Assembly elections 2022 Highlights | 586 candidates in fray in UP, discounts galore in Goa for second phase

Goa polls: Discounts galore to push people to vote on Feb 14

Special discounts in eateries, coffee shops, on bungy jumping and hot air balloon rides, these are some of the incentives being offered in poll-bound Goa to encourage people to come out and vote in large numbers on Monday. A group of 30 hoteliers and beach shack owners in North Goa district has also offered heavy discounts on food at their facilities for couples who exercise their franchise on February 14, as the polling date coincides with the Valentine's Day. A total of 301 candidates are in the fray for elections to 40 Assembly constituencies in the state. The BJP, Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Goa Forward Party (GFP), Trinamool Congress Party, Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), NCP, Shiv Sena, Revolutionary Goans, Goencho Swabhimaan Party, Jai Mahabharat Party and Sambhaji Brigade are contesting the polls. Besides, 68 independent candidates are also in the fray. 

Stage set for second phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls; 586 candidates in fray

Fifty-five seats spread across nine districts, including some in Rohilkhand region, will go to polls on Monday in the second phase of elections in Uttar Pradesh which will see senior Samajwadi Party leader Mohammad Azam Khan and state Finance Minister Suresh Khanna trying their luck at the hustings. As many as 586 candidates are in the fray in this phase with the seats spread across Saharanpur, Bijnor, Moradabad, Sambhal, Rampur, Amroha, Budaun, Bareilly and Shahjahanpur. Polling will be held on Monday from 7 am to 6 pm, the election office here said. Of the 55 seats going to polls in this phase, the BJP had won 38 in 2017, while the Samajwadi Party had bagged 15 and the Congress two. The SP and the Congress had contested the last Assembly election in an alliance.

Punjab polls: Amarinder's daughter campaigns for him, says he will win once again

With Amarinder Singh seeking re-election from his home turf Patiala Urban, his daughter Jai Inder Kaur has hit the campaign trail to garner support for him as he makes a fresh start with his Punjab Lok Congress after an unceremonious exit from the Congress. Kaur, 56, asserts that her father will register victory once again from the Patiala Urban seat, a traditional stronghold of the two-time chief minister and his family. Singh, the scion of the erstwhile royal family of Patiala, won the Patiala Urban seat in 2002, 2007, 2012 and 2017 as a Congress candidate. After he was ousted as chief minister in September last year following a bitter power tussle with Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, the Army veteran quit the Sonia Gandhi-led party and launched his own party -- Punjab Lok Congress. Now, Kaur is going from door to door to seek votes for her father. "We are seeking votes on the basis of the all-round development undertaken in Patiala," she said.

British had come to loot India, likewise, Kejriwal and his Delhi family such as Raghav Chadha and other outsiders have come to loot Punjab. But Punjab will show them their place, like it did to Mughals, British: Punjab CM Channi

UP polls: One party trying to stop SP from defeating BJP, says Akhilesh Yadav

A party that has "deviated from the ideals of Babasaheb Ambedkar" is fighting the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections with the sole purpose of stopping the SP from defeating the ruling BJP, Akhilesh Yadav said on Saturday in a veiled attack on the BSP. Addressing a public meeting here, the Samajwadi Party chief said, all Samajwadis and Ambedkarites should join hands to bring about a change in Uttar Pradesh and protect the country's constitution. "Samajwadi Party is working to defeat the BJP, but one party intends to stop the SP," Yadav said without naming the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) or any of its leaders. "The party has deviated from the ideals of Dalit icon B R Ambedkar and is contesting (polls) not to win, but to help the BJP retain power, he said.

Dynasts are sleepless after first round of voting: PM Modi at rally in UP

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday took a swipe at opposition parties, saying after the first round of voting in Uttar Pradesh their dynasts are sleepless and unable to dream anymore. Addressing a rally in Kannauj, he said for such leaders the 'mantra' of democracy is "government of the family, by the family and for the family". Prime Minister Modi said the people of the state have realised that only the BJP government has the antidote for rioters and mafias. Kannauj, Farrukhabad and Auraiya for which Modi was addressing the rally would go to polls in the third phase on February 20.

Uttarakhand: PM Modi asks people not to let Congress's agenda of appeasement succeed

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday appealed to the people in Uttarakhand not to let the Congress's "agenda of appeasement" succeed when the state goes to polls on February 14. Addressing a rally in poll-bound Uttarakhand at Rudrapur on the last day of campaigning in the state, he asked voters to see these elections as an opportunity to wipe out the Congress which, he said, has already been rejected in a majority of states in the country. Terming Congress's plans to establish a Muslim university in Devbhoomi a part of its agenda of appeasement, he asked people if they will tolerate this insult to the land of Gods.

'Where is infighting in Congress': Navjot Singh Sidhu on Punjab CM face

Amid allegations of internal issues in the Congres over Punjab's chief ministerial candidate, party's state unit president Navjot Singh Sidhu said, "Where is the internal infighting in Congress? Rahul Gandhi Ji has given a decision and we all have welcomed it. No one has any issue with the high command's decision." 

Congress not even ready to consider India a nation: PM Modi at Uttarakhand rally

"India is one, this country is one...Congress says there is no nation. Congress is not even ready to consider India a nation (rashtra). BJP will secure the 'Devatava' (divinity) of Devbhoomi Uttarakhand," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at a public rally in poll-bound Uttarakhand. 

Priyanka Gandhi attacks govt over migrant workers  

"PM said that Congress helped them (migrant workers) and spread Corona across the nation by doing politics. They were walking on roads, no facilities for them. Would we've left them just like that?... Were we doing politics? We were doing our duty..." said Priyanka Gandhi Vadra at a rally in Uttarakhand's Khatima. 

Those who don't know if they are Hindu or not are defining its meaning: Yogi's dig at Congress

"There's a competition in Congress to insult 'Hindu'. People who don't know if they are Hindu or not are now defining the meaning of it. Swami Vivekanand said, feel proud to call yourself Hindu. 'Hindu' isn't a communal word, it's our cultural identity," Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Aditynath said at a campaign rally in Uttarakhand.

BJP Chief JP Nadda campaigns in Punjab 

Addressing a poll rally in Balachaur town of Punjab, BJP's national president JP Nadda said the state had 18 lakh scholarships in 2014 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has increased these to 31 lakhs. "In Punjab, about 1,517 new schools have been built, 6 Navodaya Vidyalayas were opened after 2014. A total of 14 sports centres were also built," he said.

AAP CM candidate for Punjab Bhagwant Singh Mann holds roadshow 

Punjab MLA Balwinder Singh Laddi rejoins BJP

Balwinder Singh Laddi, MLA of Hargovindpur in Punjab, rejoined BJP in presence of party general secretary Tarun Chug on Friday.

Laddi, who won the election on a Congress ticket, joined BJP on December 28. Then he went back to Congress on January 3 and again joined BJP on February 11.