Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad speaks with WION&#39;s Kartikeya Sharma on a range of issues concerning the ongoing assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. He said that Priyanka Gandhi is actively managing the elections in UP from Delhi&nbsp;and was in charge of all political decisions. He also claimed that the Prime Minister&#39;s three-day campaign in Varanasi is a sign of weakness and not strength as Prime Ministers do not devote so much time to their constituencies for election campaigning.

Q: How is the election going for the Congress Party?

A: I don&rsquo;t think we would have fought a better election than this. We have alliances in many states but the way alliance has worked in Uttar Pradesh has been different. I&rsquo;m very satisfied.

Q: In 2007 and 2012, Rahul Gandhi fought elections alone. How did the Congress reach the conclusion that it should fight the election in an alliance?

A: Even this time we wanted to fight elections alone. That is why we organized lot of kisan yatras throughout the state. We had also decided to review the situation in October whether we would be able to fight a good election or not. Simultaneously, developments took place in SP which created uncertainty for them. Then we too at that point of time were uncertain. We realized that we shouldn&rsquo;t repeat the mistake of Lok Sabha elections. BJP got 31&nbsp;per cent of votes and managed to get 282 seats (in the Lok Sabha elections in 2014) because the opposition vote got fragmented.&nbsp;So, we didn&#39;t want such a situation this time. It could be any other party this time who could have come to power with lesser vote share because of fragmentation of the opposition vote.&nbsp;We decided to create an alliance so that the vote doesn&rsquo;t divide. We didn&rsquo;t want this election to become a matter of false prestige. We didn&rsquo;t want to take chance this time around. May be this was the reason for SP also.

Q: But alliance has problems. Gandhi bastion is witnessing friendly fights. Priyanka Gandhi couldn&rsquo;t go because of it?

A: Priyanka did not go (for campaigning) not because of the friendly fights. She didn&rsquo;t because she was in a different role. There are two areas of campaign. One is physical campaign and another is management. Priyanka was in the management of the campaign like an in charge of ATC. Someone senior was required to look into the issue management of the elections and we decided that this part should be played by Priyanka Gandhi. If she wouldn&rsquo;t have done this job, then it would have fallen on any other general secretary. Priyanka Gandhi did a fabulous job. No one else could have done it better than her.

Q: Are you telling me that Priyanka Gandhi is in charge of the political air traffic control of the Congress Party?

A: She was involved from the beginning when it came to Uttar Pradesh. The decision to contest particular seat or to give it up were decided by her. It took us a month to firm up the alliance. We used Priyanka fully in Uttar Pradesh.

Q: Many would say that senior leaders did the work and gave all the credit to Priyanka?

A: I don&rsquo;t share credit unnecessarily. I don&rsquo;t give undue credit to anyone. Priyanka Gandhi really did a fabulous job. I don&rsquo;t think I would have been able to do the job like this or devote so much time.

Q: Goal posts in elections changed midway when Prime Minister spoke about &quot;kabristan&quot; and &quot;shamshan&quot;. But Congress didn&rsquo;t approach the Election Commission. Have you changed the goal posts? Like Gujarat?

A: Our agenda remains the same. It is focused on agriculture, employment and health. It is the PM who moved away from the developmental agenda. It is very disappointing. In 1990s, rath yatra was started. I don&rsquo;t want to get into it so that we get diverted from the agenda once again. The issue is that BJP felt that it was not able to match the agenda of the alliance. Akhilesh has done good job and they changed horses midstream and that is why they will lose the elections. I don&rsquo;t think statements of the Prime Minister were appreciated by the majority community. BJP wanted us to make this into an issue and that is why we refrained from it. We don&rsquo;t want to mix religion with politics.

Q: There are changes even in Rahul Gandhi. Before 2014 elections one couldn&rsquo;t find Rahul Gandhi going to temples religiously and regularly. Now he does. Why?

A: We have no issues with people going to temples or church. We never made any issue of PM going to temples. We have no issue with people visiting religious spaces but we have issue with people talking about things like kabristan and shamshan.

Q: Who is your opponent? BSP or BJP?

A: Our fight is against parties who have no political principles. Both of them are fighting each other for 2nd and 3rd position.

Q: Aren&rsquo;t you concerned about BSP? BSP has given large number of tickets to the minority community?

A: It is not an issue for us. We aren&rsquo;t BJP. We need both majority and minority. We want the votes of all the castes be it backward or forward. We want them all.

Q: Is demonetisation an issue in UP? It seems that demonetisation didn&rsquo;t work as an issue in municipal polls in Maharashtra?

A: Demonetisation was an issue. Whether people voted on the issue on it or not is a different thing. People got affected. This fact cannot be denied. Demonetisation affected lot of business. I have interacted with people in UP and I felt that demonetisation is a living issue.

Q: Biggest leader of SP, Mulayum Singh Yadav didn&rsquo;t campaign for the alliance? He didn&rsquo;t endorse it politically?

A: He is supporting us and his silence speaks for it.

Q: After 1998, Sonia Gandhi has not campaigned in Uttar Pradesh. Why?

A: She didn&rsquo;t campaign in any of the states for that matter. This time Rahul Gandhi aggressively campaigned.

Q: OK, if Priyanka Gandhi was in charge of the so called political ATC, then what was Rahul Gandhi doing?

A: He did the campaign for us.

Q:&nbsp;You decided the distribution?

A: He is my boss. He is the Vice President. He is above me and Priyanka Gandhi. All happened under his supervision. Alliance and distribution of the work. Both.

Q: This is the last phase. Does it worry you that there is an upsurge of BJP in the rural areas?

A: Our only worry is that they continue to polarise the elections. They are doing the same work which they used to do in the opposition.

Q: Are you worried that no one gets majority in UP. Even PM spoke of it?

A: PM is devoting three days to his constituency. He did a programme without EC&rsquo;s&nbsp;permission in the district. He did the roadshow. Prime Ministers never give so much time to their constituencies for election campaigning. There are 40 ministers in this area. Doesn&rsquo;t it show that we are coming to power.

Q: But it could also mean that BJP wants to fight for every seat?

A: This is a sign of weakness and not strength.

(WION)&nbsp;

Senior Congress leader, Azad, said Congress allied with the Samajwadi Party so that votes don't get divided

Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad speaks with WION's Kartikeya Sharma on a range of issues concerning the ongoing assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. He said that Priyanka Gandhi is actively managing the elections in UP from Delhi and was in charge of all political decisions. He also claimed that the Prime Minister's three-day campaign in Varanasi is a sign of weakness and not strength as Prime Ministers do not devote so much time to their constituencies for election campaigning. Q: How is the election going for the Congress Party? A: I don’t think we would have fought a better election than this. We have alliances in many states but the way alliance has worked in Uttar Pradesh has been different. I’m very satisfied. Q: In 2007 and 2012, Rahul Gandhi fought elections alone. How did the Congress reach the conclusion that it should fight the election in an alliance? A: Even this time we wanted to fight elections alone. That is why we organized lot of kisan yatras throughout the state. We had also decided to review the situation in October whether we would be able to fight a good election or not. Simultaneously, developments took place in SP which created uncertainty for them. Then we too at that point of time were uncertain. We realized that we shouldn’t repeat the mistake of Lok Sabha elections. BJP got 31 per cent of votes and managed to get 282 seats (in the Lok Sabha elections in 2014) because the opposition vote got fragmented. So, we didn't want such a situation this time. It could be any other party this time who could have come to power with lesser vote share because of fragmentation of the opposition vote. We decided to create an alliance so that the vote doesn’t divide. We didn’t want this election to become a matter of false prestige. We didn’t want to take chance this time around. May be this was the reason for SP also. Q: But alliance has problems. Gandhi bastion is witnessing friendly fights. Priyanka Gandhi couldn’t go because of it? A: Priyanka did not go (for campaigning) not because of the friendly fights. She didn’t because she was in a different role. There are two areas of campaign. One is physical campaign and another is management. Priyanka was in the management of the campaign like an in charge of ATC. Someone senior was required to look into the issue management of the elections and we decided that this part should be played by Priyanka Gandhi. If she wouldn’t have done this job, then it would have fallen on any other general secretary. Priyanka Gandhi did a fabulous job. No one else could have done it better than her. Q: Are you telling me that Priyanka Gandhi is in charge of the political air traffic control of the Congress Party? A: She was involved from the beginning when it came to Uttar Pradesh. The decision to contest particular seat or to give it up were decided by her. It took us a month to firm up the alliance. We used Priyanka fully in Uttar Pradesh. Q: Many would say that senior leaders did the work and gave all the credit to Priyanka? A: I don’t share credit unnecessarily. I don’t give undue credit to anyone. Priyanka Gandhi really did a fabulous job. I don’t think I would have been able to do the job like this or devote so much time. Q: Goal posts in elections changed midway when Prime Minister spoke about "kabristan" and "shamshan". But Congress didn’t approach the Election Commission. Have you changed the goal posts? Like Gujarat? A: Our agenda remains the same. It is focused on agriculture, employment and health. It is the PM who moved away from the developmental agenda. It is very disappointing. In 1990s, rath yatra was started. I don’t want to get into it so that we get diverted from the agenda once again. The issue is that BJP felt that it was not able to match the agenda of the alliance. Akhilesh has done good job and they changed horses midstream and that is why they will lose the elections. I don’t think statements of the Prime Minister were appreciated by the majority community. BJP wanted us to make this into an issue and that is why we refrained from it. We don’t want to mix religion with politics. Q: There are changes even in Rahul Gandhi. Before 2014 elections one couldn’t find Rahul Gandhi going to temples religiously and regularly. Now he does. Why? A: We have no issues with people going to temples or church. We never made any issue of PM going to temples. We have no issue with people visiting religious spaces but we have issue with people talking about things like kabristan and shamshan. Q: Who is your opponent? BSP or BJP? A: Our fight is against parties who have no political principles. Both of them are fighting each other for 2nd and 3rd position. Q: Aren’t you concerned about BSP? BSP has given large number of tickets to the minority community? A: It is not an issue for us. We aren’t BJP. We need both majority and minority. We want the votes of all the castes be it backward or forward. We want them all. Q: Is demonetisation an issue in UP? It seems that demonetisation didn’t work as an issue in municipal polls in Maharashtra? A: Demonetisation was an issue. Whether people voted on the issue on it or not is a different thing. People got affected. This fact cannot be denied. Demonetisation affected lot of business. I have interacted with people in UP and I felt that demonetisation is a living issue. Q: Biggest leader of SP, Mulayum Singh Yadav didn’t campaign for the alliance? He didn’t endorse it politically? A: He is supporting us and his silence speaks for it. Q: After 1998, Sonia Gandhi has not campaigned in Uttar Pradesh. Why? A: She didn’t campaign in any of the states for that matter. This time Rahul Gandhi aggressively campaigned. Q: OK, if Priyanka Gandhi was in charge of the so called political ATC, then what was Rahul Gandhi doing? A: He did the campaign for us. Q: You decided the distribution? A: He is my boss. He is the Vice President. He is above me and Priyanka Gandhi. All happened under his supervision. Alliance and distribution of the work. Both. Q: This is the last phase. Does it worry you that there is an upsurge of BJP in the rural areas? A: Our only worry is that they continue to polarise the elections. They are doing the same work which they used to do in the opposition. Q: Are you worried that no one gets majority in UP. Even PM spoke of it? A: PM is devoting three days to his constituency. He did a programme without EC’s permission in the district. He did the roadshow. Prime Ministers never give so much time to their constituencies for election campaigning. There are 40 ministers in this area. Doesn’t it show that we are coming to power. Q: But it could also mean that BJP wants to fight for every seat? A: This is a sign of weakness and not strength. (WION)

WION Exclusive: Priyanka Gandhi managing elections from Delhi, says Ghulam Nabi Azad

Prime Minister Narendra Modi campaigned for the BJP for the second consecutive day in his constituency Varanasi on Sunday.

The prime minister embarked on a roadshow through the Muslim-dominated interiors of the city before ending his tour at the Kashi Vidyapeeth (University) where he addressed an election rally. 
 
PM Modi said development of Purvanchal (eastern Uttar Pradesh) was high on the priority of the central government, and criticised successive state governments for not doing anything to develop the region.

&quot;There is fertile land and hard working people but there is no good government,&quot; he said&nbsp;while addressing&nbsp;a huge gathering at the Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth.

The prime minister said that the central government was ready to provide the required funds for development of the region but the state government must be able to properly account for the expenses. 
 
PM Modi also blamed&nbsp;previous governments for the lack of development of the the historical city of Banaras (Varanasi). He said the city needed a modern makeover and &quot;it is my dream to achieve this&quot;.

&quot;Earlier governments did only tidbits (of development work) for Banaras with an eye on short-term electoral gains. But these tidbits won&#39;t help Banaras. The city needs a complete, modern makeover and it is my dream to turn this city into a modern world-class city,&quot; said Modi.

He said that if earlier governments had given proper attention, Kashi (another older name for Varanasi) could have become a tourist hot spot.

&quot;People would have yearned to visit Banaras at least once,&quot; he said.

Invoking Mark Twain, the PM said the city of Varanasi was older than history itself.

&quot;Banaras is not a city, it is a living heritage. Every Indian considers Banaras as his own,&quot; he said.

