Category: Uttar Pradesh

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Akhilesh alleges 99 BJP candidates have criminal history

The war of words between the SP and BJP has been rapidly escalating on the issue of criminals…reports Asian Lite News

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav has alleged that the BJP has, so far, fielded 99 candidates with a criminal history.

“The BJP is short of hitting a century. They have given tickets to 99 criminals,” he said in a tweet on Sunday.

The war of words between the SP and BJP has been rapidly escalating on the issue of criminals.

While the BJP has been accusing Akhilesh Yadav and his party of patronising persons with criminal backgrounds, Akhilesh has returned the fire by demanding to know the number of cases against Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and deputy Chief Minister Keshav Maurya.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said during his tours in the state that if the SP comes to power, there will be a reign of criminals in the state.

Yogi Adityanath, meanwhile has said that when he returns to power after the Assembly elections, he would continue with his bulldozer policies against criminals.

Akhilesh to file nomination today

Akhilesh Yadav will file his nomination papers from Karhal constituency in Uttar Pradesh’s Mainpuri on Monday.

He is contesting his first Assembly elections from Mainpuri which is known as an SP stronghold.

Interestingly, the BJP has not yet declared its candidate against Akhilesh from Karhal till date.

There have been speculations that the BJP may field someone from the Yadav family – Mulayam Singh Yadav’s daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav, who recently joined the saffron party in Delhi.

However, sources close to Aparna Yadav have denied any such possibility.

Mainpuri goes to the polls in the third phase on February 20 and the last date of filing nomination is Tuesday.

Big promise to farmers

Akhilesh Yadav is trying to woo the farmers who have given a call to observe January 31 as ‘Betrayal Day’.

Akhilesh Yadav has promised to set up plants for the production of mustard oil, which he says will not only benefit the farmers, but also the common man who will get oil at a cheaper rate especially at a time when its prices have skyrocketed.

In an exclusive conversation with IANS, Yadav said, “If farmers’ organisations are coming to UP, they must be coming to teach a lesson to the BJP, because the farmers are unhappy with the government. Farmer leaders are not contesting elections, but they are coming to UP.

“We buy refined oil after watching TV ads, but we have a healthier product in mustard oil. The farmers are not getting the price of the mustard they produce. But when the same farmer is buying mustard oil from the market, he has to pay Rs 200 for a litre. After forming the government in Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party will try to make mustard oil cheaper. If we have to give subsidies or have to set up a government plant, so that mustard oil becomes available at a cheaper rate, we will do that.”

The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) has announced that it will launch Mission UP from February 3 against the BJP government. Through a statement it has called upon people to “teach the BJP a lesson as it has not punished Union Minister Ajay Mishra Teni in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident, and it has betrayed the farmers by implementing anti-farmer policies”.

“Farmers under Mission Uttar Pradesh will start a new phase from February 3. Message to punish BJP through pamphlet distribution, press conferences, social media campaigns, public meetings and other means will be delivered to the people across the state by all the organisations of the SKM,” it said.

Apart from this, on the call of the SKM, ‘Betrayal Day’ will be observed across the country on January 31, with the farmers preparing to organise large-scale protests at the district and tehsil levels.

The farmers are upset with the government for not conceding their demands, though their main demand of withdrawal of three contentious farm laws has been met.

The 403-member UP Assembly will go to the polls in seven phases between February 10 and March 7. The counting of votes will be taken up on March 10. (MOHAMMAD SUAIB KHAN contributed to the report)

ALSO READ: BJP launches ‘Voter Connect Digital Campaign’

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9 UP ministers face challenge in first phase polls

9 UP ministers face challenge in first phase polls

The first phase of polls in Uttar Pradesh will decide the fate of nine ministers in the Yogi Adityanath government…reports Asian Lite News

This phase of polling is extremely crucial since it includes districts in western UP where candidates in several constituencies are facing hostile voters, mainly due to the farmers’ agitation.

The first minister contesting in this phase is Suresh Rana, minister for cane, from the Thana Bhawan Assembly seat in Shamli district.

Rana is known as a firebrand Hindu leader and was an accused in the Muzaffarnagar riots. He won from this seat in 2012 and then in 2017.

In 2012, he had won the seat with a razor thin margin of 265 votes but in 2017, his margin increased to over 16,000 votes.

The Yogi Adityanath government has withdrawn cases against him, but the minister faces resistance in his constituency on the issue of insufficient increase in cane MSP and pending arrears.

