Abbas will be in electoral politics.”

This time, the BJP has fielded Ashok Singh, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has fielded its state president Bhim Rajbhar and the Congress candidate is Madhavendra Bahadur Singh from Mau Sadar, which has been a bastion of Mukhtar Ansari, who first won the seat in 1996 as a BSP candidate.

Mukhtar Ansari retained the seat as an independent in 2002 and 2007, and as a Quami Ekta Dal candidate in 2012. In 2017, he won the seat on the BSP ticket.

Abbas Ansari had contested the 2017 assembly election from Ghosi as a BSP candidate and finished second to the BJP’s Phagu Chauhan.

ALSO READ: BJP expert in spreading communalism, says Chhattisgarh CM

Categories
India News Uttar Pradesh

Father-in-law pitted against daughter-in-law

Roshan Lal Verma, the Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate from Tilhar, is facing his own daughter-in-law Sarita Yadav on the same seat….reports Asian Lite News

Politics often has the power to rip apart families and Shahjahanpur is an example of this.

Roshan Lal Verma, the Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate from Tilhar, is facing his own daughter-in-law Sarita Yadav on the same seat.

While Varma is contesting on a Samajwadi ticket, Sarita is contesting on the ticket of Rashtriya Samaj Party.

Roshan Lal Varma had quit the BJP with Swami Prasad Maurya last month and had joined the SP.

Sarita has now accused her father-in-law of illegally grabbing people’s land. Sarita Yadav told reporters that she is contesting against him because she wants to expose him.

She alleged that Varma has illegally encroached upon the land of many people in the Tilhar area and filed fake cases against a large number of Yadavs and people from the Muslim community.

She claimed that even the land in front of Nigohi police station, registered in the name of her husband Vinod Kumar, has been occupied by her father-in-law.

Sarita said her husband died in 2019 and she, along with her eight-year-old daughter, is contacting voters in the area to seek their support and votes.

Varma, meanwhile, has denied Sarita being his daughter-in-law but Sarita claimed herself to be Verma’s daughter-in-law in the posters printed for her campaign.

He said earlier, “She (Sarita Yadav) is making false claims. She has no proof of it. She is hatching a conspiracy to malign our image. She is in the fray but this will not make any difference to my image.”

Shahjahanpur goes to the polls in the second phase of the Assembly elections on February 14.

ALSO READ: Channi as CM face desperate bid by Congress to revive fortunes: Mayawati

Categories
India News Uttar Pradesh

Bread & milk to remind voters to cast their votes

The representatives from various government departments and bread and milk manufacturers will target 2.5 lakhs families per day to create awareness among them….reports Asian Lite News

The Kanpur administration has hit upon a novel idea to create awareness and encourage people to cast their vote when the district goes to polls on February 20.

Citizens in Kanpur will receive a message “Kanpur Votes On 20 Feb” when they will purchase milk packets and bread packets from next week.

It is the brainchild of district magistrate Neha Sharma who convened a meeting with bread manufacturers and milk and processed milk companies and put up her proposal.

The proposal was very well supported by the GST and food & safety department and the manufacturers and bakers have assured that around 2.5 lakhs houses of the city would get a message for one week about the voting.

The district magistrate has sought active cooperation from the representatives in this campaign. The idea was to encourage more and more voters to cast their votes.

The representatives from various government departments and bread and milk manufacturers will target 2.5 lakhs families per day to create awareness among them.

Meanwhile, to ensure a hundred per cent voting the district administration flew a voters awareness air balloon at Kargil park in Moti Jheel on Saturday.

ALSO READ: Campaigning ends for Goa, Uttarakhand polls

Categories
India News Uttar Pradesh

Why Jat votes are important for Akhilesh

Western Uttar Pradesh has a total of 136 seats — 58 are polling today — and the BJP had won 109 seats in 2017….reports Asian Lite News

The Jat and farmers votes in western Uttar Pradesh, a part of which is polling on Thursday, are extremely crucial for Akhilesh Yadav, who is making a concerted attempt to return to power in these elections.

Though jats have a population of over 2 per cent only, the community not only dominates the politics of western UP but also prevails over the farmers of other communities.

