Assembly Elections 2022: Harish Rawat's seat changed; Min's son set to contest solo in Goa

Days before former CM Harish Rawat was set to file his nomination from Ramnagar, the Congress party changed his seat for the upcoming Uttarakhand election. In its third list of candidates released on Wednesday night, it dropped three candidates declared previously, switched the seats of two others and named 5 fresh faces. While Rawat will contest from Lalkuwa, Mahender Pal Singh was nominated from Ramnagar. Meanwhile, Harish Rawat's daughter and All India Mahila Congress general secretary Anupama Rawat shall fight the polls from the Haridwar Rural constituency. 

Raj Kumar Verka, Punjab Cabinet Minister, on Bikram Majithia vs Sidhu fight in Amritsar East constituency, said, "He (Majithia) has to lose so he wants to lose from a strong man, what is the problem with that. Everyone knows that he is an absconder, if he wants to lose, we welcome him. No one is in comparison to Sidhu."

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has released a list of nine candidates for the Uttarakhand Assembly elections. Former Chief Minister BC Khanduri's daughter  Ritu Bhushan Khanduri has been fielded from Kotdwar while Shaila Rani Rawat from Kedarnath.

Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Chaudhary Jayant Singh, on Wednesday, replied to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s "door is always open" comment by saying that the saffron party should not welcome him. Taking to his official Twitter handle, the son of former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh said that instead of him, the families of the 700 farmers whose houses the BJP uprooted should be welcomed. 

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Former Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar's son Utpal Parrikar on Wednesday said that he will file his nomination papers from the Panaji Assembly constituency on Thursday.

"I express my gratitude to Akali Dal chief S.Sukhbir S.Badal Ji for giving me the opportunity to contest from Amritsar East constituency. Akalis have a brave history of fighting to safeguard the rights of Punjabis & protecting them from the anti-Punjab elements like Navjot Sidhu," Bikram Majithia tweeted.

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia will contest the Punjab Assembly election against State Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal informed on Wednesday.

"We wanted to welcome (RLD chief) Jayant Chaudhary in our home (BJP) but he has chosen the wrong path. People of the Jat community will speak to him. Our door is always open for him," says BJP MP Parvesh Verma after a meeting of HM Amit Shah with Jat leaders from UP

Ahead of the Uttar Pradesh elections, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday held a meeting with Jat leaders to garner their support. According to sources, Jat leaders pledged to support the Bharatiya Janata Party. The meeting was held in New Delhi on the sidelines of Republic Day celebrations.

In a major political development, former Punjab Chief Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) patron Parkash Singh Badal will contest assembly elections from Lambi. Calling Parkash Badal 'one of the tallest leaders', Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa said that the 94-year-old contesting polls would not have a major impact as today's generation would not connect with him.

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Delhi CM and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal will be on a visit to Punjab from January 28th to 30th. He will visit several assembly constituencies there, including Jalandhar and Amritsar.

Jat votes have once again taken the center stage of polls in west Uttar Pradesh and Union Home Minister Amit Shah is set to meet over 100 leaders from the community today to garner their support. The meeting will be held in New Delhi on the sidelines of Republic Day celebrations. As per reports, most of these Jat leaders and influencers are associated with the BJP. 

Shiromani Akali Dal has announced that its veteran leader and former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal will contest from the Lambi constituency seat in the Punjab polls. Badal had won the 2017 Assembly elections from the seat, defeating Captain Amarinder Singh, who went on to secure the Patiala Urban seat.

The 94-year-old Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) patriarch was on Monday evening discharged from the hospital where he was admitted after he tested positive for COVID-19 last week.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday took a fresh dig at Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi talking about how the Congress party had a 'use and throw policy' for him. AAP leader Raghav Chadha stated that the grand-old party had given tickets to relatives of 10 leaders for the upcoming Punjab Election, but had denied fielding CM Channi's own brother.

Slamming the party's 'dynastic politics', Chadha said that the party only promoted sons and relatives of leaders. 

Accusing the UP Police of assaulting students and vandalizing their hostel, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, “It is highly condemnable that police in Prayagraj are thrashing students and vandalizing their lodges and hostels.”

"The administration should immediately stop this repressive action. The youth have every right to speak about employment and I am fully with them in this fight," she added. 

The Prayagraj Police on Tuesday cracked down on a group of students who, while protesting against the railway recruitment process, allegedly tried to stop a train. Sharing visuals of the incident where cops were baton charging at the students, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said, such "misbehavior with the students will lead to the historic downfall of the BJP."

"Violent attack by police on innocent students who raised their voice for their right to employment in Allahabad…shameful and deeply condemnable. The misbehavior with the students in the BJP government will lead to the historic downfall of the BJP. SP is with the struggling students!" he tweeted. 