The second minister contesting in this phase is Atul Garg from Ghaziabad. He had defeated the BSP candidate with a margin of over 70,000 votes in 2017 and now faces the challenge of retaining his seat.

Shrikant Sharma, UP Power Minister, is also facing a crucial test in his constituency Mathura. In 2017, Sharma had defeated Pradeep Mathur of Congress with a margin of over 1.43 lakh votes.

Mathur is a three-term MLA from this seat and has been working overtime to regain his seat this time.

With Mathura now moving on to the BJP’s political agenda, the contest in this constituency is bound to be interesting.

The fourth minister in the fray in the first phase is Sandeep Singh, grandson of late Kalyan Singh.

Sandeep has been one of the few low-profile ministers in the Yogi Adityanath government and has steered clear of controversy in his tenure.

He is seeking re-election from Atrauli in Aligarh, which is considered a stronghold of the Kalyan Singh family. Kalyan Singh had won from this seat eleven times, which is a record in itself.

Anil Sharma, minister of state for environment, is seeking re-election from Shikarpur seat in Bulandshahr district. The seat is considered to be a BJP bastion and the party has won from here in the past five elections. This is Anil Sharma’s second election.

The sixth minister in the first phase of polls is Kapil Dev Agarwal from Muzaffarnagar Sadar seat. The seat has been the epicentre of farmers’ agitation and Agarwal faces a tough challenge this time.

Dinesh Khatik, who holds the flood control portfolio, was appointed minister four months ago in September 2021. He represents the Hastinapur constituency in the UP Assembly.

ALSO READ: UTTAR PRADESH: Yogi to contest from Gorakhpur

Hastinapur has a history of not repeating its representatives and this factor plays heavily on the minds of voters here. Khatik comes from an RSS background and owns brick kilns in the area.

Dr G.S. Dharmesh, social welfare minister, is seeking re-election from his Agra Cantt seat which is in the reserved category. Dr Dharmesh runs his clinic on the Agra-Gwalior highway. His main contender on this seat has been the BSP.

Another minister in the first phase is Chaudhary Laxmi Narain, minister for dairy development.

He is contesting from the Chhata Assembly seat in Mathura. He first won the election in 1996 on a Congress ricket and then went on to become minister in the Kalyan Singh government after the split in the Congress.

In 2007, he won on a BSP and then in 2017, he won on a BJP ticket. It remains to be seen whether he can break his own record and win the seat twice from the same party.

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Parties hopeful of EC lifting curbs

Parties hopeful of EC lifting curbs

Political parties in Uttar Pradesh are hopeful that the Election Commission (EC) would allow public meetings with restrictions after January 31 and have started making plans accordingly…reports Asian Lite News

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati has become the first to announce her party’s poll campaign launch from Agra through a public meeting on February 2.

Major parties are finding it difficult to connect virtually with voters, especially in the rural areas where digital penetration is still not sufficient.

“Most voters in the rural interiors do not have smart phones and therefore do not access social media. Physical campaigning cannot be replaced with virtual campaigning at a short notice,” said a candidate in Sultanpur.

The campaigning had been restricted after the election notification on January 8 when the EC banned rallies, public meetings and road-shows — first till January 15 and then till January 31.

Parties hopeful of EC lifting curbs

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that was apparently well prepared for the situation, hit the streets first from January 21 onwards with door-to-door campaigning by several top party leaders. The top leaders of other parties are now planning a re-launch of their campaigns.

The Samajwadi Party (SP) withdrew its physical campaigns after the January 14 event at the SP state headquarters in which the former BJP minister Swami Prasad Maurya and Dharam Singh Saini joined the party. The Lucknow police had filed an FIR and the ECI had issued a notice to the SP over the event.

SP spokesperson Abdul Hafiz Gandhi, said, “Our national president Akhilesh Yadav and the allies were doing intensive campaigning. The Vijay Rath Yatra was so successful that it became a talking point all over. But the SP and ally leaders withdrew from the campaign scene following the ECI’s MCC and Covid guidelines. Also, in the meantime, we are busy strategizing in the war room. The campaign will resume as and when EC allows.”

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has also said, “I am waiting for the ECI. My rath yatra will resume, once permitted, even if it means me riding the rath alone”.

Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) spokesperson also said that party chief Jayant Chaudhary will plunge into campaigning as soon as the curbs are relaxed. “Till then we are campaigning door-to-door,” he added.