He accused the BSP, Congress and the SP of rallying against the BJP after demonetisation of high value currency notes in November last year. He&nbsp;also assured the people that the honest would not be harrassed by tax authorities during his governance.

The prime minister also reached out to small traders who are in significant numbers in Varanasi. He said they would not be touched by his government&#39;s drive against corruption as the politicians and &#39;babus&#39; have looted the country all these years.&nbsp; 
 
PM Modi&nbsp;hit out at the Congress for emptying the exchequer through a series of scams including the 2G, coal scam, and AgustaWestland chopper scam.

Accusing the Congress of &quot;robbing&quot; the country for 70 years, PM Modi&nbsp;said it was time the party &quot;gave back&quot; to the people of the country.

&quot;I have been elected not to maintain status quo but to weed out corruption from the system and punish the guilty,&quot; he said.

&quot;Our motto is inclusive development but the Congress, SP and the BSP have a different culture of politics that relies on development for a few,&quot; the PM&nbsp;said.

He targeted the Opposition once more for politicising the surgical strikes against Pakistani militants across the Line of Control by asking for proof.

&quot;It is sad that those driven by politics wanted proof of surgical strikes, they asked so many died but did any of our men die,&quot; PM Modi said.

He also attacked the Samajwadi Party for the poor condition of the roads in the state.

&quot;Tourism is important for Varanasi. But see what the government has done to the roads of this place. What will the tourists feel. We wanted to build roads on different stretches. But the work is slow, the state government has no intention to build roads,&quot; PM Modi said.

The Prime Minister attacked the Congress on the distribution of gas cylinders and said his government had&nbsp;taken the&nbsp;initiative to provide clean fuel to millions of poor households. Under the scheme, 55 lakh connections had&nbsp;already been given in the state.

He also ignored the ruling Samajwadi Party government of ignoring the development-related initiatives of the central government.

&quot;30 lakh families in UP need houses, Centre asked the state for their list but they&#39;re sleeping; they couldn&#39;t make a list how will &nbsp;they make&nbsp;houses,&quot; Modi said.

Narendra Modi also took potshots at Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi as &quot;delicate&quot; people incapable of taking hard decisions while pitching himself as a grassroots leader who can develop the state.

&quot;They are such delicate people who cannot take hard decisions. They think what if they lose what they got. I have not got anything in inheritance.

&quot;Whatever I have got is due to the blessing of the people of Kashi. I can take hard decisions to rid the country of its problems. I have the courage to do so,&quot; the Prime Minister said. 
 
The second day of the roadshow commenced late afternoon from the city&#39;s Pandeypur Chauraha (crossroad) with the PM&#39;s supporters chanting &quot;Modi Modi&quot; and &quot;Vande Mataram&quot; before concluding at the Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth university.

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&nbsp;

In the 2012 Assembly elections, the BJP had won three of the five assembly seats from Varanasi. The Samajwadi Party had won the remaining two.

Yesterday, at an election rally in neighbouring Jaunpur district, PM Modi said he had made Varanasi his &quot;Karya Kshetra&quot; (area of development), claiming that the area had lost its shine under the Samajwadi Party government.

The prime minister had also slammed Opposition parties for politicising the Indian Army&#39;s surgical strikes across the Line of Control in Pakistan last year. The prime minister claimed that the Congress government had ignored the Army&#39;s demand for One Rank One Pension (OROP) for 40 years.

He had also offered at the city&#39;s famous Kashi Vishwanath and Kaal Bhairav temples.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will address three rallies in Sonbhadra, Mirzapur and Jaunpur.

The seventh-phase of Assembly polls will be held&nbsp;on March 8, in which as many as 46 constituencies covering seven districts of Uttar Pradesh will cast their vote.

&nbsp;(WION with inputs from ANI)&nbsp;

 
&nbsp;

The prime minister blamed the previous governments for the lack of development of the region

Prime Minister Narendra Modi campaigned for the BJP for the second consecutive day in his constituency Varanasi on Sunday. The prime minister embarked on a roadshow through the Muslim-dominated interiors of the city before ending his tour at the Kashi Vidyapeeth (University) where he addressed an election rally. PM Modi said development of Purvanchal (eastern Uttar Pradesh) was high on the priority of the central government, and criticised successive state governments for not doing anything to develop the region. "There is fertile land and hard working people but there is no good government," he said while addressing a huge gathering at the Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth. The prime minister said that the central government was ready to provide the required funds for development of the region but the state government must be able to properly account for the expenses. PM Modi also blamed previous governments for the lack of development of the the historical city of Banaras (Varanasi). He said the city needed a modern makeover and "it is my dream to achieve this". "Earlier governments did only tidbits (of development work) for Banaras with an eye on short-term electoral gains. But these tidbits won't help Banaras. The city needs a complete, modern makeover and it is my dream to turn this city into a modern world-class city," said Modi. He said that if earlier governments had given proper attention, Kashi (another older name for Varanasi) could have become a tourist hot spot. "People would have yearned to visit Banaras at least once," he said. Invoking Mark Twain, the PM said the city of Varanasi was older than history itself. "Banaras is not a city, it is a living heritage. Every Indian considers Banaras as his own," he said. He accused the BSP, Congress and the SP of rallying against the BJP after demonetisation of high value currency notes in November last year. He also assured the people that the honest would not be harrassed by tax authorities during his governance. The prime minister also reached out to small traders who are in significant numbers in Varanasi. He said they would not be touched by his government's drive against corruption as the politicians and 'babus' have looted the country all these years. PM Modi hit out at the Congress for emptying the exchequer through a series of scams including the 2G, coal scam, and AgustaWestland chopper scam. Accusing the Congress of "robbing" the country for 70 years, PM Modi said it was time the party "gave back" to the people of the country. "I have been elected not to maintain status quo but to weed out corruption from the system and punish the guilty," he said. "Our motto is inclusive development but the Congress, SP and the BSP have a different culture of politics that relies on development for a few," the PM said. He targeted the Opposition once more for politicising the surgical strikes against Pakistani militants across the Line of Control by asking for proof. "It is sad that those driven by politics wanted proof of surgical strikes, they asked so many died but did any of our men die," PM Modi said. He also attacked the Samajwadi Party for the poor condition of the roads in the state. "Tourism is important for Varanasi. But see what the government has done to the roads of this place. What will the tourists feel. We wanted to build roads on different stretches. But the work is slow, the state government has no intention to build roads," PM Modi said. The Prime Minister attacked the Congress on the distribution of gas cylinders and said his government had taken the initiative to provide clean fuel to millions of poor households. Under the scheme, 55 lakh connections had already been given in the state. He also ignored the ruling Samajwadi Party government of ignoring the development-related initiatives of the central government. "30 lakh families in UP need houses, Centre asked the state for their list but they're sleeping; they couldn't make a list how will they make houses," Modi said. Narendra Modi also took potshots at Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi as "delicate" people incapable of taking hard decisions while pitching himself as a grassroots leader who can develop the state. "They are such delicate people who cannot take hard decisions. They think what if they lose what they got. I have not got anything in inheritance. "Whatever I have got is due to the blessing of the people of Kashi. I can take hard decisions to rid the country of its problems. I have the courage to do so," the Prime Minister said. The second day of the roadshow commenced late afternoon from the city's Pandeypur Chauraha (crossroad) with the PM's supporters chanting "Modi Modi" and "Vande Mataram" before concluding at the Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth university. × × × × × × × In the 2012 Assembly elections, the BJP had won three of the five assembly seats from Varanasi. The Samajwadi Party had won the remaining two. Yesterday, at an election rally in neighbouring Jaunpur district, PM Modi said he had made Varanasi his "Karya Kshetra" (area of development), claiming that the area had lost its shine under the Samajwadi Party government. The prime minister had also slammed Opposition parties for politicising the Indian Army's surgical strikes across the Line of Control in Pakistan last year. The prime minister claimed that the Congress government had ignored the Army's demand for One Rank One Pension (OROP) for 40 years. He had also offered at the city's famous Kashi Vishwanath and Kaal Bhairav temples. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will address three rallies in Sonbhadra, Mirzapur and Jaunpur. The seventh-phase of Assembly polls will be held on March 8, in which as many as 46 constituencies covering seven districts of Uttar Pradesh will cast their vote. (WION with inputs from ANI)

Indian PM Modi pitches for development of 'Purvanchal' on Day 2 of Varanasi campaign

The fifth phase of Uttar Pradesh state elections took place on Monday, with voting taking place in 51 constituencies across 11 districts.

A little over 57&nbsp;per cent of 1.81 crore voters (18.1 million), including 84 lakh (8.4 million) women, cast their ballot on Monday, up by a tiny fraction from 57.09 per cent&nbsp;voter turnout in the previous election in 2012.

The Nehru-Gandhi pocket borough of Amethi was one of the districts that went to polls on Monday.

Controversial minister Gayatri Prasad Prajapati (SP) faced off with Amita Singh of Congress and Garima Singh of BJP in Amethi, which is represented by Rahul Gandhi in Lok Sabha.

Amita is the wife of Congress leader Sanjay Singh, who belongs to the erstwhile royal family of Amethi,&nbsp;while Garima is his estranged spouse, making the contest a &quot;rani&nbsp;(queen) versus rani&quot; affair.

The districts that went to polls in this phase are Balrampur, Gonda, Faizabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Bahraich, Shravasti, Basti, Siddharth Nagar, Sant Kabir Nagar, Amethi and Sultanpur.

For free and fair polls, 1,442 sector magistrates, 180 zonal magistrates and 170 static magistrates were deployed besides police and general observers, PTI reported.

Gonda is close to Nepal and so are Bahraich, Shravasti, Balrampur and Sidhharth Nagar districts, adjacent to the Terai region in the foothills of the Himalayas.

Central forces remained on high alert in these areas to ensure that no mischief monger transgressed into the Indian territory.

In his speech in Gonda, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had referred to the Kanpur train tragedy in which 150 people were killed and said the accident was due to a &quot;conspiracy&quot; and the perpetrators carried it out &quot;sitting across the border&quot;.

The Election Commission of India announced a new date of voting&nbsp;on March 9 for the Alapur constituency&nbsp;due to the death of Samajwadi Party candidate Chandrashekhar Kanaujia, according to PTI.

A total of 607 candidates were in the fray for this phase of the contest.

The ruling Samajwadi Party had won 37 seats out of 52 (total seats in this phase including Alapur) in 2012. While BJP and Congress won five seats each, BSP had won three and Peace Party two.

(WION with inputs from agencies)

Polling took place in 51 constituencies including the Nehru-Gandhi pocket borough of Amethi

The fifth phase of Uttar Pradesh state elections took place on Monday, with voting taking place in 51 constituencies across 11 districts. A little over 57 per cent of 1.81 crore voters (18.1 million), including 84 lakh (8.4 million) women, cast their ballot on Monday, up by a tiny fraction from 57.09 per cent voter turnout in the previous election in 2012. The Nehru-Gandhi pocket borough of Amethi was one of the districts that went to polls on Monday. Controversial minister Gayatri Prasad Prajapati (SP) faced off with Amita Singh of Congress and Garima Singh of BJP in Amethi, which is represented by Rahul Gandhi in Lok Sabha. Amita is the wife of Congress leader Sanjay Singh, who belongs to the erstwhile royal family of Amethi, while Garima is his estranged spouse, making the contest a "rani (queen) versus rani" affair. The districts that went to polls in this phase are Balrampur, Gonda, Faizabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Bahraich, Shravasti, Basti, Siddharth Nagar, Sant Kabir Nagar, Amethi and Sultanpur. For free and fair polls, 1,442 sector magistrates, 180 zonal magistrates and 170 static magistrates were deployed besides police and general observers, PTI reported. Gonda is close to Nepal and so are Bahraich, Shravasti, Balrampur and Sidhharth Nagar districts, adjacent to the Terai region in the foothills of the Himalayas. Central forces remained on high alert in these areas to ensure that no mischief monger transgressed into the Indian territory. In his speech in Gonda, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had referred to the Kanpur train tragedy in which 150 people were killed and said the accident was due to a "conspiracy" and the perpetrators carried it out "sitting across the border". The Election Commission of India announced a new date of voting on March 9 for the Alapur constituency due to the death of Samajwadi Party candidate Chandrashekhar Kanaujia, according to PTI. A total of 607 candidates were in the fray for this phase of the contest. The ruling Samajwadi Party had won 37 seats out of 52 (total seats in this phase including Alapur) in 2012. While BJP and Congress won five seats each, BSP had won three and Peace Party two. (WION with inputs from agencies)

UP assembly elections: Over 57% polling recorded in fifth phase

Prime Minister Narendra Modi out-campaigned all-comers in the 2014 general election but, as he faces his biggest mid-term test, he is up against a rival determined to beat him at his own game.

In Uttar Pradesh his opponent, chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, has been repackaged as a youthful and media-savvy go-getter who seeks to steal a unique selling point of Modi&#39;s - development.

&quot;I am taking it a bit beyond Modi: I work,&quot; Yadav told Reuters in an interview in Lucknow, capital of the state of 220 million that is holding the biggest democratic election anywhere in the world this year.

&quot;My work speaks for itself. Modi&#39;s empty promises do not,&quot; said the 43-year-old leader of the Samajwadi, or Socialist, Party.

