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Tag: uttar pradesh

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

    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”.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPI9zTytNjQ

    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

  • BJP’s sun will start setting: Akhilesh

    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

  • Akhilesh alleges 99 BJP candidates have criminal history

    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’

  • Suresh Khanna contesting to set a record

    Suresh Khanna contesting to set a record

    Khanna has been winning the seat continuously since 1989. He has held several portfolios in BJP governments and is presently the Parliamentary Affairs minister in the Yogi Adityanath government….reports Asian Lite News

    Others are contesting elections to win their seats but UP minister, Suresh Khanna, is contesting elections to set a record of winning his seat for the ninth consecutive term.

    Khanna has been winning the seat continuously since 1989. He has held several portfolios in BJP governments and is presently the Parliamentary Affairs minister in the Yogi Adityanath government.

    He belongs to the Khatri community that comprises only 1 per cent population of the area.

    If he wins his seat this time, he will equal the record of Ram Sewak of Congress, from the Jagdishpur constituency in Amethi district, who won nine consecutive times.

    Khanna, 67, plunged into politics during his days at Lucknow University in 1977 where he studied law.

    He contested his first assembly elections from Shahjahanpur in 1980 as a Lok Dal nominee and was defeated by Congress candidate, Nawab Sadiq Ali Khan.

    Undeterred by defeat, Khanna continued to work in Shahjahanpur, and in 1985, BJP awarded him party ticket for the assembly polls.

    This time he was defeated by Nawab Sikandar Ali Khan of Congress by a margin of around 4,000 votes.

    In 1989, however, the tide of luck turned and he defeated Nawab Sikandar Ali. After that win, Khanna said he never looked back, winning consecutive elections.

    Interestingly, the Shahjahanpur seat has roughly 37 per cent Muslim voters and from 1952 to 1989, the seat was won mostly by Muslim candidates, barring 1969 when Uma Shankar Shukla from the Bhartiya Jana Sangh was elected.

    This time, Khanna has been pitted against Tanveer Khan from the SP and 32-year-old Asha worker, Poonam Pandey, from the Congress.

    ALSO READ: Mayawati to launch campaign with Agra rally on Feb 2

  • 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.

  • 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.”

  • Yogi a major factor in Thakur support for BJP

    Yogi a major factor in Thakur support for BJP

    With Yogi Adityanath becoming the chief minister in 2017, the Thakur community has been overjoyed at what they call, ‘our share in power’…writes Amita Verma

    After almost three decades, Thakurs in Uttar Pradesh have experienced caste pride with Yogi Adityanath taking over the reins of the BJP government.

    The fact that Yogi Adityanath is also the head of Goraksh Peeth, which is a Kshatriya Peeth, has an added advantage.

    Thakurs in Uttar Pradesh, despite being a powerful community that wields influence in urban and rural areas, has failed to find its voice in the corridors of power after the end of the Veer Bahadur Singh regime in 1988.

    Though Rajnath Singh was the chief minister in 2000-2002 but he deliberately downplayed the caste angle in his tenure.

    Thakurs constitute only 8 per cent of the state’s population but actually own around 50 per cent of the land. They are known to wear their identity on their sleeves.

    With Yogi Adityanath becoming the chief minister in 2017, the Thakur community has been overjoyed at what they call, ‘our share in power’.

    There is no denying the fact that officers belonging to the Thakur community have been given good postings even though it is Brahmins who continue to hold high posts like chief secretary.

    The opposition has even accused the Yogi government of going overboard in protecting Thakur interests and shielding Thakur criminals but the chief minister remains unapologetic about it.

    Yogi Adityanath, who is respectfully addressed as “Maharaj’ by most Thakurs, is seen as a custodian of Thakur rights.

    “Thakurs have not got anything substantial in the BJP but our sense of self-respect and pride has been protected and that is what matters most. As for an increased representation in the government, this is only natural because the number of Thakur officers is higher compared to other castes and they have not been inducted in the Yogi regime,” said Thakur MLA of the BJP.

    The MLA further said, “In any case, Thakurs have nowhere else to go except the BJP. The Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party is keener on getting Brahmins into their fold and the Congress is preoccupied with its women campaign.”