ALSO READ: Elections in 5 Indian states from February 10 to March 7

Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) national spokesperson Piyush Mishra said, “Our president Om Prakash Rajbhar was intensively busy in campaigning solo. He will be back in action leading the party’s ‘Ghera dalo, dera dalo, gaon chalo abhiyaan’ — a village to village campaign programme — and when curbs are lifted, he and Akhilesh Yadav will address joint meetings.”

Mahan Dal chief Keshav Dev Maurya, Apna Dal (Krishna Patel) chief Krishna Patel and ex-BJP minister and now SP leader Swami Prasad Maurya, who have been doing the SP’s virtual rallies, will soon hit the roads as soon as EC announces relaxations.

The Congress, however, was being cautious.

Congress spokesperson Anshu Awasthi said, “If actual campaigning is allowed once again, then once again our leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other star campaigners will hit the roads. The Congress would appeal to the ECI to exercise caution because Covid is still very much there.”

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BJP to finalise candidates for Assembly polls tomorrow

Shortlisted names of the candidates recommended to the CEC have been already discussed by the top leadership with the state units, reports Asian Lite News

The BJP’s Central Election Committee (CEC) will meet on Wednesday to finalise candidates for Goa, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh.

Shortlisted names of the candidates recommended to the CEC have been already discussed by the top leadership with the state units.

Sources said that the meeting will be held on January 19 and names for Goa, and Uttarakhand are to be approved. “Names for a few more phases of Uttar Pradesh will be approved by the CEC,” sources said.

On Monday, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh BJP leaders discussed the shortlisted names with the Central leadership before the CEC. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and other senior leaders from Uttar Pradesh discussed the shortlisted names for the state with Nadda, Shah and others.

The BJP central leadership also discussed the names of probable candidates for Punjab on Monday. Union minister and party election in-charge for Punjab Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, election co-in-charge Meenakshi Lekhi, national general secretary and state in-charge Dushyant Gautam, Punjab BJP president Ashwani Sharma were present in the meeting.

BJP National President JP Nadda with Prime Minister Narendra Modi

On Sunday, Goa and Uttarakhand BJP leaders met the central leadership and discussed the names recommended by the state units. BJP chief Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah discussed the shortlisted names for Uttarakhand and Goa with respective states units. Both the chief ministers — Pushkar Singh Dhami and Pramod Sawant — attended the meeting with their respective state leaders.

In its first meeting last week, the BJP CEC finalised candidates for 172 Assembly seats of Uttar Pradesh where polling will be held in the first three phases. The BJP, however, released the first list of 107 candidates for Uttar Pradesh.

Last Thursday, the BJP CEC meeting was held in a hybrid mode as few of the CEC members, including party chief Nadda, have tested positive for Covid-19. Nadda, however, recovered from infection and attended meetings on Monday at party headquarters.

In Uttar Pradesh, the Assembly polls will be held in seven phases in February-March starting from February 10, while Goa and Uttarakhand elections will be held on February 14, and in Manipur, it will also be in two phases — on February 27 and March 3. Punjab assembly polls will be held on February 20. Counting of votes will take place on March 10.

ALSO READ: UTTAR PRADESH: Yogi to contest from Gorakhpur
ALSO READ: HS Rawat sacked as Uttarakhand minister, expelled from BJP

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Congress ‘Chaupals’ to reach voters

Lallu said ‘Pratigya Chaupals’ will be held in two-three villages every day in which state, district and block-level office bearers of the party will take part….reports Asian Lite News

The Congress will hold ‘Pratigya Chaupals’ all over Uttar Pradesh to reach out to voters in the rural areas.

In a letter sent to candidates and office bearers, UPCC President Ajay Kumar Lallu said in view of the current Covid-19 situation, the Congress has postponed all its large gatherings but small programmes can be organised with caution.

The party will hold ‘Pratigya Chaupals’ in villages, mohallas and wards, he said.

Lallu said ‘Pratigya Chaupals’ will be held in two-three villages every day in which state, district and block-level office bearers of the party will take part.

In these ‘chaupals’, the party manifesto for women and Congress’ pledge for farmers will be discussed, he said, adding discussions will also be held with youths, unemployed and women self-help groups.

The Congress has promised to give 40 per cent of its tickets to woman candidates.

It has also promised to reserve 40 per cent of government jobs to women, besides various other benefits to them, if the party wins the Assembly polls.

The party had earlier announced smartphones to girls enrolled in class 12 and scooters to girls enrolled in the graduation courses.