Yadav entered the vast election, being held over the course of a month, as a narrow favourite: He had just emerged from a power struggle with his domineering father and struck a pre-poll alliance with the Indian National Congress.

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While Modi excels as a stump speaker who can deliver an hour-long address without notes, Akhilesh has sought to connect with the youth vote via new media, taking personal control over his social media accounts and doing a Facebook Live with one of India&#39;s best-known TV journalists.

He has even climbed on a bicycle - his party&#39;s symbol - for another prime-time interview that gave him a chance to showcase the newly landscaped riverfront in the state capital.

Yadav&#39;s campaign has been backed by his wife Dimple, a member of parliament, who has courted women voters and helped create an image as a political &#39;power couple&#39;.

Throughout, Yadav has stayed firmly on message. Asked about endemic crime, he says he has set up a new police hotline that is ensuring quicker response times.

On developing his poor state where incomes average less than $750 a year, he highlights his achievements in building an expressway to Agra, site of the Taj Mahal, and a new city metro in Lucknow.

Winning and losing

Yadav became the youngest-ever chief minister of Uttar Pradesh with a slim mandate, winning just 29 percent in the 2012 state poll.

But in the general election two years later he was swept away by a Modi &#39;wave&#39; as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 42 percent of the vote in the battleground state.

Yadav, who received a university education in Australia yet became typecast as the ineffectual scion of a political patriarch, decided he needed a makeover.

&quot;It was at this point Yadav took a cue from Modi&#39;s image as a technology-loving modern man,&quot; said R.K. Mishra, an independent political analyst in Lucknow.

Yadav commissioned the construction of a mansion behind his old party headquarters to operate as his campaign &quot;war room&quot;.

He met two dozen Indian and international political scientists, and roped in Harvard graduates and marketing gurus from Mumbai. They set up a big data operation - cloning the backroom setup used by Modi in his own rise to national power.

&quot;The recruitment brief was clear: Everyone working in the war room should be in their thirties and have family in Uttar Pradesh,&quot; said Aashish Yadav, a campaign manager who previously worked at BBC Media Action, a development charity.

Aashish Yadav manages a team of 100 young men and women who compose jingles as well as messages that are circulated via WhatsApp and community radio services. &quot;Modi&#39;s campaign looks jaded compared to our blitzkrieg,&quot; said Aashish.

Gangster rule

It&#39;s been a tough sell for a party that under founder Mulayam Singh Yadav, Akhilesh&#39;s father, was criticised for breakdown of law and order. Many resented corruption that favoured the Yadav community - a &quot;backward&quot; caste that makes up 9 percent of the population of Uttar Pradesh.

&quot;Akhilesh had to dismantle the existing perception about himself and his party,&quot; said one close aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

By teaming up with Rahul Gandhi of Congress - another forty-something politician - Yadav hopes to prevail in the three-cornered contest with the BJP and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) led by Mayawati, a former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.

&quot;There is a great deal of ease between the two leaders and this is making Modi nervous,&quot; said an aide to Gandhi, who is the son, grandson and great grandson of Indian prime ministers.

Pre-election polls put the Yadav-Gandhi alliance and the BJP in a close race, but no surveys are allowed during voting held over seven stages. Results are due on March 11.

Gandhi and Yadav have both turned for advice to Prashant Kishor, the strategist who stage-managed Modi&#39;s triumphant 2014 march on New Delhi.

Kishor later switched sides to help a similar opposition alliance defeat the BJP in Bihar, another big northern state, in late 2015. He now divides his time between advising Congress and Samajwadi.

The BJP&#39;s state leader in Uttar Pradesh, Keshav Prasad Maurya, dismisses the alliance as a fiasco and called the war room a poor imitation.

&quot;Yadav and Gandhi both lack imagination,&quot; he told Reuters. &quot;Being Modi is different from being like Modi.&quot;&nbsp;

(Reuters)

The Uttar Pradesh chief minister is seeking to steal a unique selling point of Modi's -- development

Prime Minister Narendra Modi out-campaigned all-comers in the 2014 general election but, as he faces his biggest mid-term test, he is up against a rival determined to beat him at his own game. In Uttar Pradesh his opponent, chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, has been repackaged as a youthful and media-savvy go-getter who seeks to steal a unique selling point of Modi's - development. "I am taking it a bit beyond Modi: I work," Yadav told Reuters in an interview in Lucknow, capital of the state of 220 million that is holding the biggest democratic election anywhere in the world this year. "My work speaks for itself. Modi's empty promises do not," said the 43-year-old leader of the Samajwadi, or Socialist, Party. Yadav entered the vast election, being held over the course of a month, as a narrow favourite: He had just emerged from a power struggle with his domineering father and struck a pre-poll alliance with the Indian National Congress. While Modi excels as a stump speaker who can deliver an hour-long address without notes, Akhilesh has sought to connect with the youth vote via new media, taking personal control over his social media accounts and doing a Facebook Live with a TV journalist × While Modi excels as a stump speaker who can deliver an hour-long address without notes, Akhilesh has sought to connect with the youth vote via new media, taking personal control over his social media accounts and doing a Facebook Live with one of India's best-known TV journalists. He has even climbed on a bicycle - his party's symbol - for another prime-time interview that gave him a chance to showcase the newly landscaped riverfront in the state capital. Yadav's campaign has been backed by his wife Dimple, a member of parliament, who has courted women voters and helped create an image as a political 'power couple'. Throughout, Yadav has stayed firmly on message. Asked about endemic crime, he says he has set up a new police hotline that is ensuring quicker response times. On developing his poor state where incomes average less than $750 a year, he highlights his achievements in building an expressway to Agra, site of the Taj Mahal, and a new city metro in Lucknow. Winning and losing Yadav became the youngest-ever chief minister of Uttar Pradesh with a slim mandate, winning just 29 percent in the 2012 state poll. But in the general election two years later he was swept away by a Modi 'wave' as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 42 percent of the vote in the battleground state. Yadav, who received a university education in Australia yet became typecast as the ineffectual scion of a political patriarch, decided he needed a makeover. "It was at this point Yadav took a cue from Modi's image as a technology-loving modern man," said R.K. Mishra, an independent political analyst in Lucknow. Yadav commissioned the construction of a mansion behind his old party headquarters to operate as his campaign "war room". He met two dozen Indian and international political scientists, and roped in Harvard graduates and marketing gurus from Mumbai. They set up a big data operation - cloning the backroom setup used by Modi in his own rise to national power. "The recruitment brief was clear: Everyone working in the war room should be in their thirties and have family in Uttar Pradesh," said Aashish Yadav, a campaign manager who previously worked at BBC Media Action, a development charity. Aashish Yadav manages a team of 100 young men and women who compose jingles as well as messages that are circulated via WhatsApp and community radio services. "Modi's campaign looks jaded compared to our blitzkrieg," said Aashish. Gangster rule It's been a tough sell for a party that under founder Mulayam Singh Yadav, Akhilesh's father, was criticised for breakdown of law and order. Many resented corruption that favoured the Yadav community - a "backward" caste that makes up 9 percent of the population of Uttar Pradesh. "Akhilesh had to dismantle the existing perception about himself and his party," said one close aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity. By teaming up with Rahul Gandhi of Congress - another forty-something politician - Yadav hopes to prevail in the three-cornered contest with the BJP and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) led by Mayawati, a former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. "There is a great deal of ease between the two leaders and this is making Modi nervous," said an aide to Gandhi, who is the son, grandson and great grandson of Indian prime ministers. Pre-election polls put the Yadav-Gandhi alliance and the BJP in a close race, but no surveys are allowed during voting held over seven stages. Results are due on March 11. Gandhi and Yadav have both turned for advice to Prashant Kishor, the strategist who stage-managed Modi's triumphant 2014 march on New Delhi. Kishor later switched sides to help a similar opposition alliance defeat the BJP in Bihar, another big northern state, in late 2015. He now divides his time between advising Congress and Samajwadi. The BJP's state leader in Uttar Pradesh, Keshav Prasad Maurya, dismisses the alliance as a fiasco and called the war room a poor imitation. "Yadav and Gandhi both lack imagination," he told Reuters. "Being Modi is different from being like Modi." (Reuters)

UP elections: Akhilesh takes Modi on at his own game

By Iftikhar Gilani

India&#39;s oldest party the Congress is split between baying for former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit&#39;s blood after she was reported to have called Rahul Gandhi &quot;immature&quot; or blaming Gandhi himself for taking so long to take over the party. &nbsp; &nbsp;

Rahul is the vice president of the Congress party, while his mother Sonia holds the post of president.&nbsp;

Sheila Dikshit meanwhile has said that she was misquoted by the media.&nbsp;

Feeling jittery about the BJP victory in Maharashtra civic body elections on Thursday despite demonetisation-induced&nbsp;hardships, Congress strategists are also mulling the need to change the party&#39;s campaign strategy in the ongoing Uttar Pradesh elections. &nbsp;&nbsp;

The party leaders feel that an over-emphasis on demonetisation has only worked in favour of the BJP, which may use it in the remaining three phases of the Assembly polls, pitting the poor against the rich.

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In a couple of tweets with hashtag #DontTwistMyWords, Dikshit on Friday afternoon went into&nbsp;damage-control mode saying the Congress vice-president has the &quot;sensitivity&quot; and &quot;concern of a mature leader&quot;. But not before it was used to the hilt by BJP president Amit Shah, who at a rally in Azamgarh said the entire nation agreed with Dikshit&#39;s &#39;fact&#39;, and wondered why he was &#39;forced into&#39; the state by the Congress? &quot;Sheila ji, the whole country acknowledges the fact which you stated, that Rahul is immature, but I want to ask why are you enforcing him in Uttar Pradesh.&quot;

Earlier, a former minister in Maharashtra, Nitin Raut, in an open letter, blamed the Congress leaders for debacle in Maharashtra civic polls. &quot;The biggest opponents for the party were not the BJP or Shiv Sena, but an unscrupulous Congress leader. A complete washout of the party pains a hardcore Congressman in me, but what shames me is that this was done on purpose,&quot; he said.

Raut said that with the BJP and the Sena at loggerheads and raising the pitch against each other, any experienced Congress leader could have inspired his party to put up a strong show. &quot;The results put a big question mark on the leadership in the state and its capability to prepare the party for the big test in 2019. It is of utmost importance to show party cadre and supporters that there is still hope, something which can happen only if we put people who can take party rank and file along at the top,&quot; he wrote.

Dikshit&#39;s detractors in the party cited her past remarks as well. She was quoted in interview as saying that Rahul was &quot;still not mature and should be given (more) time&quot;.

The statement came at the worst time as the party is engaged in a neck-to-neck fight in UP. It also gave ammunition to the BJP, which spares no chance of attacking Rahul. This even forced the party to cancel its daily briefing on Friday, as no leader had idea, how to tackle Dikshit comments.

But some leaders at the party headquarters were blaming Rahul himself. &quot;The decision to make him president is taking too long. The complete surgery needs to happen soon. We are still debating whether he is capable to take over or not. I fear time has already run out. BJP has begun preparing for the next Lok Sabha elections and here we are still trying to deal with the last one,&quot; said a party office-bearer.

A senior party leader also wondered that after the Congress Working Committee (CWC) adopted a resolution last year asking Rahul to take over as president, why then was he shirking the responsibility. Unofficially, party president Sonia Gandhi has more or less withdrawn and sends all the files to Rahul for clearance. In case of Mumbai also, leaders were shocked why Rahul didn&#39;t crack the whip despite open fight between Sanjay Nirupam and Gurudas Kamath.