Penning an open letter on Republic Day, Akhilesh Yadav gave a clarion call for the formation of a Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh. Alleging that the "Constitution is in danger", he urged the people to march towards "positive politics" to bring about a change in their lives.

In a huge claim ahead of the Uttar Pradesh election, Priyanka Gandhi asserted that the BJP leadership is trying to cut UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to size. To buttress her point, she highlighted that Adityanath had been fielded from the Gorakhpur Urban seat amid initial speculations that he will be fielded from Ayodhya.

Speaking to the media on Tuesday, she opined, "I suppose in an autocratic system like BJP's, there can only be one supreme leader". 

Uttarakhand Congress leader Harish Rawat will file his nomination from the Ramnagar Assembly seat on January 28. He will undertake 'padyatra' in Ramnagar on January 27.

Bharatiya Janata Party's manifesto for the upcoming Uttarakhand assembly elections is likely to be released on February 2, party sources said on Tuesday.

"BJP's manifesto for the Uttarakhand polls is likely to be released on February 2 in the presence of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari," a source said.

The party has declared names of candidates on 59 seats out of the 70 seats in Uttarakhand.

Hours after senior Congress leader and former Union minister RPN Singh switched over to the BJP, Congress candidate from Padrauna, Manish Jaiswal too resigned from the party. Reports also claim that Kushinagar Congress president Rajkumar Singh has quit the party. Both Singh and Jaiswal are mulling over joining the BJP.

The Congress had declared Jaiswal as its candidate in the first list released on January 13, which also included UP Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu, who is contesting from Tamukhi Raj constituency. "Following the resignation of R P N Singh ji, I too have resigned from the Congress," Jaiswal told PTI.

The Congress on Tuesday released its second list of 23 candidates for Punjab assembly elections, fielding former chief minister Harcharan Singh Brar's daughter-in-law Karan Brar from Muktsar. With this, the party has so far announced 109 candidates of the total 117 assembly seats in Punjab.

Speaking to the media, Congress MLA Irfan Ansari said, "RPN Singh was an intruder who looted Jharkhand as long as he was here. He was on a mission by BJP to destroy Congress in the state... He took money for party tickets... He misguided the high command. 

At the receiving end of a lot of backlash for the choice of candidates for Uttar Pradesh, a fuming Samajwadi Party on Tuesday chose to return the favour. Taking to microblogging site Twitter, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said, "BJP's team captain (CM Yogi), vice-captain (Keshav Prasad Maurya) in UP and 82 candidates out of 195 announced so far have a criminal image."

Not leaving the chance to slam the BJP government at the centre, Yadav said," and in Delhi team, in their honour…BJP should declare 'Lakhimpur' as capital instead of Lucknow!"

Defections from the Congress part continue ahead o assembly elections in 5 states. This time, in Goa, Congress leader Joseph Sequeira announced that he is all set to join BJP today.  "My priority is Calangute and I want to make changes in and do developmental work in Calangute," he said. 

Adil Choudhary, Samajwadi Party candidate from Meerut South, threatened Hindus, said, "If our government comes, we will not leave it... will be avenged selectively"

"Has Akhilesh given ticket to anti-Hindu goons like Nahid Hasan, Adil Chaudhary?" asked Bharatiya Janata Party's Amit Malviya, sharing the video on microblogging site Twitter. 

The nameplate of RPN Singh, who quit Congress and joined BJP today, was removed from the Congress party headquarters. 

Former Member of Parliament Anand Prakash tenders his resignation from the Congress party citing 'negligence towards workers' ahead of Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections. 

The Election Commission of India allotted the 'bow and arrow' to Shiv Sena for the upcoming general elections to the legislative assemblies of Uttarakhand, Goa and Uttar Pradesh. 

Former Union Minister and ex-Congress leader RPN Singh formally joined the BJP today, in the presence of three Union Ministers. Addressing the media after jumping ship ahead of UP elections, Singh said that he served Congress for 32 long years, but its ideology is not the same anymore. 

"I have been in Congress for 32 long years. It's not the same party and the ideology. Many people suggested that I should join the BJP. Though late, I have finally joined the BJP," said RPN Singh. 

Issuing a scathing attack on RPN Singh on quitting the Congress, party leader Supriya Shrinate said 'cowards can9ot fight the battle that Priyanka (Gandhi) is fighting.'

Rahul Gandhi will make a virtual start of the Punjab election campaign from January 27. He will first viist the AmritsarGoldn Temple on Thursday then travel to Jalandhar by road and address a virtual rally for candidate Pargat Singh from Jalandhar Cantt.