Western Uttar Pradesh has a total of 136 seats — 58 are polling today — and the BJP had won 109 seats in 2017.

The BJP has been enlisting the support of Jats since 2014. The 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots had driven a deep wedge between the Jats and Muslims in the region and the BJP benefitted the most due to communal polarisation.

The year-long farmers’ agitation, topped by the mowing down of four farmers by a SUV owned by a Union minister in Lakhimpur, has antagonised the farmers where the BJP is concerned.

The Muslim-Jat divide has also filled up to an extent because a large number of farmers happen to be Muslims too.

The Samajwadi Party had fared poorly in this region in 2017 and could win only two seats in the first phase.

With the change in scenario, Akhilesh is now looking to make maximum gains — which will lead to maximum losses for BJP — in this region.

He has teamed up with the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), which has also been working overtime to re-establish connect with farmers.

The Samajwadi Party and RLD have been repeatedly reminding Jats of the agricultural distress to make them switch their vote.

The absence of SP MP Mohd Azam Khan, who is in jail, has also come as a blessing in disguise for SP since he is believed to have openly protected the Muslims during the Muzaffarnagar riots.

The tacit support of farmer leaders like Rakesh Tikait who have appealed to their community to ‘defeat and punish BJP’, is also helping the SP-RLD alliance.

Akhilesh, in his speeches, has been promising sops to farmers — from higher MSP to free power to compensation for farmers who died during the agitation and also a memorial for them.

The BJP, on the other hand, has been raising the spectre of communal riots and deterioration in law and order if the SP returns to power. It has also played the ‘Hindu First’ card to alienate Jats from the Muslim farmers.

Akhilesh knows that this phase of elections where Jats dominate is crucial because success here will give him a much-needed push in the race to reach the majority mark in the state assembly.

Western UP has more than one-third of the total seats and Jats rule the political mood here.

“It is the west where the sun sets and this time, the BJP’s sun will set in the west. They took a lead last time in 2017 from here and then betrayed the farmers during the agitation. We have made promises and we will fulfil them,” said Akhilesh.

ALSO READ: UP POLLS: 35.03% voting recorded till 1.00 pm
Categories
India News Uttar Pradesh

UP POLLS: 35.03% voting recorded till 1.00 pm

Of the total 403 seats in Uttar Pradesh Assembly, voting for 58 seats of the phase I of the seven-phase elections is being held on Thursday….reports Asian Lite News

The first phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls on Thursday saw 35.03 per cent voting till 1.00 p.m., according to the Election Commission of India (ECI).

“Phase I has seen 35.03 per cent polling till 1.00 p.m.,” the ECI statement said along with a disclaimer that these are approximate figures as data from some polling stations takes time to be incorporated.

Agra saw 37.02 per cent, Aligarh 32.06 per cent, Baghpat 38.03 per cent, Bulandshahar 37.05 per cent, Gautam Buddha Nagar 28.66 saw per cent voting, Ghaziabad 31.84 per cent, Hapur 40.12 per cent, Mathura 35.92 per cent, Meerut 34.37 per cent, Muzaffarnagar 35.55 per cent and Shamli saw 41.13 per cent, the EC statistics showed.

Of the total 403 seats in Uttar Pradesh Assembly, voting for 58 seats of the phase I of the seven-phase elections is being held on Thursday.

There are a total of 634 candidates in fray, 73 of them women. As many as 2.28 crore voters (1.04 of them female) will exercise their franchise at 26,027 polling booths across 10,853 polling stations in 11 districts.

ALSO READ: ‘Ghettoisation’: Pak’s Qureshi rakes up India’s hijab row

Categories
India News Uttar Pradesh

UP POLLS: 20.3 % voter turnout till 11 am

As many as 623 candidates are in the fray on 58 assembly seats where polls are being held today….reports Asian Lite News

A voter turnout of 20.3 per cent was recorded till 11 am on Thursday in the first phase of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, according to the Election Commission (EC).

The Shamli district witnessed the highest voting percentage with a voter turnout of 22.84 till the said time, while the Ghaziabad district witnessed the lowest voter turnout of 17.26 per cent.