(A version of this report first appeared in DNA)

Some leaders are baying for her blood, others blame the party's current plight on delay in Rahul taking over the reins

By Iftikhar Gilani India's oldest party the Congress is split between baying for former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit's blood after she was reported to have called Rahul Gandhi "immature" or blaming Gandhi himself for taking so long to take over the party. Rahul is the vice president of the Congress party, while his mother Sonia holds the post of president. Sheila Dikshit meanwhile has said that she was misquoted by the media. Feeling jittery about the BJP victory in Maharashtra civic body elections on Thursday despite demonetisation-induced hardships, Congress strategists are also mulling the need to change the party's campaign strategy in the ongoing Uttar Pradesh elections. The party leaders feel that an over-emphasis on demonetisation has only worked in favour of the BJP, which may use it in the remaining three phases of the Assembly polls, pitting the poor against the rich. A senior party leader also wondered that after the Congress Working Committee adopted a resolution last year asking Rahul to take over as president, why then was he shirking the responsibility × In a couple of tweets with hashtag #DontTwistMyWords, Dikshit on Friday afternoon went into damage-control mode saying the Congress vice-president has the "sensitivity" and "concern of a mature leader". But not before it was used to the hilt by BJP president Amit Shah, who at a rally in Azamgarh said the entire nation agreed with Dikshit's 'fact', and wondered why he was 'forced into' the state by the Congress? "Sheila ji, the whole country acknowledges the fact which you stated, that Rahul is immature, but I want to ask why are you enforcing him in Uttar Pradesh." Earlier, a former minister in Maharashtra, Nitin Raut, in an open letter, blamed the Congress leaders for debacle in Maharashtra civic polls. "The biggest opponents for the party were not the BJP or Shiv Sena, but an unscrupulous Congress leader. A complete washout of the party pains a hardcore Congressman in me, but what shames me is that this was done on purpose," he said. Raut said that with the BJP and the Sena at loggerheads and raising the pitch against each other, any experienced Congress leader could have inspired his party to put up a strong show. "The results put a big question mark on the leadership in the state and its capability to prepare the party for the big test in 2019. It is of utmost importance to show party cadre and supporters that there is still hope, something which can happen only if we put people who can take party rank and file along at the top," he wrote. Dikshit's detractors in the party cited her past remarks as well. She was quoted in interview as saying that Rahul was "still not mature and should be given (more) time". The statement came at the worst time as the party is engaged in a neck-to-neck fight in UP. It also gave ammunition to the BJP, which spares no chance of attacking Rahul. This even forced the party to cancel its daily briefing on Friday, as no leader had idea, how to tackle Dikshit comments. But some leaders at the party headquarters were blaming Rahul himself. "The decision to make him president is taking too long. The complete surgery needs to happen soon. We are still debating whether he is capable to take over or not. I fear time has already run out. BJP has begun preparing for the next Lok Sabha elections and here we are still trying to deal with the last one," said a party office-bearer. A senior party leader also wondered that after the Congress Working Committee (CWC) adopted a resolution last year asking Rahul to take over as president, why then was he shirking the responsibility. Unofficially, party president Sonia Gandhi has more or less withdrawn and sends all the files to Rahul for clearance. In case of Mumbai also, leaders were shocked why Rahul didn't crack the whip despite open fight between Sanjay Nirupam and Gurudas Kamath. (A version of this report first appeared in DNA)

India: Congress divided between blaming Rahul or Sheila after she calls him 'immature'

In an exclusive interview with WION&#39;s Kartikeya Sharma, Kiren Rijiju, minister for state in the central government blamed the Congress party for the current turmoil in the state. He accused the party of tarnishing the BJP&#39;s image by saying it was trying to alter Manipur&#39;s border with Nagaland. 
&nbsp; 
Q: Why are BJP leaders at pains to explain that the Nagaland peace accord will not lead to territorial realignment of Manipur?

A: Why should we mix up issues. Problems of Manipur are different and the state is reeling under tremendous pressure because of various forces and is working like an obstacle to the path of development. Manipur has the potential but the root cause of its problem is the Congress Party. Whether it is the Naga issue or local issues, Congress has created it. We have to start afresh.

&nbsp; 
Q: How do you express the anxiety in Manipur&rsquo;s civil society on Nagalim?

A: It is because Congress Party has launched a malicious campaign that BJP is going to alter the boundary with Manipur. The talks with the Nagas have been taking place from a long time. There are other stake holders also and it cannot be linked with Manipur state elections. They are creating false alarm to divert the attention of the people of Manipur from lack development.

&nbsp; 
Q: Then what is the truth of the Naga accord? North East Chief Ministers met the President and said that they were not taken into confidence?

A: On the day of the signing of the framework agreement, all the Congress chief ministers congratulated. After three days Sonia Gandhi called up the chief ministers asking them as to why are they congratulating the BJP government. She asked them to oppose it. This is on official record. Congress chief ministers had tweeted congratulating us. Suddenly after three days, Congress President made the call?

Q: Are you saying that Sonia Gandhi churned a political turmoil?

A: It is absolutely visible. I&rsquo;m not saying it. It is on record. You see the statements and tweets. After three days, they took a U-turn. It was childish.

Q: New districts were created by Ibobi Singh (Manipur chief minister) before the elections and the blockade happened. But the feeling is also there that Centre didn&#39;t do enough to ameliorate the condition?

A: This is totally unbecoming on part of the Congress chief minister. When he signed the letter in 2011, we were not part of it. Then P Chidambaram was the home minister. He came to Manipur and the Chief Minister Ibobi Singh said that new districts wouldn&rsquo;t be formed till all communities were on board. Then he created the district. He created the problem. Why did he give this commitment earlier? He is responsible for the present situation.

Q: If your government comes to power then how will you address this issue?

A: This is an administrative matter. We will look at them after formation of the government.

(WION) 
&nbsp;

&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

Kiren Rijiju accused the party of tarnishing the BJP's image by saying it was trying to alter Manipur's border with Nagaland

In an exclusive interview with WION's Kartikeya Sharma, Kiren Rijiju, minister for state in the central government blamed the Congress party for the current turmoil in the state. He accused the party of tarnishing the BJP's image by saying it was trying to alter Manipur's border with Nagaland. Q: Why are BJP leaders at pains to explain that the Nagaland peace accord will not lead to territorial realignment of Manipur? A: Why should we mix up issues. Problems of Manipur are different and the state is reeling under tremendous pressure because of various forces and is working like an obstacle to the path of development. Manipur has the potential but the root cause of its problem is the Congress Party. Whether it is the Naga issue or local issues, Congress has created it. We have to start afresh. Q: How do you express the anxiety in Manipur’s civil society on Nagalim? A: It is because Congress Party has launched a malicious campaign that BJP is going to alter the boundary with Manipur. The talks with the Nagas have been taking place from a long time. There are other stake holders also and it cannot be linked with Manipur state elections. They are creating false alarm to divert the attention of the people of Manipur from lack development. Q: Then what is the truth of the Naga accord? North East Chief Ministers met the President and said that they were not taken into confidence? A: On the day of the signing of the framework agreement, all the Congress chief ministers congratulated. After three days Sonia Gandhi called up the chief ministers asking them as to why are they congratulating the BJP government. She asked them to oppose it. This is on official record. Congress chief ministers had tweeted congratulating us. Suddenly after three days, Congress President made the call? Q: Are you saying that Sonia Gandhi churned a political turmoil? A: It is absolutely visible. I’m not saying it. It is on record. You see the statements and tweets. After three days, they took a U-turn. It was childish. Q: New districts were created by Ibobi Singh (Manipur chief minister) before the elections and the blockade happened. But the feeling is also there that Centre didn't do enough to ameliorate the condition? A: This is totally unbecoming on part of the Congress chief minister. When he signed the letter in 2011, we were not part of it. Then P Chidambaram was the home minister. He came to Manipur and the Chief Minister Ibobi Singh said that new districts wouldn’t be formed till all communities were on board. Then he created the district. He created the problem. Why did he give this commitment earlier? He is responsible for the present situation. Q: If your government comes to power then how will you address this issue? A: This is an administrative matter. We will look at them after formation of the government. (WION)

Exclusive - Sonia Gandhi had asked chief ministers to oppose Nagaland peace accord: BJP

The fourth phase of Uttar Pradesh assembly elections for 53 constituencies spanning 12 districts is underway.

The voter turnout till 1&nbsp;pm&nbsp;was 39 per cent, according to ANI.

The economically backward and water-scarce&nbsp;region of Bundelkhand will be voting in this phase of elections as well.&nbsp;

Other districts, where polling is going on amid tight security are Pratapgarh, Kaushambi, Allahabad, Jalaun, Jhansi, Lalitpur, Mahoba, Banda, Hamirpur, Chitrakoot and Fatehpur.

Security had been beefed up across inter-district and inter-state borders in view of the polls.

A total of 680 candidates are in the fray with many heavyweights like Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya, who&nbsp;is contesting from his traditional Kunda constituency in Pratapgarh district.&nbsp;

Aditi Singh of the Congress is contesting from the Rae Bareli constituency whereas Utkarsh Maurya, son of BSP turncoat Swami Prasad Maurya, is fighting from Unchahar constituency.&nbsp;

Leader of Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh assembly, Gaya Charan Dinkar, is contesting from Naraini in Banda.

Senior SP leader Reoti Raman Singh&#39;s son Ujjwal Raman Singh is in the race from Karchana seat in Allahabad.

A total of 1.84 crore voters will exercise their franchise in this phase of elections.

Elections for UP legislative assembly are being held in seven phases with three more -- February 27, March 4 and 8 -- to follow after today&#39;s polling. The results will be out on March 11.

(WION with inputs from agencies)

The water-scarce?region of Bundelkhand will be voting in this phase of elections

The fourth phase of Uttar Pradesh assembly elections for 53 constituencies spanning 12 districts is underway. The voter turnout till 1 pm was 39 per cent, according to ANI. The economically backward and water-scarce region of Bundelkhand will be voting in this phase of elections as well. Other districts, where polling is going on amid tight security are Pratapgarh, Kaushambi, Allahabad, Jalaun, Jhansi, Lalitpur, Mahoba, Banda, Hamirpur, Chitrakoot and Fatehpur. Security had been beefed up across inter-district and inter-state borders in view of the polls. A total of 680 candidates are in the fray with many heavyweights like Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya, who is contesting from his traditional Kunda constituency in Pratapgarh district. Aditi Singh of the Congress is contesting from the Rae Bareli constituency whereas Utkarsh Maurya, son of BSP turncoat Swami Prasad Maurya, is fighting from Unchahar constituency. Leader of Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh assembly, Gaya Charan Dinkar, is contesting from Naraini in Banda. Senior SP leader Reoti Raman Singh's son Ujjwal Raman Singh is in the race from Karchana seat in Allahabad. A total of 1.84 crore voters will exercise their franchise in this phase of elections. Elections for UP legislative assembly are being held in seven phases with three more -- February 27, March 4 and 8 -- to follow after today's polling. The results will be out on March 11. (WION with inputs from agencies)

UP assembly elections: 39% polling reported till 1 pm as voting underway in fourth phase

In an interview to PTI, BJP president Amit Shah said that there was &quot;no question&quot; of any post-poll alliance with the BSP or any party. He also said the BJP had deliberately not declared its chief ministerial candidate for Uttar Pradesh&nbsp;as it is a part of its poll strategy.

Asked if the BJP would be willing to ally with the BSP or any other party to form a government in the politically crucial state if it fell short of a majority, the BJP president explicitly stated, &quot;Kisi se bhi haath milane ka dur-dur tak koi swaal nahin uthatha (there is no question by far of joining hands with any party).&quot;

A few poll surveys and political experts have forecast a hung assembly in the state where elections are currently being held in seven-phases with the fourth phase set for tomorrow.&nbsp;

In the 2014 general elections, the BJP had won 71 of the 80 Lok Sabha (Lower House) seats, beating the SP-Congress alliance and Mayawati&#39;s BSP quite easily.

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They will ask your religion &amp; caste first, if that doesn&#39;t seem favourable to them, they won&#39;t give you laptop: Amit Shah in Chauri Chaura <a href="https://t.co/zSOVBahTNV">pic.twitter.com/zSOVBahTNV</a>
&mdash; ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANINewsUP/status/834367588041945088">February 22, 2017</a></blockquote>
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The BJP president hopes to ride the 2014 wave in Uttar Pradesh, not only this, he feels the BJP will win in Uttarakhand and Goa with &quot;full majority&quot;.

He said it was &quot;difficult to guess&quot; who would win in Punjab, noting that it was a &quot;triangular contest&quot; in the state involving the SAD-BJP, Congress and the AAP.

Akhilesh Yadav slams PM Modi over demonetisation.

Meanwhile, the BSP, SP and the Congress - key parties in the ongoing Uttar Pradesh polls criticised the Modi-led BJP over demonetisation and other issues in various election rallies in the state.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi has written a letter to the prime minister questioning him over his 2014 poll promise to bring &quot;acche din&quot; (good days) back.

&nbsp;

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Due to some reasons, I couldn&#39;t be present between all of you this time. Representing you is a matter of pride for me,my family:Sonia Gandhi <a href="https://t.co/DzTqwvfuwG">pic.twitter.com/DzTqwvfuwG</a>
&mdash; ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANINewsUP/status/834354553692753921">February 22, 2017</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;

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Centre Govt is depriving you (ppl) of welfare programmes deliberately, &amp; I am pained to see this happening: Sonia Gandhi addresses in letter <a href="https://t.co/B3XIIQP3RB">pic.twitter.com/B3XIIQP3RB</a>
&mdash; ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANINewsUP/status/834355050600361984">February 22, 2017</a></blockquote>
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At an election rally in Bahraich district, SP President Akhilesh Yadav said Modi had not released statistics showing that black money, corruption and terrorism had come to an end after demonetisation.

&quot;You had said demonetisation would being an end to black money, corruption and terrorism. Where are the statistics? (Notebandi se aapne jo kaha tha ki kaladhan, corruption aur aatankwad khatam ho jayega, aankadey kahan hai?,&quot; Akhilesh Yadav said.

On the SP&#39;s seat-sharing with the Congress, Akhilesh said, &quot;If friendship is done with a big heart, it stays but if you befriend a miser the bond is unlikely to last.&quot;

After the Congress-SP alliance, the confusion in the minds of the people, has come to an end now,&quot; Akhilesh Yadav said at a rally in Shravasti district.

&nbsp;

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Hum zimmedaari se PM ko kehte hain khao Ganga maiyya ki kasam ki hum Kashi mein 24ghante bijli de rahein hain ki nahi de rahe:Akhilesh Yadav <a href="https://t.co/1TM4d1o2Xv">pic.twitter.com/1TM4d1o2Xv</a>
&mdash; ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANINewsUP/status/834347017937760256">February 22, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Reservations will be removed if BJP comes to power: Mayawati

On another front, BSP chief Mayawati said she had been informed by &quot;sources&quot; that the BJP would remove reservations if it came to power in Uttar Pradesh.