The ‘chaupals’ will be held keeping in mind Covid protocols and masks and medicines will be distributed as per requirement.

While announcing the poll schedule for the Assembly elections in five states earlier this month, the Election Commission had banned all sorts of public rallies and gatherings, allowing only door-to-door campaigning by various parties’ workers in groups of five or fewer people.

ALSO READ: AAP questions EC ahead of Punjab polls

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Only one person from a family to get ticket: BJP

In its first list released for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections on Saturday, the BJP had named several former MPs as candidates….reports Asian Lit News

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has made it clear that it will give ticket to only one person from the family of any party leader. Sources in the BJP said that not more than one person from the same family shall be named as a candidate in the upcoming Assembly elections.

According to party sources, the BJP will not field any of its sitting MPs in the assembly elections. However, it could field its former MPs.

In its first list released for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections on Saturday, the BJP had named several former MPs as candidates.

Sources said that many BJP MPs want assembly tickets for their children, but a decision in this regard will be taken on a case-to-case basis depending on the winning ability of the individual concerned, and the electoral equation of the particular seat.

Meanwhile, a senior party leader said that Aparna Yadav, the daughter-in-law of Mulayam Singh Yadav, may soon join the BJP.

Responding to the question of inclusion of other parties in the NDA alliance in Uttar Pradesh, the senior BJP leader said that currently, the alliance of BJP in the state is with Apna Dal (S) and Nishad Party.

Apart from Swami Prasad Maurya and Dara Singh Chauhan, many leaders of the OBC community have left the BJP and joined the Samajwadi Party.

Reacting to this, the veteran BJP leader said that these leaders might had gotten an impression that the party won’t issue them tickets.

However, he also claimed that their departure will not affect the BJP and the party will form the government in Uttar Pradesh by winning more than 300 seats this time.

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UTTAR PRADESH: Yogi to contest from Gorakhpur

Yogi Adityanath and Keshav Prasad Maurya

BJP’s state election in charge Dharmendra Pradhan announced the candidates’ names for 57 of the 58 seats going to polls in the first phase and 48 of the 55 seats in the second phase, reports Asian Lite News

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy Chief Minister Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya will contest the state Assembly polls from Gorakhpur and Sirathu constituency, respectively.

Cabinet Minister and BJP’s state election in charge Dharmendra Pradhan and party national general secretary announced the first list of candidates for the polls at the party headquraters in the national capital on Saturday.

Pradhan announced the candidates’ names for 57 of the 58 seats going to polls in the first phase and 48 of the 55 seats in the second phase.

He said the in the party’s Parliamentary board meeting held under the chairmanship of party national President J.P. Nadda and presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, decision to field Adityanath from Gorakhpur and Maurya from Sirathu was taken.

Both the leaders are members of the state Legislative Council.

The saffron party announced the candidature of Adityanath and Maurya as per their strategy to field veteran party leaders in the polls.

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BJP, Nishad Party and Apna Dal finalize seat sharing formula

It is learnt that Nishad party will contest about 15 to 18 seats and Apna Dal will contest 10 to 14 seats….reports Asian Lite News

Seat sharing formula between BJP and its alliance partners, Nishad Party and Apna Dal has been finalized. Both the Apna Dal and Nishad party are likely to contest a dozen seats each.

Sources said that the formula for seat sharing was decided after a meeting of leaders of both the alliance partners with union home minister Amit Shah on Wednesday night. “Last night, Nishad Party chief Sanjay Nishad, union minister and Apna Dal chief Anupriya Patel separately met Shah and discussed the formula for seats sharing. In the meeting the seat sharing formula was finalized,” sources said.

It is learnt that Nishad party will contest about 15 to 18 seats and Apna Dal will contest 10 to 14 seats. “Couple of candidates of both the parties may contest on the BJP symbol,” sources said.

The BJP’s Central Election Committee (CEC), meanwhile, met on Thursday to finalise candidates for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls. Sources said that names of 172 candidates have been finalised where polling will be held in the first three of the seven-phased polls.

For the first time, the CEC meeting is being held in the hybrid form as a few of the CEC members, including party chief J.P. Nadda, Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari have tested positive of Covid infection.

According to sources, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Nadda, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari virtually joined the CEC meeting. CEC member and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is also attending the meet at party headquarters.

Union Ministers Shah, Dharmendra Pradhan and Anurag Thakur, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath are among the leaders who are physically attending the meeting. Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya and Uttar Pradesh BJP general secretary (organization) Sunil Bansal are also present in the meeting.