    Moreover, Akhilesh Yadav has managed to ruffle Thakur feathers and injure their pride when he made an uncalled-for remark during one of his election meetings in Pratapgarh.

    Pratapgarh is the home of independent MLA and former minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh a.k.a. Raja Bhaiyya, who is now one of the tallest Thakur leaders in Uttar Pradesh. He has a royal lineage which adds to his stature and in state politics, he is known as an influencer who can make and break governments.

    In Pratapgarh, Akhilesh was asked if he would ally with Raja Bhaiyya’s new party, Jansatta Dal, and the SP president responded with “Kaun Raja Bhaiyya?”

    The remark evoked a sharp reaction among Thakurs-especially, since it was Raja Bhaiyya who had helped Mulayam Singh cobble up a majority by splitting the BSP and form government in 2003.

    “How can he insult our leader like this? No Thakur is now going to vote for SP. Raja Bhaiyya had shown the courtesy of going over and wishing Mulayam Singh at his residence in November but the SP president’s behaviour is socially and politically incorrect,” said Kunwar Pratap Singh, a resident of Pratapgarh.

    That Akhilesh is also not keen on Thakurs is evident from the fact that Thakur leaders in his own party remain side-lined.

    The BSP, too, is not seen as pro-Thakur — especially after Mayawati had booked two Thakurs — Raja Bhaiyya and Dhananjay Singh under POTA in 2002.

    The Congress, on the other hand, has almost no Thakur leadership left in the party and the focus in these elections is on women.

    In this situation the BJP is bound to get majority Thakur votes in these elections and with Yogi Adityanath leading the campaign, his community is completely rallying behind him.

    ALSO READ: It’s Yogi vs Azad in Gorakhpur

  • Nishad claims 15 seats, BJP yet to confirm

    Nishad claims 15 seats, BJP yet to confirm

    The Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aaam Dal, or Nishad party, was formed in 2016 and its leaders claim to enjoy support of the Nishad community, which is one of the Other Backward Classes (OBC)….reports Asian Lite News

    Nishad President Sanjay Nishad has claimed that his party will contest in 15 Assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh as part of an alliance with the BJP.

    However, Sanjay Nishad said that the seats are yet to be finalised, adding that that he will be meeting senior BJP leaders on Monday to finalise the constituencies where the party will field its candidates.

    “We have got 15 seats (out of 403 seats) to contest in alliance with the BJP. The seats are almost final. Most of the seats are in ‘Purvanchal’ (east Uttar Pradesh) and some are in western Uttar Pradesh. There are some seats which we want to change due to changing equations. We are focusing not only on seat but ‘jeet’,” he said.

    However, BJP leaders refused to comment on Sanjay Nishad’s claim and a party functionary said: “We are not aware of this seat sharing because no such information has bene communicated to us till now.”

    The Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aaam Dal, or Nishad party, was formed in 2016 and its leaders claim to enjoy support of the Nishad community, which is one of the Other Backward Classes (OBC).

    Sanjay Nishad said his party has built cadre base all over the state and has substantial influence in Gorakhpur, Ballia, Sant Kabir Nagar, Ambedkar Nagar, Jaunpur, Bhadohi, Sultanpur, Faizabad, Chitrakoot, Jhansi, Banda, Hamirpur and Etawah districts.

    The party fielded 100 candidates in the 2017 assembly election in alliance with the Peace Party of India, Apna Dal and the Jan Adhikar Party, but could win just one seat — Gyanpur in Bhadohi district.

    Sanjay Nishad, now a member of the Legislative Council, had contested the last Assembly election from Gorakhpur Rural and came third.

    In the 2018 Lok Sabha by-election, Sanjay Nishad’s son Praveen Kumar Nishad was a Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate and wrested the Gorakhpur constituency from the BJP which had been winning the seat since 1989.

    Praveen Kumar Nishad is now a BJP MP from Sant Kabir Nagar.

    The Nishad community is the second largest demographic group in Gorakhpur, the home constituency of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

    Talking about the virtual campaigning in the prevailing pandemic, Sanjay Nishad said: “We have associated youth workers who extensively use social media and digital offices of the party is functional in 70 districts (out of total 75). We are active on social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp.”