&quot;If BJP comes to power in the elections, all reservations will go away, have got information from sources,&quot; Mayawati said at a rally in Faizabad district.

&quot;You can only guess how many Rohit Vemula or Una cases will happen if BJP comes to power in the state,&quot; the BSP chief declared.

She was referring to Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula, who spoke up for his community and committed suicide in Karnataka and to the thrashing of Dalits in Gujarat&#39;s Una after being wrongly accused of killing a cow.

&quot;Now the people will refer to the BJP as &#39;party of frauds&#39; instead of the &#39;party of people&#39; not only in Uttar Pradesh but the entire country,&quot; Mayawati said in Faizabad.

(WION with inputs from agencies)

&nbsp;

BJP president Amit Shah is confident of his party's win in UP, Uttarakhand and Goa but he is unclear about the outcome in Punjab

In an interview to PTI, BJP president Amit Shah said that there was "no question" of any post-poll alliance with the BSP or any party. He also said the BJP had deliberately not declared its chief ministerial candidate for Uttar Pradesh as it is a part of its poll strategy. Asked if the BJP would be willing to ally with the BSP or any other party to form a government in the politically crucial state if it fell short of a majority, the BJP president explicitly stated, "Kisi se bhi haath milane ka dur-dur tak koi swaal nahin uthatha (there is no question by far of joining hands with any party)." A few poll surveys and political experts have forecast a hung assembly in the state where elections are currently being held in seven-phases with the fourth phase set for tomorrow. In the 2014 general elections, the BJP had won 71 of the 80 Lok Sabha (Lower House) seats, beating the SP-Congress alliance and Mayawati's BSP quite easily. They will ask your religion & caste first, if that doesn't seem favourable to them, they won't give you laptop: Amit Shah in Chauri Chaura pic.twitter.com/zSOVBahTNV — ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 22, 2017 × The BJP president hopes to ride the 2014 wave in Uttar Pradesh, not only this, he feels the BJP will win in Uttarakhand and Goa with "full majority". He said it was "difficult to guess" who would win in Punjab, noting that it was a "triangular contest" in the state involving the SAD-BJP, Congress and the AAP. Akhilesh Yadav slams PM Modi over demonetisation. Meanwhile, the BSP, SP and the Congress - key parties in the ongoing Uttar Pradesh polls criticised the Modi-led BJP over demonetisation and other issues in various election rallies in the state. Congress president Sonia Gandhi has written a letter to the prime minister questioning him over his 2014 poll promise to bring "acche din" (good days) back. Due to some reasons, I couldn't be present between all of you this time. Representing you is a matter of pride for me,my family:Sonia Gandhi pic.twitter.com/DzTqwvfuwG — ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 22, 2017 × Centre Govt is depriving you (ppl) of welfare programmes deliberately, & I am pained to see this happening: Sonia Gandhi addresses in letter pic.twitter.com/B3XIIQP3RB — ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 22, 2017 × At an election rally in Bahraich district, SP President Akhilesh Yadav said Modi had not released statistics showing that black money, corruption and terrorism had come to an end after demonetisation. "You had said demonetisation would being an end to black money, corruption and terrorism. Where are the statistics? (Notebandi se aapne jo kaha tha ki kaladhan, corruption aur aatankwad khatam ho jayega, aankadey kahan hai?," Akhilesh Yadav said. On the SP's seat-sharing with the Congress, Akhilesh said, "If friendship is done with a big heart, it stays but if you befriend a miser the bond is unlikely to last." After the Congress-SP alliance, the confusion in the minds of the people, has come to an end now," Akhilesh Yadav said at a rally in Shravasti district. Hum zimmedaari se PM ko kehte hain khao Ganga maiyya ki kasam ki hum Kashi mein 24ghante bijli de rahein hain ki nahi de rahe:Akhilesh Yadav pic.twitter.com/1TM4d1o2Xv — ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 22, 2017 × Reservations will be removed if BJP comes to power: Mayawati On another front, BSP chief Mayawati said she had been informed by "sources" that the BJP would remove reservations if it came to power in Uttar Pradesh. "If BJP comes to power in the elections, all reservations will go away, have got information from sources," Mayawati said at a rally in Faizabad district. "You can only guess how many Rohit Vemula or Una cases will happen if BJP comes to power in the state," the BSP chief declared. She was referring to Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula, who spoke up for his community and committed suicide in Karnataka and to the thrashing of Dalits in Gujarat's Una after being wrongly accused of killing a cow. "Now the people will refer to the BJP as 'party of frauds' instead of the 'party of people' not only in Uttar Pradesh but the entire country," Mayawati said in Faizabad. (WION with inputs from agencies)

No question of post-poll alliance with BSP or any party: BJP president Amit Shah

Haryana is on the edge as the ongoing Jat agitation seeking reservation in education and government jobs has once again raised the spectre of last year&#39;s violence that killed 30 people.

Members of the Jat community have been sitting on dharnas in 19 of the state&#39;s 22 districts since January 29.

The fresh protests come at a time when Haryana is observing golden jubilee of its formation.

The images of mobs setting houses, schools, eateries and other places on fire during last year&#39;s quota agitation are still fresh in public memory.

The Delhi-Ambala National Highway, the gateway for travel to Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, had remained blocked for days.

The Manohar Lal Khattar government had drawn flak from various quarters, including the opposition, for its alleged inept handling of the situation last year.

A complete breakdown of the official machinery was witnessed between February 19 and 22 last year.

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<h5>Members of the community have been staging dharnas in 19 of the state&#39;s 22 districts since January 29. Last year, there had been a complete breakdown of the state machinery between February 19 and 22</h5>
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Later, a committee headed by former Uttar Pradesh DGP Parkash Singh probed the acts of omission and commission of officers during the Jat quota violence and indicted several officers for not taking appropriate steps, thus allowing the situation to worsen.

As many as 1,196 shops were set ablaze, 371 vehicles torched, 30 schools/colleges were burnt, 75 houses were set on fire, 53 hotels/marriage palaces were devastated, 23 petrol pumps were attacked and vandalised, the committee had observed in its report.

An industry body had pegged the loss at around Rs 34,000 crore in last year&#39;s violence.

The mode of protests this year is giving sleepless nights to the first ever BJP government in Haryana, a state carved out in 1966.

Despite the government assuring the Jats that it will do whatever possible within the ambit of the law and the agitation leader promising that the stir will be peaceful, the growing number of protesters with each passing day is proving a tightrope walk for the Khattar government, which does not want to allow a repeat of last year&#39;s situation. 
 
Notably, opposition parties -- the Indian National Lok Dal and the Congress -- have given their support, asking the Khattar government to fulfil the promises it had made to the Jat community.

Jats are demanding reservation in government jobs and educational institutions, besides withdrawing of criminals cases registered against several youths of the community during last year&#39;s agitation, release of those lodged in jail, and compensation and government jobs to the next of kin of those killed in last year&#39;s agitation.&nbsp;

Like last year, this year too the epicentre of the stir is Rohtak, Sonipat, Hissar and Jhajjar districts.

The All-India Jat Aarakshan Sangarsh Samiti (AIJASS) is spearheading the fresh stir and is being led by its national president Yashpal Malik (55), who hails from Uttar Pradesh and has no link with Haryana.

Last year, Haryana Police had slapped a sedition case against him. However, Malik has been active and has been criss-crossing the state this year during fresh round of the stir to drum up support.

The Haryana government&#39;s decision to grant reservation to Jats and five other communities in jobs and educational institutions under the newly created Backward Class &#39;C&#39; category was challenged last year after a PIL was filed in this regard before the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The PIL was filed by a Bhiwani resident, who challenged the constitutional validity of the Haryana Backward Classes (Reservation in Services and Admission in Educational Institutions) Act, 2016, passed by the assembly on March 29 last year.

The Act provides 10 per cent quota in Class III and IV posts and educational institutions and six per cent quota in Class I and II posts to Jats, Jat Sikhs, Rors, Bishnois, Tyagis and Muslim Jats in Schedule-III.

The government has been trying to defend its quota law since. While reservation continues to be the main demand of the Jats, the protesters are also putting pressure on the government for other demands as well.

The state had last year enacted a law for providing reservation to Jats in consultation with all stakeholders, but later on the court has stayed it and now the matter would have to be dealt with in a legal manner only, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has said.

The state government has appointed a senior advocate to plead the case in the court, Khattar had said earlier.

&quot;Once the stay is vacated, the state government would request the Centre to include the Act (granting reservation to Jats and others) in the 9th Schedule,&quot; he said.

The Khattar government has also announced a fresh compensation, this time for &quot;innocent persons&quot; who were injured during the 2016 Jat reservation stir.

The BJP government in the state had last week formed a five-member committee, headed by Chief Secretary D S Dhesi, to hold talks with the agitating Jats.

Recently, a meeting between representatives of a Haryana government-appointed committee and leaders of the Jat agitation remained inconclusive.

The fresh round of stir is a sort of tightrope walk for the BJP government, which does not want to let the law and order situation get out of hands this time, even as it is wary of taking any strict action that alienates the predominant Jats totally.

In view of the fresh Jat stir, paramilitary forces have been deployed in sensitive areas, while the state police is maintaining a strict vigil.

(PTI)

The Jats are demanding reservations in govt jobs & educational institutions

Haryana is on the edge as the ongoing Jat agitation seeking reservation in education and government jobs has once again raised the spectre of last year's violence that killed 30 people. Members of the Jat community have been sitting on dharnas in 19 of the state's 22 districts since January 29. The fresh protests come at a time when Haryana is observing golden jubilee of its formation. The images of mobs setting houses, schools, eateries and other places on fire during last year's quota agitation are still fresh in public memory. The Delhi-Ambala National Highway, the gateway for travel to Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, had remained blocked for days. The Manohar Lal Khattar government had drawn flak from various quarters, including the opposition, for its alleged inept handling of the situation last year. A complete breakdown of the official machinery was witnessed between February 19 and 22 last year. Members of the community have been staging dharnas in 19 of the state's 22 districts since January 29. Last year, there had been a complete breakdown of the state machinery between February 19 and 22 × Later, a committee headed by former Uttar Pradesh DGP Parkash Singh probed the acts of omission and commission of officers during the Jat quota violence and indicted several officers for not taking appropriate steps, thus allowing the situation to worsen. As many as 1,196 shops were set ablaze, 371 vehicles torched, 30 schools/colleges were burnt, 75 houses were set on fire, 53 hotels/marriage palaces were devastated, 23 petrol pumps were attacked and vandalised, the committee had observed in its report. An industry body had pegged the loss at around Rs 34,000 crore in last year's violence. The mode of protests this year is giving sleepless nights to the first ever BJP government in Haryana, a state carved out in 1966. Despite the government assuring the Jats that it will do whatever possible within the ambit of the law and the agitation leader promising that the stir will be peaceful, the growing number of protesters with each passing day is proving a tightrope walk for the Khattar government, which does not want to allow a repeat of last year's situation. Notably, opposition parties -- the Indian National Lok Dal and the Congress -- have given their support, asking the Khattar government to fulfil the promises it had made to the Jat community. Jats are demanding reservation in government jobs and educational institutions, besides withdrawing of criminals cases registered against several youths of the community during last year's agitation, release of those lodged in jail, and compensation and government jobs to the next of kin of those killed in last year's agitation. Like last year, this year too the epicentre of the stir is Rohtak, Sonipat, Hissar and Jhajjar districts. The All-India Jat Aarakshan Sangarsh Samiti (AIJASS) is spearheading the fresh stir and is being led by its national president Yashpal Malik (55), who hails from Uttar Pradesh and has no link with Haryana. Last year, Haryana Police had slapped a sedition case against him. However, Malik has been active and has been criss-crossing the state this year during fresh round of the stir to drum up support. The Haryana government's decision to grant reservation to Jats and five other communities in jobs and educational institutions under the newly created Backward Class 'C' category was challenged last year after a PIL was filed in this regard before the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The PIL was filed by a Bhiwani resident, who challenged the constitutional validity of the Haryana Backward Classes (Reservation in Services and Admission in Educational Institutions) Act, 2016, passed by the assembly on March 29 last year. The Act provides 10 per cent quota in Class III and IV posts and educational institutions and six per cent quota in Class I and II posts to Jats, Jat Sikhs, Rors, Bishnois, Tyagis and Muslim Jats in Schedule-III. The government has been trying to defend its quota law since. While reservation continues to be the main demand of the Jats, the protesters are also putting pressure on the government for other demands as well. The state had last year enacted a law for providing reservation to Jats in consultation with all stakeholders, but later on the court has stayed it and now the matter would have to be dealt with in a legal manner only, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has said. The state government has appointed a senior advocate to plead the case in the court, Khattar had said earlier. "Once the stay is vacated, the state government would request the Centre to include the Act (granting reservation to Jats and others) in the 9th Schedule," he said. The Khattar government has also announced a fresh compensation, this time for "innocent persons" who were injured during the 2016 Jat reservation stir. The BJP government in the state had last week formed a five-member committee, headed by Chief Secretary D S Dhesi, to hold talks with the agitating Jats. Recently, a meeting between representatives of a Haryana government-appointed committee and leaders of the Jat agitation remained inconclusive. The fresh round of stir is a sort of tightrope walk for the BJP government, which does not want to let the law and order situation get out of hands this time, even as it is wary of taking any strict action that alienates the predominant Jats totally. In view of the fresh Jat stir, paramilitary forces have been deployed in sensitive areas, while the state police is maintaining a strict vigil. (PTI)

India: Haryana on edge as ongoing Jat agitation raises fears of last year's violence

Clamour for Priyanka Gandhi to campaign in Raebareli and in Amethi has increased as incumbent Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav seems to have broken mutual understanding between the Gandhi&rsquo;s and Yadav&rsquo;s in the family pocket borough. Akhilesh Yadav campaigned for Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate Devendra Pratap Singh against the Congress candidate Ashok Singh in Sereni on Wednesday.