Among all the 11 districts of the state, Agra recorded a voter turnout of 20.42 per cent, Gautam Budh Nagar 18.43 per cent, Meerut recorded 18.92 per cent, Muzaffarnagar recorded 22.56 per cent, Mathura recorded 20.39 per cent, Aligarh recorded 17.91 per cent, Baghpat recorded 22.24 per cent, Bulandshahr recorded 21.63 per cent and Hapur recorded 22.78 per cent till 11 am.

Voting for the first phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections began on Thursday at 7:00 am.

Covering the Jat-dominant belt of western Uttar Pradesh, the first phase of polls cover 58 assembly constituencies across 11 districts of the state.

The voting, which will conclude at 6:00 pm today, is taking place at 25,849 polling stations and 10,766 polling centres.

As many as 623 candidates are in the fray on 58 assembly seats where polls are being held today.

As per the set norms, the campaigning for the first phase of the UP polls ended on Tuesday (February 8) at 6 pm, marking the start of a 48-hour-long silence period.

The police have sealed the borders of the state and strict vigilance is underway to maintain peace in 58 constituencies where elections are underway.

Meanwhile, earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged all the voters in Uttar Pradesh to participate in the elections while following the necessary COVID-19 guidelines.

“Today is the first phase of voting in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. I request all the voters to participate enthusiastically in this holy festival of democracy by following the rules of COVID. Remember – Vote first, then refreshments,” read PM Modi’s tweet roughly translated from Hindi.

The 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly is scheduled to go to the polls in seven phases on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27, March 3, and 7. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI)

ALSO READ: ‘Ghettoisation’: Pak’s Qureshi rakes up India’s hijab row
Categories
India News Uttar Pradesh

Samajwadi Party vows 33% quota for women in govt jobs

The Samajwadi Party manifesto also announced 300 units of free power for domestic consumers and free power for small farmers….reports Asian Lite News

 In a major development, the Samajwadi Party on Tuesday announced 33 per cent reservation for women in government jobs when it comes to power in Uttar Pradesh.

Releasing the party’s manifesto – ‘Vachan Patra’ – here, SP President Akhilesh Yadav said that the reservation would be for all categories including general.

He said that women presence in the police force would also be increased and 33 per cent reservation would be given to women.

The Samajwadi Party manifesto also announced 300 units of free power for domestic consumers and free power for small farmers.

“Those having less than two bighas of land will be given free fertiliser, free power, and interest-free loan so that all farmers can be loan-free by 2025. We will also ensure MSP for all farmers and cane dues will be paid within 15 days. For this, we will make a farmers’ corpus fund,” Akhilesh Yadav said.

For BPL families, the SP has announced two free gas cylinders and one litre of petrol per month for owners of two-wheelers. Auto drivers will get three litres petrol/6 kg of CNG per month.

In the IT sector, the SP will ensure 22 lakh jobs for the youth.

Akhilesh Yadav further said that when he comes to power, free education will be given from KG to PG and the ‘Kanya Vidya Dhan scheme will give each girl Rs 36,000. The Samajwadi pension will also be increased to Rs 18,000 per year.

Women helpline 1090 will be strengthened and the facility of lodging FIR on email and WhatsApp will be provided.

“We will follow the policy of zero tolerance towards hate crimes and all police stations will be made corruption free,” he said.

Akhilesh Yadav further said that the old pension scheme will be revived for government employees and media facility centres will be set up for media persons.

A pension of Rs 18,000 per year will be given to artisans in the unorganised sectors and labour powerline 1890 will be set up to provide assistance to labour.

Samajwadi canteens and kirana stores will be set up to provide subsidised food and groceries to the poor.

The manifesto also promises cashless health services. Akhilesh Yadav said that the health budget of the state will be tripled.

ALSO READ: 3 free gas cylinders in BJP’s Goa poll manifesto

Categories
India News Uttar Pradesh

BJP’s sun will start setting: Akhilesh

The SP resident is contesting from Karhal in Mainpuri district and is being challenged by Union minister S.P. Singh Baghel….reports Asian Lite News

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has said that the BJP’s sun will start setting with the polling in western Uttar Pradesh during the first phase of the elections.