    On reports that the BJP will be fielding people with criminal background from his party’s quota, he said: “We will go through the image of every candidate and his acceptance among party workers and people. If people and workers like a candidate, he can be given a chance.”

    Commenting on ministers and legislators, belonging to the OBC castes, joining SP ahead of the election, Nishad said, “They had no popularity. They were praising and giving positive report card for Prime Minister and Chief Minister till now but when their personal demands were not met, they left the BJP. People now understand such leaders.”

    Sanjay Nishad, however, admitted that SP is in a direct fight with the BJP, but added that the ruling coalition will win more than 300 seats.

    “BJP takes all castes along. In the first list of candidates, majority of OBCs were given tickets. Its acceptance is good on the ground also due to works done by both the central and state governments,” he said.

    ALSO READ: AAP questions EC ahead of Punjab polls

  • BJP’s 3-tier arrangement for virtual rallies amid Covid restrictions

    BJP’s 3-tier arrangement for virtual rallies amid Covid restrictions

    From deploying technical experts in each Assembly constituency, the BJP has made multi-camera set up at district level in Uttar Pradesh to broadcast rallies of senior leaders. …reports Shashi Bhushan

    As the ban on the physical rallies and road shows was extended for one more week, the BJP has made elaborate plans to hold virtual rallies and meetings in all the Assembly constituencies in the five poll-bound states. The saffron party has made three tier arrangements from the national, state to district level for virtual rallies.

    From deploying technical experts in each Assembly constituency, the BJP has made multi-camera set up at district level in Uttar Pradesh to broadcast rallies of senior leaders.

    Sources said that for the virtual address of start campaigners a set up is being at national level in the national capital. “An arrangement is being made at national level for virtual addresses of national leaders and star campaigners,” sources said.

    Similarly, in all poll-bound states arrangements are being made in the state capital for virtual addresses of state leaders and other star campaigners.

    In Uttar Pradesh, the biggest state where polls will be held, the BJP has made special and elaborate arrangements at state, zone and district level. “All the necessary infrastructure for virtual rallies or meetings have been placed across Uttar Pradesh. We have divided the set up in three levels in Uttar Pradesh. At the state level, arrangements have been made at the state capital, similar arrangements have been made at zone and district level. As per the plans, star campaigner and senior leaders can use the arrangement at any level to virtually address the voter,” a senior Uttar Pradesh BJP functionary said.

    The Uttar Pradesh BJP also uses multi camera set up and technology to create a 3-D impact during virtual rallies of star campaigners. “This time setting up a studio using multi cam and technology to create 3-D effect,” another Uttar Pradesh BJP leader said.

    The BJP has also got software designed as per its requirement and trained workers to use it. Necessary logistics support is also provided to workers at assembly levels to effectively hold the virtual rallies without any glitches.

    Punjab BJP president Ashwani Sharma said that all the arrangements for the virtual rallies of party leaders have been made and technical experts have been deployed at each assembly constituency.

    “Our workers are trained to organise virtual rallies and logistics have been arranged. We are also deploying one or two technical experts to help our workers to hold glitch free virtual rallies,” Sharma said.

    In the hill state of Uttarakhand, the saffron party is also sending experts in each Assembly constituency and setting up a studio in Dehradun to serve as a central link of all virtual rallies and meetings.

    “Senior leaders will address the virtual rallies from the studio in Dehradun. Link will send to all the voters of a particular Assembly seat on their mobile phones to join the rally,” a Uttarakhand BJP functionary said.

    A central BJP leader said that similar arrangements have been made in all the poll-bound states, including Manipur and Goa and all the necessary assistance is provided to the state unit to smoothly hold the virtual rallies.

    “We are prepared to hold virtual rallies and meetings. We are fully prepared to follow whatever guidelines issued by the Election Commission,” he added.

    On Saturday, the ECI extended the ban on the physical rallies and road shows till January 22, however, it has allowed the political parties to do indoor meetings of maximum of 300 persons or 50 per cent of the capacity of the hall or the prescribed limit set by State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA).

    ALSO READ: It could be touch and go for the BJP in UP

  • UTTAR PRADESH: Yogi to contest from Gorakhpur

    UTTAR PRADESH: Yogi to contest from Gorakhpur

    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.