Assembly Elections 2022 LIVE: PM Modi's exclusive interview to ANI; UP countdown begins

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address a physical public rally in Punjab on 14th February. The arrangements are in progress and the team of PM security has already arrived at Jalandhar and Pathankot to secure the venues.

Punjab Congress Chief Navjot Singh Sidhu once again left his election campaign midway and reached Mata Vaishno Devi Temple. This is the second time in a week that Sidhu has left the campaign midway to offer prayers at this religious shrine. This comes after Charanjit Singh Channi was named the Punjab CM candidate. 

Here are some of the promises in Congress' UP manifesto:

• Farmers' loans will be waived off within 10 days of coming to power

• Electricity bills will be waived off

• COVID-affected families will be given Rs 25,000

• 20 lakh government jobs

• Aid up to Rs 10 lakh will be given for any disease

• Cow dung will be bought for Rs 2/kg

• School fees will be regulated

• Around 2 lakh vacant teaching seats will be filled

• Teachers and 'Shiksha Mitra' will be regularized

• Free education for students of tribal & backward classes from KG to PG

In a big development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address a physical public rally in Punjab on February 14. The arrangements are in progress and the team of PM security has already arrived at Jalandhar and Pathankot to secure the venues. This comes nearly a month after his convoy was blocked by protesters while he was on the way to take part in the Ferozepur rally. 

In a big jolt to Congress ahead of the Punjab polls, its Lok Sabha MP Jasbir Singh Gill’s brother Harpinder Singh alias Rajan Gill joined SAD in Amritsar. The latter had filed his nomination from the Khadoor Sahib seat but the Congress party denied him a ticket. In a clear sign of resentment, Jasbir Singh Gill advised people to vote for the most honest candidate irrespective of which party he or she belongs to. 

There are nearly 615 candidates in the fray for the 58 constituencies going to the polls on Thursday, February 10. In the 2017 polls, BJP won 53 of the aforesaid 58 seats spread over 11 districts in western UP. As this is a region dominated by Jats, RLD is perceived as a key player in this phase. 

Here are some of the key contests: 

1. Noida: Pankaj Singh (BJP) vs Sunil Choudhary (SP) vs Pankhuri Pathak (Congress)

2. Kairana: Nahid Hasan (SP) vs Mriganka Singh (BJP)

3. Thana Bhawan: Suresh Kumar (BJP) vs Ashraf Ali (RLD)

4. Muzaffarnagar: Kapil Dev Aggarwal (BJP) vs Saurabh (RLD)

5. Mathura: Shrikant Sharma (BJP) vs Pradeep Mathur (Congress)

6. Sardhana: Sangeet Som (BJP) vs Atul Pradhan (SP)

7. Agra Rural: Babi Rani Maurya (BJP) vs Mahesh Kumar (RLD)

Lashing out at the BJP government over the law and order situation of the state after his car was attacked, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said, "They (assailants) are descendants of Godse. They are people with the mindset same as those who killed Gandhi. They are the same who want to disrespect the Constitution of Ambedkar. They don't trust rule of law but the rule of gun. They don't trust ballots but bullets."

Lok Insaaf Party chief and sitting MLA from Atam Nagar Simarjit Singh Bains was arrested after he along with his supporters was booked on the attempt to murder charge. Deputy Commissioner of Police Ravcharan Brrar said the case was registered on the complaint of Congress leader Gurvinder Singh. A clash took place between supporters of Bains and Congress party candidate Kawaljit Singh Karwal on Monday night.  Three people were injured and five vehicles, including a car of Karwal, were vandalised in the incident. Both Bains and Karwal are contesting from the Atam Nagar assembly constituency.  

BJP National President JP Nadda addressed a public meeting in Murida-Fatorda in poll-bound Goa. In his address, Nadda said, "From PDP & National Conference, SAD, Samajwadi Party, RJD, JMM, TMC, TDP & YSR, KCR, DMK, and Indian National Congress - all these parties are family and dynasty-based parties. There's only one ideological party that works to serve the people - the BJP." 

Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi's nephew Bhupinder S Honey to remain in Enforcement Directorate custody till 11th Feb. He was arrested by the agency in an illegal sand mining case.

In a blow for Samajwadi Party, the Supreme Court refused to grant any relief to Rampur MP Azam Khan who was seeking interim bail to campaign in upcoming the Uttar Pradesh elections. The SC asked Azam Khan to approach the concerned court with his plea. While Azam Khan is contesting the polls from Rampur, his son Abdullah Azam Khan is in the poll fray from the Suar seat. 

Addressing a joint press conference alongside Akhilesh Yadav, WB CM Mamata Banerjee urged everyone to support Samajwadi Party. Giving a clarion call to defeat BJP, she cautioned people not to fall for their false promises. Banerjee also revealed that she will visit Varanasi soon. 

She added, "History will never forgive those responsible for Hathas, Unnao incidents & bodies dumped in Ganga in UP during Covid. Yogi Ji, where were you when these things were happening? Yogi Ji must apologise to the people of Uttar Pradesh."

On this occasion, the SP supremo said, "BJP deployed its entire strength in West Bengal but they could not defeat Didi. She has come to Lucknow from Kolkata but those from BJP couldn't come to UP from Delhi stating 'bad weather'. BJP's plane of lies won't be able to land in UP this time."

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will conduct a roadshow in Mathura today. She will also address corner meetings and urge people to cast vote for Congress candidate Pradeep Mathur and perform Yamuna Pooja at the Vishram Ghat later in the day. She will touch down at the helipad in Vrindavan at noon. 