Sources in the Raebareli Congress&nbsp;say that it was because of a friendly fight in four&nbsp;constituencies&nbsp;that the contest was kept centred around workers only. But now with Akhilesh&rsquo;s visit, the game has changed. A close aide of the Gandhi family, and also a Congress Secretary, Kishori Lal, admitted there is tremendous pressure from the candidates to organise rallies for Priyanka Gandhi. He also said that last time around they over-exposed her, which they will be careful not to do&nbsp;in the current elections. &ldquo;It was an excess from our part. We don&rsquo;t want Priyanka Gandhi to do an aggressive campaign in the constituency. She is our senior leader,&rdquo; said Kishori Lal. But he remains hopeful that Priyanka would come to the constituency. &nbsp;

Congress sources confirmed to WION that a fresh proposal would be sent to Priyanka Gandhi by Wednesday night or Thursday morning to spare one&nbsp;or two&nbsp;days in Raebareli where campaiging&nbsp;ends on February 21. It would be proposed to Priyanka that she take&nbsp;five meetings consisting of booth committee members ranging between 3000-4000 people so that the message goes out that Congress has not given up seats like Sereni and Unchahar in Raebareli. &nbsp;

Congress is witnessing friendly fight with SP on two seats each in Raebareli and Amethi. In Unchhar, Congress candidate Ajay Pal Singh is pitched against SP candidate Mohit Pandey who wants Mulayum Singh Yadav to campaign in the constituency. In Amethi Amita Singh is fighting SP&rsquo;s Gayatri Prajapati and Gauriganj is witnessing a contest between Mohd Naim and Rakesh Singh. &ldquo;It is a mismanagement in part of SP and not us. They didn&rsquo;t keep the promise,&rdquo; says Congress Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh.

As per the schedule prepared by the local Congress unit, the Congress member of Parliament Raj Babbar and Pramod Tiwari will campaign in Raebareli on February 16. The Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi&rsquo;s two rallies are scheduled on the&nbsp;17th, four&nbsp;meetings of Raj Babbar and Pramod Tiwari again are fixed on the&nbsp;18th,&nbsp;and five&nbsp;meetings have been fixed for the Leader of Opposition Gulam Nabi Azad on the&nbsp;19th.

Sources say that February 20&nbsp;and 21&nbsp;have been reserved for Congress President Sonia Gandhi, but pointed out that the whole campaign schedule can change&nbsp;if Priyanka confirms the programme. Congress sources say that if the green signal comes then it would be scheduled after Rahul Gandhi&rsquo;s visit, which is on February 17. It was also confirmed to WION by the local unit of Raebareli&nbsp;that till now it has also not received confirmation from the Congress President&rsquo;s office. The campaign in Raebareli would end at 5 pm on the 21st.

Some candidates were candid about the way the alliance has worked out in the family bastion. &ldquo;May be these discussions were held earlier and decisions taken later. But why these candidates have been put up, leadership understands it better,&rdquo; said Amita Singh former MLA contesting against Gayatri Prajapati.

So for now, all eyes are on Priyanka Gandhi.

(WION)

Clamour for Priyanka Gandhi to campaign in Raebareli has increased after incumbent CM Akhilesh Yadav campaigned for his party's candidate

Clamour for Priyanka Gandhi to campaign in Raebareli and in Amethi has increased as incumbent Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav seems to have broken mutual understanding between the Gandhi’s and Yadav’s in the family pocket borough. Akhilesh Yadav campaigned for Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate Devendra Pratap Singh against the Congress candidate Ashok Singh in Sereni on Wednesday. Sources in the Raebareli Congress say that it was because of a friendly fight in four constituencies that the contest was kept centred around workers only. But now with Akhilesh’s visit, the game has changed. A close aide of the Gandhi family, and also a Congress Secretary, Kishori Lal, admitted there is tremendous pressure from the candidates to organise rallies for Priyanka Gandhi. He also said that last time around they over-exposed her, which they will be careful not to do in the current elections. “It was an excess from our part. We don’t want Priyanka Gandhi to do an aggressive campaign in the constituency. She is our senior leader,” said Kishori Lal. But he remains hopeful that Priyanka would come to the constituency. Congress sources confirmed to WION that a fresh proposal would be sent to Priyanka Gandhi by Wednesday night or Thursday morning to spare one or two days in Raebareli where campaiging ends on February 21. It would be proposed to Priyanka that she take five meetings consisting of booth committee members ranging between 3000-4000 people so that the message goes out that Congress has not given up seats like Sereni and Unchahar in Raebareli. Congress is witnessing friendly fight with SP on two seats each in Raebareli and Amethi. In Unchhar, Congress candidate Ajay Pal Singh is pitched against SP candidate Mohit Pandey who wants Mulayum Singh Yadav to campaign in the constituency. In Amethi Amita Singh is fighting SP’s Gayatri Prajapati and Gauriganj is witnessing a contest between Mohd Naim and Rakesh Singh. “It is a mismanagement in part of SP and not us. They didn’t keep the promise,” says Congress Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh. As per the schedule prepared by the local Congress unit, the Congress member of Parliament Raj Babbar and Pramod Tiwari will campaign in Raebareli on February 16. The Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi’s two rallies are scheduled on the 17th, four meetings of Raj Babbar and Pramod Tiwari again are fixed on the 18th, and five meetings have been fixed for the Leader of Opposition Gulam Nabi Azad on the 19th. Sources say that February 20 and 21 have been reserved for Congress President Sonia Gandhi, but pointed out that the whole campaign schedule can change if Priyanka confirms the programme. Congress sources say that if the green signal comes then it would be scheduled after Rahul Gandhi’s visit, which is on February 17. It was also confirmed to WION by the local unit of Raebareli that till now it has also not received confirmation from the Congress President’s office. The campaign in Raebareli would end at 5 pm on the 21st. Some candidates were candid about the way the alliance has worked out in the family bastion. “May be these discussions were held earlier and decisions taken later. But why these candidates have been put up, leadership understands it better,” said Amita Singh former MLA contesting against Gayatri Prajapati. So for now, all eyes are on Priyanka Gandhi. (WION)

UP Elections: Waiting for Priyanka

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed Uttar Pradesh&#39;s ruling Samajwadi Party and the Opposition parties -- the Congress and the BSP -- for the lack of development in the state.

At an election rally in the state&#39;s Barabanki district, PM Modi claimed that in spite of the central government providing funds for farmers, the state government had not done any work in their favour. He said that Uttar Pradesh (UP) can develop only when the Samajwadi Party (SP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Congress would be removed from the state.

&quot;Uttar Pradesh will progress only when the SP, BSP and Congress are removed. I urge people in UP to elect a BJP government devoted to development,&quot; he said while addressing a rally.

Till the time you will not punish SP, BSP and Congress, Uttar Pradesh will not change,&quot; he added.

Asserting confidence of achieving favourable mandate, Prime Minister Modi said an environment of contempt against the SP, BSP and Congress can be seen in Uttar Pradesh.

&quot;Our government is for the poor, the underprivileged, the marginalised, the farmers. You can change the situation by placing your finger on the right symbol,&quot; he said.

The PM also took pot shots at chief minister Akhilesh Yadav&#39;s government at another election rally in Hardoi district, alleging that police stations in the state had become the SP&#39;s office. He also vowed to eradicate the rule of goons (gunda-raj) in the state if the BJP came to power.&nbsp;

&quot;Can any political party&#39;s office be at police stations? The police take permission from the Samajwadi Party (SP) workers to lodge a case. Police stations have become the Samajwadi Party&#39;s offices. The highest number of political murders are perpetrated in UP.&nbsp;

Law and order has completely collapsed in the state. There should be no discrimination in the deliverance of justice,&quot; he said.&nbsp;

The PM, who was campaigning for the third and fourth phase elections in the state, vowed not to ditch the people in the state.

He drew a parallel with Lord Krishna who was born in UP but made Gujarat his &#39;karma bhoomi&#39; (place of work).

&quot;Krishna was born in Uttar Pradesh but made Gujarat his karma bhoomi. I was born in Gujarat but Uttar Pradesh has adopted me. It is a privilege for me. Uttar Pradesh is like &#39;mai-baap&#39;. I am not a son who would ditch his &#39;mai-baap&#39;. I will always care about Uttar Pradesh,&quot; he said.

The third phase of the UP assembly polls will take place on February 19. The results of the seven-phase elections will be announced on March 11.

Akhilesh Yadav hits back at Modi&#39;s inexperience barb, defends father Mulayam Singh

A day after PM Modi questioned him for forming a coalition with &quot;those who tried to murder&quot; his father Mulayam Singh Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav said Modi&#39;s advisors should have cited better examples like Firozabad where his party was defeated by the Congress in a by-poll.

The de facto chief of the SP said that his party had entered into an alliance with the Congress to keep communal forces at bay.

&quot;Why did he travel so far to 1984 to create anger in me against Congress. He could have mentioned Firozabad where Congress&#39; state unit chief (Raj Babbar) defeated us (in bypoll),&quot; he said, adding they were revisiting such an old incident only because they have already &quot;lost&quot; the elections.

Akhilesh Yadav also hit back at PM Modi for calling him &quot;inexperienced&quot; saying, he had learnt to cycle fast so that neither the BSP&#39;s elephant nor BJP&#39;s lotus could come anywhere near the SP. The elephant and the lotus are the elections symbols of the two parties.

&quot;They termed me as inexperienced but one can ride the bicycle (SP symbol) only after falling down at least once...I have learnt to ride bicycle and that too with great speed so that neither the elephant nor the lotus can come anywhere near,&quot; Akhilesh said at an election meeting in Karhal.

&quot;Modiji said in Kannauj that by entering into an alliance with Congress, I have shown inexperience...We have done this so as to remove all doubts among people about government formation...We have done this to form government and remove communal forces,&quot; he said.

On the BJP&#39;s &quot;achchey din&quot; (good days) slogan, he said, &quot;BJP people say SP could not bring achchey din...This was the slogan of BJP it was never given by the Samajwadis.&quot;

On the BJP&#39;s promise of loan waiver for farmers, he said, &quot;I want to ask what has their government done in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra (where farmers are committing suicide...first you help farmers of Maharashtra&quot;.

Both Gujarat and Maharashtra are ruled by the BJP.

Akhilesh also dismissed claims of tensions with Mulayam Singh claiming &quot;SP is not my party but that of Netaji (Mulayam)&quot;.

At a rally in Etawah, Akhilesh alleged that some people had deliberately tried to create a rift between Mulayam Singh and himself.

&quot;Those who have tried to create distance between Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav) and me, the people of Etawah should teach them a lesson,&quot; Akhilesh said. Jinhone Netaji aur mere beech khaayi paida ki hai, Etawah ke log usay sabak sikhaane ka kaam karna: Akhilesh Yadav in Etawah

&quot;The very people we trusted were the ones who made me and Netaji fight,&quot; he added.&nbsp;

PM Modi should stop &quot;Mann ki Baat&quot;: Rahul Gandhi

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi asked PM Modi to stop his radio programme &quot;Mann ki Baat&quot; and instead understand their sufferings in the wake of demonetisation.

Addressing an election rally in Sitapur, Rahul Gandhi also slammed Modi for not waiving off the loans of farmers.&nbsp;

&quot;There was a meeting yesterday (Wednesday). Some people raised their voice against demonetisation. Modiji asked, what is their problem?&quot;

&quot;Modiji, you should stop &quot;Mann Ki Baat&quot; and should listen to the people. You&#39;ll understand the problems people are facing due to demonetisation,&quot; he said.

Hitting out at Modi, Gandhi said that the Prime Minister does not need to be in power in Uttar Pradesh to waive off the loans of farmers.

&quot;To waive off loans, you (Modi) don&#39;t need to be in power in Uttar Pradesh for that. Your government is at the Centre, so you should waive off the loans. Why are you waiting for elections?&quot; Gandhi said. 
 
People won&#39;t be influenced by PM&#39;s &#39;adopted son&#39; drama: Mayawati

BSP chief Mayawati took a dig at PM Modi, saying that the People of UP will not be influenced by his drama of calling himself the adopted son of the state.

She also asked Modi not to spread false information about her party&#39;s work when they were in power in the state.

&quot;He can ask me if his people are unable to tell him,&quot; she said.

Mayawati also expressed confidence that the BSP would win with a majority in the upcoming elections.