Congress workers from all over Punjab will join the virtual rally of Rahul Gandhi by following the Kovid protocol in a virtual manner and through Congress offices.

Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader RPN Singh has arrived at the BJP headquarters in Delhi. Taking to Twitter, RPN Singh accepted the leadership of the BJP. He will be inducted into the saffron party shortly. 

Union Minister of State for Commerce & Industry and Apna Dal party's national president Anupriya Patel, her husband  & working president Ashish Patel, among others will campaign for the first and second phase of UP polls.

State Congress President Navjot Singh Sidhu and CM Charanjit Singh Channi are reportedly clashing over the remaining 31 names of Punjab Congress candidates. According to sources, these names could not be agreed upon in the CEC meeting.

Now a committee of three leaders has been formed by the Congress to finalize the names. According to sources, Navjot Singh Sidhu wants to field new faces by cutting the tickets of about 9 sitting MLAs, a move opposed by CM Channi. 

Today there are more than 95.3 crore voters of which 49 crore are male voters and 46 crores are female voters. Among these registered voters, there are 1.92 crore senior citizens, said Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra on National Voter's Day.

In a major jolt to Congress, AICC Jharkhand in charge and ex-Union Minister RPN Singh has quit the party ahead of Uttar Pradesh elections. Confirming the same on Twitter, Singh wrote "Today, at a time, we are celebrating the formation of our great Republic, I begin a new chapter in my political journey."

Speculation is rife that RPN Singh might join the BJP today at 2:30 pm. He is likely to be fielded as a BJP candidate in the upcoming polls from Padrauna, a seat that he represented from 1996 to 2009, or Kushinagar. As per sources, he is also negotiating for a Lok Sabha ticket for a close family member. 

As many as five Congress leaders from the party's star campaigners' list are likely to jump ship today, along with RPN Singh, sources told Republic. The former Union Minister and senior Congress leader has tendered his resignation and is set to join the BJP at 2:30 pm today. Sources have now informed that five top Congress leaders, who were listed among star campaigners for the UP polls are likely to quit the party today. 

In an exclusive interview with Republic TV on Tuesday, Manipur CM N Biren Singh exuded confidence in BJP getting a two-thirds majority in the upcoming election. He spoke on a wide array of issues ranging from the BJP-led government's performance over the last 5 years, benefits of Central schemes, campaigning-related restrictions, Congress' fortunes, and the row over the Armed Forces Special Powers Act.

Manipur, which has 60 seats out of which 20 are reserved for STs and one for SCs, will go to the polls in two phases- February 27 and March 3 whereas the counting of votes is scheduled for March 10. 

After a long break, Bahujan Samajwadi Party President and former UP Chief Minister Mayawati is set to address a public meeting in Agra on February 2, the party informed on Tuesday. The meeting will be held in adherence with COVID-19 protocols and the venue will be shared shortly, the BSP added. 

PM Modi, while interacting with Page Samiti members from Gujarat, via Namo app said, "India is one of the countries where the Election Commission (EC) can issue notices to people and transfer officials. Our EC and election process set a benchmark for various countries. He was speaking to BJP Karyakartas on the occasion of National Voters' Day

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, UP Deputy CM KP Maurya, and other BJP leaders arrived at BJP headquarters in Delhi for the CEC meeting. 

Congress' woes are set to escalate ahead of the Uttar Pradesh election as AICC Jharkhand in-charge and ex-Union Minister RPN Singh is likely to join BJP soon, sources told Republic TV. Speculation is rife that Singh might be fielded as a candidate in the upcoming polls from Padrauna, a seat that he represented from 1996 to 2009 or Kushinagar. RPN Singh is rpeortedlu negotiatong BJP Lok Sabha ticket for close family member too. 

Supreme Court has issued notice to the Centre and Election Commission of India seeking direction to seize election symbols and deregister political parties that promised to distribute irrational freebies from public funds.

The court was hearing a PIL seeking curb on mindless freebies announced by political parties on the eve of elections to cast a huge financial burden on the exchequer of states, already under severe debt burden. 

CJI NV Ramana and Justices A S Bopanna and Hima Kohli referred to an earlier judgment of SC scoffing at freebies, even while terming these as no corrupt electoral practices, and asked the Centre and EC what steps they contemplate to regulate freebies promised during electioneering.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is holding a virtual interaction with BJP workers from across the country via NaMo app. The interaction comes in the run-up to the assembly polls in five states, including Uttar Pradesh, with the Election Commission not allowing physical rallies by political parties due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

PM Modi encouraged the BJP workers to follow the protocols of the Election Commission while reaching out to voters. He also asked them to focus on increasing the voting percentage to at least 75% in all pull-bound states. 
 