The Assembly polls will be held in seven phases in February-March starting from February 10. Counting of votes will be held on March 10.

ALSO READ: Congress gives 50 tickets to women in UP

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UP resignation spree: Is undercurrent in favour of the SP?

The experts believe that the real issues are inflation, Covid deaths, stray animals, unemployment and the BJP has not been able to gauge the minds of its own MLAs and ministers….reports Asian Lite News

The resignation of three ministers in three days and the subsequent photos being uploaded with Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav has changed the dynamics of UP politics. Till a few days back the BJP was confident of winning back the state but the resignations have sent jitters down the spines in the BJP camp. The question is, whether there is an undercurrent in favour of the Samajwadi Party which is perceived to be the biggest gainer from these exits from the saffron party.

The SP is having the last laugh in terms of defections as all roads lead to the party office on Vikramaditya Marg in Lucknow. The rebels from the BJP BSP and the Congress are lining up at Akhilesh Yadav’s door, which analysts believe is in favour of the SP, as leaders like Maurya have a strong ground presence and feedback.

Delhi based independent analyst Shakil Akhtar says, “there is a feeling in the defectors that they can’t return to their constituency on a BJP symbol so they went to the party which has social justice in it roots while the BJP was dependent on social engineering.”

Uttar Pradesh Labour Minister Swami Prasad Maurya

The experts believe that the real issues are inflation, Covid deaths, stray animals, unemployment and the BJP has not been able to gauge the minds of its own MLAs and ministers.

Dharam Singh Saini on Thursday became the third minister after Swami Prasad Maurya and Dara Singh Chauhan to quit the Yogi Adityanath led BJP government. Saini was Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ayush, Food Security and Drug Administration.

After sending his resignation to the Governor, he went to meet Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav. Interestingly, in his resignation letter, Saini levelled the same allegation that other legislators had levelled against the Yogi government.

Saini, who represents the Nakud Assembly seat which is in western UP, has returned the security cover and residence allotted to him by the state government. He said he was resigning due to “gross neglect” of Dalits, backwards, farmers, unemployed youth and small traders.

After legislators belonging to the OBC category left the BJP, it is now a Brahmin MLA Bala Prasad Awasthi who has also walked into the Samajwadi Party fold.

Awasthi is a four-term MLA from Lakhimpur Kheri and a known Brahmin face in the Terai region. He also met Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday afternoon.

Earlier, Swami Prasad Maurya, Dara Singh Chauhan (both ministers) Roshan Lal Varma, Brijendra Prajapati, Bhagwati Sharan Sagar, Vinay Shakya and Avatar Singh Bhadana left the party in the past two days.

On Thursday, Mukesh Varma from Firozabad sent in his resignation. Then Dharam Singh Saini followed suit.

ALSO READ: Congress gives 50 tickets to women in UP

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Uttar Pradesh: JD-U sees no progress in attempts for alliance with BJP

Minister of State for HRD Upendra Kushwaha addresses a press conference. (File Photo: IANS)

JD-U Parliamentary Board President Upendra Kushwaha has said that the party has authorised Union Minister R.C.P. Singh to hold alliance talks with BJP and bag some seats, but so far nothing has happened, reports Asian Lite News

Janata Dal-United (JD-U) is making all efforts for poll tie-up with the BJP in Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, but so far, it is yet to achieve any success, say party leaders.

JD-U Parliamentary Board President Upendra Kushwaha has said that the party has authorised Union Minister R.C.P. Singh to hold alliance talks with BJP and bag some seats, but so far nothing has happened.

“The election schedule has been announced in Uttar Pradesh and the party has authorised R.C.P. Singh to do the job for the party. He is interacting with leaders of the BJP but positive results in favour of our party are not coming out,” Kushwaha said.

ALSO READ: Do or die battle for these leaders in Uttar Pradesh

“K.C. Tyagi, the national General Secretary of the party and incharge of Uttar Pradesh, rightly pointed out that BJP should address the issue in two days. He has to look after the organisation in Uttar Pradesh and accordingly make plans for the elections. The time is running out. So, the BJP should make a decision as early as possible. We are still waiting for the decision of the BJP,” Kushwaha said.

The JD-U demand sees tied to its wish for a sizeable number of the 24 MLC seats in Bihar where elections are scheduled soon. The JD-U, in spite of having less seats in the Assembly, wants to contest on 12 MLC seats.

ALSO READ: BJP begins door-to-door campaign in Uttar Pradesh