&quot;I am glad to inform that in the two phases conducted in UP, majority of the seats have been won by the BSP candidates. I can assert that in the coming phases as well, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) will lead. Our party will form the government in the state with full majority. Keeping in view the wrong policies and functioning of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Samajwadi Party (SP), there is urgent need of BSP in Uttar Pradesh,&quot; she said. 
&nbsp;

(WION with inputs from agencies) 
&nbsp;

PM Modi once again hit out at the Akhilesh Yadav government at an election rally in Uttar Pradesh

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed Uttar Pradesh's ruling Samajwadi Party and the Opposition parties -- the Congress and the BSP -- for the lack of development in the state. At an election rally in the state's Barabanki district, PM Modi claimed that in spite of the central government providing funds for farmers, the state government had not done any work in their favour. He said that Uttar Pradesh (UP) can develop only when the Samajwadi Party (SP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Congress would be removed from the state. "Uttar Pradesh will progress only when the SP, BSP and Congress are removed. I urge people in UP to elect a BJP government devoted to development," he said while addressing a rally. Till the time you will not punish SP, BSP and Congress, Uttar Pradesh will not change," he added. Asserting confidence of achieving favourable mandate, Prime Minister Modi said an environment of contempt against the SP, BSP and Congress can be seen in Uttar Pradesh. "Our government is for the poor, the underprivileged, the marginalised, the farmers. You can change the situation by placing your finger on the right symbol," he said. The PM also took pot shots at chief minister Akhilesh Yadav's government at another election rally in Hardoi district, alleging that police stations in the state had become the SP's office. He also vowed to eradicate the rule of goons (gunda-raj) in the state if the BJP came to power. "Can any political party's office be at police stations? The police take permission from the Samajwadi Party (SP) workers to lodge a case. Police stations have become the Samajwadi Party's offices. The highest number of political murders are perpetrated in UP. Law and order has completely collapsed in the state. There should be no discrimination in the deliverance of justice," he said. The PM, who was campaigning for the third and fourth phase elections in the state, vowed not to ditch the people in the state. He drew a parallel with Lord Krishna who was born in UP but made Gujarat his 'karma bhoomi' (place of work). "Krishna was born in Uttar Pradesh but made Gujarat his karma bhoomi. I was born in Gujarat but Uttar Pradesh has adopted me. It is a privilege for me. Uttar Pradesh is like 'mai-baap'. I am not a son who would ditch his 'mai-baap'. I will always care about Uttar Pradesh," he said. The third phase of the UP assembly polls will take place on February 19. The results of the seven-phase elections will be announced on March 11. Akhilesh Yadav hits back at Modi's inexperience barb, defends father Mulayam Singh A day after PM Modi questioned him for forming a coalition with "those who tried to murder" his father Mulayam Singh Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav said Modi's advisors should have cited better examples like Firozabad where his party was defeated by the Congress in a by-poll. The de facto chief of the SP said that his party had entered into an alliance with the Congress to keep communal forces at bay. "Why did he travel so far to 1984 to create anger in me against Congress. He could have mentioned Firozabad where Congress' state unit chief (Raj Babbar) defeated us (in bypoll)," he said, adding they were revisiting such an old incident only because they have already "lost" the elections. Akhilesh Yadav also hit back at PM Modi for calling him "inexperienced" saying, he had learnt to cycle fast so that neither the BSP's elephant nor BJP's lotus could come anywhere near the SP. The elephant and the lotus are the elections symbols of the two parties. "They termed me as inexperienced but one can ride the bicycle (SP symbol) only after falling down at least once...I have learnt to ride bicycle and that too with great speed so that neither the elephant nor the lotus can come anywhere near," Akhilesh said at an election meeting in Karhal. "Modiji said in Kannauj that by entering into an alliance with Congress, I have shown inexperience...We have done this so as to remove all doubts among people about government formation...We have done this to form government and remove communal forces," he said. On the BJP's "achchey din" (good days) slogan, he said, "BJP people say SP could not bring achchey din...This was the slogan of BJP it was never given by the Samajwadis." On the BJP's promise of loan waiver for farmers, he said, "I want to ask what has their government done in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra (where farmers are committing suicide...first you help farmers of Maharashtra". Both Gujarat and Maharashtra are ruled by the BJP. Akhilesh also dismissed claims of tensions with Mulayam Singh claiming "SP is not my party but that of Netaji (Mulayam)". At a rally in Etawah, Akhilesh alleged that some people had deliberately tried to create a rift between Mulayam Singh and himself. "Those who have tried to create distance between Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav) and me, the people of Etawah should teach them a lesson," Akhilesh said. Jinhone Netaji aur mere beech khaayi paida ki hai, Etawah ke log usay sabak sikhaane ka kaam karna: Akhilesh Yadav in Etawah "The very people we trusted were the ones who made me and Netaji fight," he added. PM Modi should stop "Mann ki Baat": Rahul Gandhi Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi asked PM Modi to stop his radio programme "Mann ki Baat" and instead understand their sufferings in the wake of demonetisation. Addressing an election rally in Sitapur, Rahul Gandhi also slammed Modi for not waiving off the loans of farmers. "There was a meeting yesterday (Wednesday). Some people raised their voice against demonetisation. Modiji asked, what is their problem?" "Modiji, you should stop "Mann Ki Baat" and should listen to the people. You'll understand the problems people are facing due to demonetisation," he said. Hitting out at Modi, Gandhi said that the Prime Minister does not need to be in power in Uttar Pradesh to waive off the loans of farmers. "To waive off loans, you (Modi) don't need to be in power in Uttar Pradesh for that. Your government is at the Centre, so you should waive off the loans. Why are you waiting for elections?" Gandhi said. People won't be influenced by PM's 'adopted son' drama: Mayawati BSP chief Mayawati took a dig at PM Modi, saying that the People of UP will not be influenced by his drama of calling himself the adopted son of the state. She also asked Modi not to spread false information about her party's work when they were in power in the state. "He can ask me if his people are unable to tell him," she said. Mayawati also expressed confidence that the BSP would win with a majority in the upcoming elections. "I am glad to inform that in the two phases conducted in UP, majority of the seats have been won by the BSP candidates. I can assert that in the coming phases as well, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) will lead. Our party will form the government in the state with full majority. Keeping in view the wrong policies and functioning of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Samajwadi Party (SP), there is urgent need of BSP in Uttar Pradesh," she said. (WION with inputs from agencies)

Now, PM Modi compares himself to Lord Krishna

The election campaign to be held by Priyanka Gandhi in Rae Bareli and Amethi has been keeping the local Congress workers on the tenterhooks.

The earlier plan to reach Amethi on February 13&nbsp;and begin the campaign the next day&nbsp;has been delayed due to complications. Sources say that the decision to reschedule the dates took place after Priyanka received a different feedback from local Congress workers.

Sources to WION also confirmed that there are three&nbsp;seats in the family stronghold which will be contested by both the Samajwadi Party and the Congress, which has complicated the programme further.

&ldquo;How can you expect our leader not to campaign for the Congress candidates even if they are engaged in a friendly fight,&rdquo; said a source.

Local leaders also confided to WION that they suspect that Mulayam Singh Yadav also intends to campaign in the Gandhi borough.

Some leaders in Rae Bareli&nbsp;say that that alliance has benefitted the Congress through the state but hasn&rsquo;t helped them in the constituencies of Rae Bareli&nbsp;and Amethi.

It is because of these considerations that Priyanka Gandhi&#39;s final programme&nbsp;is getting delayed.

The feeling in the local unit is that since couple of expelled SP leaders are also contesting elections on different symbols, they may spoil the chance of Congress candidates, which would reflect badly on Priyanka.

One of the political aides close to Priyanka also suggested that they are ready to campaign in the districts without her but the biggest worry is that lack of clarity has stalled their own local campaign.

On top of it, Priyanka is also more keen on workers&#39; meet instead of door-to-door campaigning which is being opposed by the local workers. Sources say that local workers want Priyanka campaign widely and hold public rallies. &nbsp;

Lastly, there is also an element of wariness&nbsp;in the Congress ranks about the perils of overexposing Priyanka in Uttar Pradesh so that the mistake of 2012 is not repeated.

Priyanka is expected to contest Lok Sabha elections in 2019 and Congress till then would not like to show its hand. So a limited, defined and short campaign burst is being expected from her&nbsp;this time around which would be different from 2012 where she held more than 200 nukkad sabhas (public campaigning) in both the constituencies.

(WION)

Priyanka Gandhi was earlier scheduled to campaign in the Congress borough, but SP's presence there has complicated matters

The election campaign to be held by Priyanka Gandhi in Rae Bareli and Amethi has been keeping the local Congress workers on the tenterhooks. The earlier plan to reach Amethi on February 13 and begin the campaign the next day has been delayed due to complications. Sources say that the decision to reschedule the dates took place after Priyanka received a different feedback from local Congress workers. Sources to WION also confirmed that there are three seats in the family stronghold which will be contested by both the Samajwadi Party and the Congress, which has complicated the programme further. “How can you expect our leader not to campaign for the Congress candidates even if they are engaged in a friendly fight,” said a source. Local leaders also confided to WION that they suspect that Mulayam Singh Yadav also intends to campaign in the Gandhi borough. Some leaders in Rae Bareli say that that alliance has benefitted the Congress through the state but hasn’t helped them in the constituencies of Rae Bareli and Amethi. It is because of these considerations that Priyanka Gandhi's final programme is getting delayed. The feeling in the local unit is that since couple of expelled SP leaders are also contesting elections on different symbols, they may spoil the chance of Congress candidates, which would reflect badly on Priyanka. One of the political aides close to Priyanka also suggested that they are ready to campaign in the districts without her but the biggest worry is that lack of clarity has stalled their own local campaign. On top of it, Priyanka is also more keen on workers' meet instead of door-to-door campaigning which is being opposed by the local workers. Sources say that local workers want Priyanka campaign widely and hold public rallies. Lastly, there is also an element of wariness in the Congress ranks about the perils of overexposing Priyanka in Uttar Pradesh so that the mistake of 2012 is not repeated. Priyanka is expected to contest Lok Sabha elections in 2019 and Congress till then would not like to show its hand. So a limited, defined and short campaign burst is being expected from her this time around which would be different from 2012 where she held more than 200 nukkad sabhas (public campaigning) in both the constituencies. (WION)

India: Priyanka Gandhi's Uttar Pradesh poll campaign delayed over 'friendly' SP tussle

With India&#39;s largest state Uttar Pradesh already swept up in the hurly-burly of elections, ruling Samajwadi Party and Congress jointly released a manifesto, promising a raft of sops and especially focusing on the youth.

The Samajwadi Party and the Congress joined hands before the elections as they set to take on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi&#39;s Bharatiya Janata Party in the state elections.

Free distribution of smartphones to youth,&nbsp;employment guarantee through skill development to 20 lakh youths, loan waiver to farmers, cheap power and proper remuneration for crops, are but few of the promises made by the parties.

It also commits to provide Rs 1,000 monthly pension to one crore poor families and one time food at Rs 10 to urban poor, 33 per cent reservation to women in government jobs and 50 per cent reservation in panchayat and local bodies elections besides power, road and water to every village in five years. 
 
Free cycles to all girl students of class IX to XII and meritorious students, free homes to over 10 lakh poor dalit and backward families, four lane roads connecting all districts and metro in six main cities also figure in the list. 
 
For the minorities and backwards, it promises representation in ratio to their population in all the welfare schemes as also police modernisation for making it more effective and phased expansion of dial-100 scheme. 
 
These commitments include the promises made by Rahul Gandhi during his state-wide Kisan Yatra, such as loan waiver to farmers and reduction of power tariff for them - a long time demand of Congress. 
 
&quot;At least Samajwadi people practically give shape to what they say but some others only do &#39;mann ki baat&#39; but &#39;kaam ki baat nahi karte&#39;... they do not say in rallies and in districts what are the achievements of their government,&quot; Akhilesh said. 
 
&quot;(They say) two families have entered into an alliance... 
 
I will say that two youths have come together it is an the alliance of SP and Congress...,&quot; he stressed in response to a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi&#39;s comment in this regard. 
 
&quot;These are ten steps to development worked out by the two parties on which Congress and SP will work on coming to power in future,&quot; Akhilesh added.

(WION with inputs from PTI)

They have promised job employment and better remuneration for crops as India's most populous state heads for elections

With India's largest state Uttar Pradesh already swept up in the hurly-burly of elections, ruling Samajwadi Party and Congress jointly released a manifesto, promising a raft of sops and especially focusing on the youth. The Samajwadi Party and the Congress joined hands before the elections as they set to take on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party in the state elections. Free distribution of smartphones to youth, employment guarantee through skill development to 20 lakh youths, loan waiver to farmers, cheap power and proper remuneration for crops, are but few of the promises made by the parties. It also commits to provide Rs 1,000 monthly pension to one crore poor families and one time food at Rs 10 to urban poor, 33 per cent reservation to women in government jobs and 50 per cent reservation in panchayat and local bodies elections besides power, road and water to every village in five years. Free cycles to all girl students of class IX to XII and meritorious students, free homes to over 10 lakh poor dalit and backward families, four lane roads connecting all districts and metro in six main cities also figure in the list. For the minorities and backwards, it promises representation in ratio to their population in all the welfare schemes as also police modernisation for making it more effective and phased expansion of dial-100 scheme. These commitments include the promises made by Rahul Gandhi during his state-wide Kisan Yatra, such as loan waiver to farmers and reduction of power tariff for them - a long time demand of Congress. "At least Samajwadi people practically give shape to what they say but some others only do 'mann ki baat' but 'kaam ki baat nahi karte'... they do not say in rallies and in districts what are the achievements of their government," Akhilesh said. "(They say) two families have entered into an alliance... I will say that two youths have come together it is an the alliance of SP and Congress...," he stressed in response to a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's comment in this regard. "These are ten steps to development worked out by the two parties on which Congress and SP will work on coming to power in future," Akhilesh added. (WION with inputs from PTI)

Uttar Pradesh elections: Samajwadi Party, Congress release manifesto

The Lower House of India&#39;s Parliament, Lok Sabha, today, passed by a voice vote the Motion of Thanks to President&#39;s address amid protests by the Opposition led by the Congress party.