Vice President of India M.Venkaiah Naidu today urged Election Commission and the citizens to ensure a voter turnout of 75% in the next general elections to make electoral democracy more inclusive and also sought consensus on simultaneous polls.

On the issue of AFSPA, Manipur CM N Biren Singh said that he himself wants the AFSPA to be lifted but only after mutual coordination with the central government as National security is the topmost priority.

When asked Congress Party is saying that it would withdraw AFSPA if it comes to power, CM Biren asked why they didn't do this when they were in power.

"I myself and the people of the state want to leave AFSPA. No doubt, I am also against it. But first, as a citizen of India and as a responsible person, we have to see the national security also. Because we are on the border. We have a border with Myanmar. Many insurgent groups are hiding inside Myanmar," he told Republic.

Disgruntled over the rejection of his poll nomination paper by the returning officer, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Joginder Singh for Miranpur assembly seat allegedly poured kerosene oil over his clothes to immolate himself before the district collectorate office here on Monday. According to the police, they managed to foil his alleged suicide bid by overpowering him and stopping him from lighting the matchstick. 

Amid speculation over BJP's decision to not field Yogi Adityanath from Ayodhya, the makeshift Ram temple's chief priest Mahant Satyendra Das opined that it was a good move. Speaking to the media on Monday, Das contended that the Uttar Pradesh CM could have faced a lot of opposition in this seat. While conceding that he could have won from Ayodhya, he asserted that the people whose houses and shops were demolished due to infrastructure projects were opposing him.

While BJP had won this seat in the 2017 polls, SP's Tej Narayan Pandey had secured victory from here in 2012.

In his first response to Captain Amarinder Singh claiming that Pakistan PM Imran Khan asked for his reinstatement in the Punjab Cabinet, Navjot Singh Sidhu dubbed the ex-CM as a "spent cartridge". Addressing a press briefing in Chandigarh on Monday, the Punjab Congress president refused to make any further comment on a barrage of questions pertaining to this allegation. However, Congress' media in-charge for the Punjab elections Alka Lamba stressed that he would respond to the Punjab Lok Congress leader's claim in the next press conference.

Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, announced on Monday that if his party is voted to power in Punjab, his government will prepare the state budget after taking suggestions from the common people

Stressing that people have the best solutions for the problems they are facing, Kejriwal said that before announcing Punjab's budget, views will be sought from common people, traders, businessmen, farmers, women, youth, and employees. 

Making a big claim on Monday, Congress leader Harak Singh Rawat asserted that the saffron party will be restricted to a paltry 20-22 seats in the Uttarakhand election. 

Switching allegiance from the Sonia Gandhi-led party to BJP in 2017, he won from the Kotdwar Assembly constituency and became a minister in the state government. On January 16, he was expelled not only from the state Cabinet but also from BJP for a period of 6 years and he joined Congress 5 days later.

Speaking exclusively to Republic TV, Rawat contended that he had the ability to convince 10 more BJP MLAs to join Congress. 

Former Punjab Congress Spokesperson Pritpal Singh Baliawal, who had stepped down from his role last month alleging that his party’s command 'is in the wrong hands,’ on Monday responded to the ‘Pakistan link’ controversy related to Navjot Singh Sidhu.

Singh, who is now part of Punjab Lok Congress revealed that ex-Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh had “responsibly informed” Congress President Sonia Gandhi, and general secretary of All India Congress Committee [Uttar Pradesh] Priyanka Gandhi Vadra about Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s 'appeals and his discreet role' in Navjot Singh Sidhu's induction to the cabinet. 

A complaint was registered on the matter of Samajwadi Party promising 300 units of free electricity and asking people to fill online forms to avail this. A report will be given after the investigation is done, said Brahmdev Ram Tiwari, Additional Chief Electoral Officer

Hours before Harish Rawat was declared as the Congress candidate from Ramnagar on Monday, his arch-rival within the party Ranjit Rawat said people in the constituency in Uttarakhand saw him as a better bet.

Before the party announced its second list of 11 candidates on Monday evening, an audio clip went viral in which apparently a local Congress leader is heard telling Harish Rawat that Ranjit is a stronger claimant for the seat than him. 

Reacting to the audio clip, Ranjit said it shows that party workers in the area are not with Harish Rawat. He said he has been working in the area for several years, hence is the strongest contender for the party ticket from the seat.

Ahead of Punjab elections, Bharatiya Janata Party chief JP Nadda in a joint briefing with former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh announced the seat-sharing formula for BJP-PLC-SAD(S) alliance. The BJP will fight in 65 assembly seats, Captain's Punjab Lok Congress in  37 seats, and Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt) in 15 seats.