“The BJP’s sun will disappear forever when polling takes place in the third phase in Karhal,” he said.

The SP resident is contesting from Karhal in Mainpuri district and is being challenged by Union minister S.P. Singh Baghel.

Addressing a meeting in Karhal on Sunday evening, Akhilesh said, “I want a historical defeat of the BJP in the state from here.”

He appealed to the public to be his campaigner and garner votes for him, as he would be busy campaigning for party candidates across the state.

“The Karhal Assembly constituency and Mainpuri Lok Sabha will set an example of development if SP is voted to power,” Akhilesh assured the people.

He said that a modern technical institute will be built in Karhal to provide employment to youth and connect them to the nation. Besides, 22 lakh jobs will be provided in the IT sector alone, he said.

“Netaji’s (Mulayam Singh Yadav) relations with Karhal’s population are from his days of wrestling and I expect the same affection and love from here,” he said.

ASP post-poll alliance with SP

Chandra Shekhar Azad, the Bhim Army chief and the Azad Samaj Party (ASP) candidate from Gorakhpur, has said that though he is disappointed with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and BSP chief Mayawati, he is still open to post-poll alliances with them because his main objective is to prevent BJP from returning to power.

Chandra Shekhar told reporters that he made an effort to approach Akhilesh to stop BJP from winning.

“I respect Akhilesh Yadav but I cannot see people from other castes and religions suffering. He cheated me but I re-emerged as a stronger person and set up our andolan. I tied up with other smaller parties and formed the Samajik Parivartan Morcha. Why should people even vote for the Opposition parties? Have they fought for people or protected them from BJP’s dictatorship? Akhilesh is saying that if elected, he will restore the old pension scheme but why didn’t he do it when he was the chief minister from 2012 to 2017? However, we will see what happens after the elections and will do whatever is needed to stop BJP from coming to power.”

Asked whether he was positioning himself as a Dalit leader, Chandra Shekhar said, “I am projected as a Dalit leader but I am working towards ‘bahujan ekta’. I have fought for various issues like NEET quota, census for the OBC, CAA and NRC. I have set up youth leadership and given the poor an opportunity to work. Leaders like Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati are more concerned about their own politics than people. What did Mayawati do for Dalits over the past five years? Holding rallies and asking for votes is not her only job. She should be standing with Dalits. I respect her but I cannot leave the Dalit samaj to die at BSP’s hands.”

On his contesting against chief minister Yogi Adityanath, Chandra Shekhar said that, “Yogi Adityanath was never a frontrunner for the post of chief minister. In fact, he was not even an MLA. BJP asked for votes on the basis of OBCs but made him the chief minister. An MP from his party has openly said that Yogi misbehaved with him. His other MLAs sat in protest against him. He is a dictator and when people take a stand against dictators, even strong leaders like Indira Gandhi end up losing elections.”

The ASP leader further said that Gorakhpur should not be considered as a stronghold of one candidate or one party.

“People decide who will lead them. Look at what the chief minister has done over the past five years. The Hathras rape incident is an example of what is wrong with the state. The incident itself was horrific, followed by police action in which they deprived the family of the right to cremate their daughter. The government promised the family members a job but nothing has been given. The government says that bulldozers are being run over the property of criminals but what about those roaming free despite warrants against them because they are close to the chief minister. Yogi is not a leader of the people but of his Thakur community,” he said.

ALSO READ: Owaisi, Kejriwal sent by BJP to split votes: Congress

Categories
India News Uttar Pradesh

Wives out, husbands in BJP’s UP candidate list

In Amethi, Sanjay Sinh has been named a BJP candidate while his first wife and sitting MLA, Garima Singh has been denied a ticket….reports Asian Lite News

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has denied tickets to wives of two party leaders but has nominated their husbands for the ongoing Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

In the ninth list of candidates released late Sunday evening, BJP State Vice-President, Daya Shankar Singh has been named as a party candidate from the Ballia Assembly constituency. His wife and cabinet minister, Swati Singh, has already been denied ticket from the Sarojini Nagar Assembly constituency in Lucknow.