PM Modi will address a rally for the voters of Fatehgarh Sahib and Ludhiana for the upcoming Punjab polls via video conferencing at 3.30 pm today. 

PM Narendra Modi will address a mega rally at 4 pm on February 10 at Bodgeshwar Temple in Mapusa. The meeting is expected to be attended by over 10,000 party workers. Also, 20 screens will be put in all South Goa constituencies. As per sources, the PM is likely to announce a big package for Goa. Sources revealed that BJP has selected Mapusa for the PM rally so that it can get maximum party workers from talukas of Bardez, Pernem, Bicholim, Sattari and Tiswadi. 

In a key development, BSP supremo Mayawati will address her first poll rally in Punjab today. The rally will be held at Nawanshahar at around 1 pm in the presence of SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal, other SAD leaders and BSP leaders. Both parties have forged an alliance for the Punjab Assembly polls. 

After Mamata Banerjee announced her support for Akhilesh Yadav in the UP elections, Union Minister Smriti Irani hit back at the SP chief. Addressing a rally in Jewar, she recalled the manner in which the TMC supremo had purportedly insulted the people of Uttar Pradesh during her West Bengal election campaign.

She opined, "Akhilesh Ji, I want to ask what is the necessity to seek her support who forgot the glorious history of this state and openly insulted the residents of the state? What is the compulsion that Akhilesh Ji needs Mamata? But Akhilesh Ji is definitely sending a signal that he cannot get the support of people on his own."

Uttar Pradesh:

Republic P-MARQ Opinion poll predicts that the NDA is likely to emerge as the single largest alliance once again in Uttar Pradesh with 249-269 seats in the 2022 Assembly polls. However, the saffron will suffer a major seat loss as Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party and its allies may win 113-133 seats. The Bahujan Samaj Party's seat share is likely to reduce further as the Republic P-MARQ Opinion Poll suggests only 9-17 seats for Mayawati's party. On the other hand, Congress may get 3-9 seats.

Uttarakhand:

Republic P-MARQ Opinion poll predicts that BJP is likely to retain power with the party projected to win 34-40 seats in the 70-member Assembly. On the other hand, Congress is likely to see major gains. The grand old party is projected to win 27-33 seats, while debutant AAP can win 0-2 seats. The other parties and independents are likely to win 1-3 seats.

Punjab:

Republic P-MARQ Opinion poll predicts that Punjab may witness a hung assembly as Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party might win 49-55 seats, just short of the majority mark. The ruling Congress is predicted to win 43-49 seats while Shiromani Akali Dal can get 15-21 seats. BJP, who is fighting polls in alliance with Captain Amarinder Singh's Punjab Lok Congress and SAD (Sanyukt), can win 1-3 seats.

Goa: 

Republic P-MARQ Opinion poll predicts the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to win 15-19 in the 40-member House. On the other hand, Indian National Congress, which was the single largest party in the 2017 assembly elections, is likely to get 10-14. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) which went black in the last polls might win 5-9 seats. Debutant Trinamool Congress along with its ally MGP can get 1-5 seats. The majority mark is 21.

Manipur: 

Republic P-MARQ Opinion poll predicts that BJP is likely to stay ahead in the race as the poll shows the saffron party bagging the most 29-35 seats out of 60 seats followed by the Indian National Congress winning 13-19 seats. The National People’s Party (NPP) and the Naga People’s Front (NPF) remain behind INC with 4-10 and 2-6 seats respectively.

With just a week left for voting in the Goa assembly polls, the ruling BJP is stepping up campaigning with its top leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, set to address physical election rallies in the state over the next few days. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari will release BJP's election manifesto today and address rallies in Fatorda and Navelim later.

On February 9, Amit Shah will take part in a door-to-door campaign and hold two rallies in Bicholim and Sankhalim thereafter. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh shall hold poll meetings at Ponda and Vasco on the same day. On the other hand, the PM will address an election meeting in support of party candidates on February 10 at Mapusa. 

A joint press conference will be addressed by Mamata Banerjee and Akhilesh Yadav at the Samajwadi Party office in Lucknow at 11.30 am. While TMC is not contesting the UP Assembly election, it has decided to support SP. However, the Mamata Banerjee-led party will fight the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Uttar Pradesh. 

Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad will file his nomination from Gorakhpur Urban in the afternoon today. UP CM Yogi Adityanath is also contesting from this seat which BJP hasn't lost since 1989. 

BJP will release the Lok Kalyan Sankalp Patra (Manifesto) for the 2022 UP assembly elections today. The programme will be held at the Indira Gandhi Pratishthan at about 11 am. The manifesto will be released by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the presence of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, state election in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan, co-in-charge Anurag Thakur, State President Swatantra Dev Singh, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, Dr. Dinesh Sharma and other senior leaders. 

Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Manipur and Punjab. The ruling BJP in Uttar Pradesh under CM Yogi Adityanath faces a resurging Akhilesh Yadav, in Uttarakhand it faces a strong Congress under ex-CM Harish Rawat, in Goa, Pramod Sawant faces a tricorner fight with Congress, TMC and AAP in the fray and Manipur CM Biren Singh faces a beleaguered Congress. However, in Punjab, it is the ruling Congress, which is now heavily embroiled in infighting, faces a rising AAP, Akali Dal-BSP and an unlikely combination of BJP-Amarinder Singh, apart from the farm union political leaders. Results for all elections will be declared on March 10.