In Amethi, Sanjay Sinh has been named a BJP candidate while his first wife and sitting MLA, Garima Singh has been denied a ticket.

Overall, the BJP has replaced at least 15 of its sitting MLAs in the Assembly constituencies of eastern UP, going to the polls in the sixth and seventh phase. There are seven women in the candidate list.

Continuing with its OBC outreach, the saffron party has fielded 14 candidates from the group comprising castes like Kurmi, Rajbhar, Nishad and Nonia. There are nine Dalits and Thakurs, and eight Brahmins in the list.

Uttar Pradesh Minister, Anand Swaroop Shukla has been shifted to Bairia Assembly constituency in Ballia district where controversial MLA Surendra Singh has been dropped.

Surendra Singh announced his decision to contest as an independent candidate.

The sitting MLA from Lambhua in Sultanpur, Deomani Tripathi, who hogged limelight for writing letters to state Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath concerning atrocities against Brahmins, also failed to get a second chance. He has been replaced by Sitaram Varma.

Vinod Singh, a former minister during the Mayawati government, has been given a BJP ticket from Sultanpur.

Meanwhile, The BJP in Uttar Pradesh has put off the release of its ‘Sankalp Patra’, following the declaration of national mourning after the demise of singer Lata Mangeshkar, the Nightingale of India.

The ‘Sankalp Patra’ was scheduled to be released by Union Minister Amit Shah at the party’s state headquarters on Sunday morning.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath had also reached the BJP office but after a meeting between the party leaders, the decision to put off the event was announced.

The party leaders also observed a two-minute silence in respect of the 92-year-old singer.

ALSO READ: Owaisi, Kejriwal sent by BJP to split votes: Congress
Categories
India News Uttar Pradesh

BJP denies ticket for UP Assembly Speaker

Dixit was lobbying for a ticket for his son on his Bhagwant Nagar seat but the BJP has fielded Ashutosh Shukla….reports Asian Lite News

The Bharatiya Janata Party has denied ticket to Uttar Pradesh Assembly Speaker Hriday Narain Dixit. The party decision comes in view of the fact that the veteran leader has crossed 75 years of age.

Dixit was lobbying for a ticket for his son on his Bhagwant Nagar seat but the BJP has fielded Ashutosh Shukla.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Law Minister Brajesh Pathak, who had won from Lucknow Central in 2017, has been shifted to Lucknow Cantonment, denying ticket to the sitting BJP MLA Suresh Tiwari. Rajnish Gupta has been fielded from Lucknow Central.

With the announcement of Pathak’s ticket, speculations of the BJP fielding Aparna Yadav from the seat have come to a halt.

The seat was also being eyed by BJP MP Rita Bahuguna Joshi who wanted her son Mayank Joshi to contest the same.

Uttar Pradesh minister Swati Singh, who has been embroiled in a series of controversies, has been denied ticket from her Sarojini Nagar seat which now has former ED joint director Rajeshwar Singh as the new candidate.

Rajeshwar Singh had joined the BJP a day before he was named candidate.

Among those who were able to retain their seats are urban development minister Ashutosh Tandon, Neeraj Bora from Lucknow North and Jai Devi, wife of union minister Kaushal Kishore from Malihabad.

The Lucknow West has gone to Anjani Srivastava, a loyal BJP worker for years. However, Avinash Trivedi from Bakshi Ka Talab has also been denied the ticket this time. Yogesh Shukla, brother of a senior journalist, has managed to get the ticket from Bakshi Ka Talab in place of Trivedi.

The BJP sprung surprises outside Lucknow also as it has fielded Manish Rawat, who switched over from Samajwadi Party to BJP only a few days back, from Sidhauli.

Rawat is the son-in-law of former Samajwadi Party MP Sushila Saroj.

Interestingly, Samajwadi Party has fielded Anurag Bhadauria, who is also son-in-law of Sushila Saroj, as candidate from Lucknow East.

The BJP had won eight out of the nine seats in Lucknow in the last state elections.

Lucknow goes to polls on February 23.

ALSO READ: Punjab: Congress leader Jagmohan Kang joins AAP