&quot;That the members of the Lok Sabha assembled in this session are deeply grateful to the President for the address which he has been pleased to deliver to both houses of Parliament assembled together on January 31, 2017,&quot; the motion said.

In his reply to the discussion on Motion of Thanks on President&#39;s address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched an attack on the Congress for promoting dynastic politics. He asked the Congress why was the Benami law that was passed in 1988 during Rajiv Gandhi&#39;s tenure not notified for 26 years.

He also defended the government&#39;s decision to demonetise higher denomination currency and hailed the surgical strikes conducted by the Indian army.&nbsp;

The Congress and Communist Party of India-Marxist members staged a walkout in Parliament.&nbsp;

All the amendments proposed to the President&#39;s address were defeated.

(WION with inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

The Congress and Communist Party of India-Marxist staged a walkout

The Lower House of India's Parliament, Lok Sabha, today, passed by a voice vote the Motion of Thanks to President's address amid protests by the Opposition led by the Congress party. "That the members of the Lok Sabha assembled in this session are deeply grateful to the President for the address which he has been pleased to deliver to both houses of Parliament assembled together on January 31, 2017," the motion said. In his reply to the discussion on Motion of Thanks on President's address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched an attack on the Congress for promoting dynastic politics. He asked the Congress why was the Benami law that was passed in 1988 during Rajiv Gandhi's tenure not notified for 26 years. He also defended the government's decision to demonetise higher denomination currency and hailed the surgical strikes conducted by the Indian army. The Congress and Communist Party of India-Marxist members staged a walkout in Parliament. All the amendments proposed to the President's address were defeated. (WION with inputs from agencies)

India's Lower House passes Motion of Thanks to President's address amid ruckus by Opposition

A brisk 53 per cent turnout has been recorded in the first six hours of voting in the Indian state of Goa on Saturday where the ruling BJP is battling it out with the opposition Congress, AAP and an alliance of MGP, Shiv Sena and GSM for the 40-member House.

&nbsp;Election Commission of India&#39;s data from various polling booth showed that about 53 per cent of 11.10 lakh voters turned up to exercise franchise in the first six hours.

An impressive 83 per cent voting was recorded in the state in 2012 assembly polls, which saw the BJP wresting power from the Congress.

Defence minister Manohar Parrikar, widely seen as the chief ministerial face of the BJP, union minister Shripad Naik and chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar were among the early voters who cast their ballots. Long queues were seen outside almost all the polling stations right from the morning in the state.

Except for minor incidents of EVM failures, which were soon rectified, and cancellation of voting in one booth, polling is progressing peacefully in over 1,642 booths across the state, to decide the fate of 250 contestants in the fray.

The election is being closely fought by major political forces BJP, Congress, AAP and MGP-led alliance, who have mounted a hectic campaign. The polls will decide the&nbsp;future of Goa&#39;s five former chief ministers Churchill Alemao, Pratapsinh Rane, Ravi Naik, Digambar Kamat and Luizinho Faleiro and the incumbent Laxmikant Parsekar.

BJP has put up 36 aspirants, Congress 37 and AAP is contesting on 39 seats, and each of them backing independents in a few seats. BJP, which had a pre-poll alliance in 2012, is going at it alone this time, after the MGP snapped the partnership and forged a front with Goa Suraksha Manch floated by RSS rebel Subhas Velingkar and Shiv Sena.

Sluggish voter turnout in Punjab&nbsp;

Punjab witnessed a sluggish voter turnout of 14 per cent till 11.30 am. Polling began in the state amid heavy security earlier today, with 1,145 candidates contesting across 117 seats. Poll for the first phase will conclude at 5 pm Nearly two crore voters will decide the fate of 1,145 candidates, including 81 women. 22, 615 polling stations have been set up, with over one lakh security personnel deployed for free and fair voting.

Tight security arrangements have also been made for 100 critical polling stations and 5,500 vulnerable pockets of the state.

Voting will today also take place for the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat, which fell vacant following the resignation of state Congress chief Amarinder Singh.

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Earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged voters to turn up in huge numbers and specially asked the youngsters to exercise their voting rights. &quot;Urging people of Punjab and Goa to turn out in record numbers and vote in the Assembly elections. I particularly urge my young friends to vote,&quot; Modi said in a tweet.

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Urging people of Punjab &amp; Goa to turnout in record numbers &amp; vote in the Assembly elections. I particularly urge my young friends to vote.
&mdash; Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) <a href="https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/827689041592254466">February 4, 2017</a></blockquote>
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(PTI and ANI)

The elections to Punjab and Goa are being billed as a major test of BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity post-demonetisation

A brisk 53 per cent turnout has been recorded in the first six hours of voting in the Indian state of Goa on Saturday where the ruling BJP is battling it out with the opposition Congress, AAP and an alliance of MGP, Shiv Sena and GSM for the 40-member House. Election Commission of India's data from various polling booth showed that about 53 per cent of 11.10 lakh voters turned up to exercise franchise in the first six hours. An impressive 83 per cent voting was recorded in the state in 2012 assembly polls, which saw the BJP wresting power from the Congress. Defence minister Manohar Parrikar, widely seen as the chief ministerial face of the BJP, union minister Shripad Naik and chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar were among the early voters who cast their ballots. Long queues were seen outside almost all the polling stations right from the morning in the state. Except for minor incidents of EVM failures, which were soon rectified, and cancellation of voting in one booth, polling is progressing peacefully in over 1,642 booths across the state, to decide the fate of 250 contestants in the fray. The election is being closely fought by major political forces BJP, Congress, AAP and MGP-led alliance, who have mounted a hectic campaign. The polls will decide the future of Goa's five former chief ministers Churchill Alemao, Pratapsinh Rane, Ravi Naik, Digambar Kamat and Luizinho Faleiro and the incumbent Laxmikant Parsekar. BJP has put up 36 aspirants, Congress 37 and AAP is contesting on 39 seats, and each of them backing independents in a few seats. BJP, which had a pre-poll alliance in 2012, is going at it alone this time, after the MGP snapped the partnership and forged a front with Goa Suraksha Manch floated by RSS rebel Subhas Velingkar and Shiv Sena. Sluggish voter turnout in Punjab Punjab witnessed a sluggish voter turnout of 14 per cent till 11.30 am. Polling began in the state amid heavy security earlier today, with 1,145 candidates contesting across 117 seats. Poll for the first phase will conclude at 5 pm Nearly two crore voters will decide the fate of 1,145 candidates, including 81 women. 22, 615 polling stations have been set up, with over one lakh security personnel deployed for free and fair voting. Tight security arrangements have also been made for 100 critical polling stations and 5,500 vulnerable pockets of the state. Voting will today also take place for the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat, which fell vacant following the resignation of state Congress chief Amarinder Singh. × Earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged voters to turn up in huge numbers and specially asked the youngsters to exercise their voting rights. "Urging people of Punjab and Goa to turn out in record numbers and vote in the Assembly elections. I particularly urge my young friends to vote," Modi said in a tweet. Urging people of Punjab & Goa to turnout in record numbers & vote in the Assembly elections. I particularly urge my young friends to vote. — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 4, 2017 × (PTI and ANI)

India state elections: Goa outshines with 53 per cent voter turnout, Punjab lags behind

Karnataka BJP president BS Yedurappa on Saturday said veteran politician SM Krishna, who recently resigned from the Congress party, will join the BJP soon.&nbsp;

&quot;SM Krishna has decided to join BJP. We don&#39;t know when for certain, we&#39;ll fix that soon. But he is joining 100 per cent ,&quot; Yeddyurappa told ANI.

Krishna, former chief minister of Karnataka and former foreign minister, quit the Congress last week stating that he was being sidelined in the party because of his age.&nbsp;

&quot;What pained me was how the Congress sidelined a loyal worker and cited my age for sidelining me,&quot; 84-year-old Krishna said.&nbsp;

Congress sources said Krishna was feeling &ldquo;suffocated&rdquo; in the party for a long time.&nbsp;

Krishna has kept a low profile for the past two years. The party did not give him any big responsibility during the 2013 Assembly election.&nbsp;

He has been a part of the Congress for the past 46 years. Krishna led the Congress to victory in Karnataka in 1999 and served as the chief minister till 2004. He first became a Member of Parliament (MP) in 1968.&nbsp;

(WION with inputs from agencies)

Karnataka BJP president BS Yedurappa told ANI he wasn't certain when Krishna would the party, but added he would be joining BJP 100 per cent

Karnataka BJP president BS Yedurappa on Saturday said veteran politician SM Krishna, who recently resigned from the Congress party, will join the BJP soon. "SM Krishna has decided to join BJP. We don't know when for certain, we'll fix that soon. But he is joining 100 per cent ," Yeddyurappa told ANI. Krishna, former chief minister of Karnataka and former foreign minister, quit the Congress last week stating that he was being sidelined in the party because of his age. "What pained me was how the Congress sidelined a loyal worker and cited my age for sidelining me," 84-year-old Krishna said. Congress sources said Krishna was feeling “suffocated” in the party for a long time. Krishna has kept a low profile for the past two years. The party did not give him any big responsibility during the 2013 Assembly election. He has been a part of the Congress for the past 46 years. Krishna led the Congress to victory in Karnataka in 1999 and served as the chief minister till 2004. He first became a Member of Parliament (MP) in 1968. (WION with inputs from agencies)

India: Veteran Congress politician SM Krishna to join BJP soon

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav held a joint roadshow in Agra on Friday.

Both leaders were hosted in an open top bus to showcase&nbsp;a united front to the opposition BJP and BSP in the state which is set to go the polls on 11th February. The road show which lasted for less than&nbsp;an hour was greeted by a flood of Samajwadi Party and Congress supporters. &nbsp;
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The two leaders had earlier held a joint interaction on January 29 declaring their objective to &quot;defeat the fascist forces&quot; referring to the BJP and promising to usher in a &quot;storm of development&quot;. Rahul Gandhi had said that he shared both a personal and political relationship with the Uttar Pradesh chief minister and their coming together was akin to the &quot;meeting of the Ganga and Yamuna at the Sangam.&quot; Chief minister Akhilesh, pronounced that they were &quot;two wheels of the cycle.&quot;

The leaders also released the joint campaign slogan &#39;UP koh yeh saath pasand hai&#39; (UP relishes this alliance). Uttar Pradesh will be voting for a new state assembly in a seven-phase election between February 11 and March 8.

Out of the 403 assembly seats, the Congress will be contesting in 105 seats and the Samajwadi Party will field its candidates in rest of the 298 seats. 
&nbsp;

(WION with agency inputs)
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Both leaders were hosted in an open top bus to showcase?a united front to the opposition BJP and BSP ahead of the first phase of polls

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav held a joint roadshow in Agra on Friday. Both leaders were hosted in an open top bus to showcase a united front to the opposition BJP and BSP in the state which is set to go the polls on 11th February. The road show which lasted for less than an hour was greeted by a flood of Samajwadi Party and Congress supporters. The two leaders had earlier held a joint interaction on January 29 declaring their objective to "defeat the fascist forces" referring to the BJP and promising to usher in a "storm of development". Rahul Gandhi had said that he shared both a personal and political relationship with the Uttar Pradesh chief minister and their coming together was akin to the "meeting of the Ganga and Yamuna at the Sangam." Chief minister Akhilesh, pronounced that they were "two wheels of the cycle." The leaders also released the joint campaign slogan 'UP koh yeh saath pasand hai' (UP relishes this alliance). Uttar Pradesh will be voting for a new state assembly in a seven-phase election between February 11 and March 8. Out of the 403 assembly seats, the Congress will be contesting in 105 seats and the Samajwadi Party will field its candidates in rest of the 298 seats. (WION with agency inputs)

Akhilesh Yadav, Rahul Gandhi hold joint road show in Agra

The dream to stitch a grand alliance between Congress, Rashtriya Lok Dal&nbsp;and Samajwadi Party turned out to be a cropper when SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav declared 325 out of 400 seats in Uttar Pradesh.

Mulayam, better known as Netaji in the political circuit of Uttar Pradesh, categorically said SP will not enter into any alliance for the forthcoming assembly elections. The elections are expected to be held in late February or early March in 2017 along with Punjab and Goa.

Insiders say that the decision to go alone comes from Mulayum Singh Yadav. Akhilesh Yadav was in support of the grand alliance and had categorically said that if a grand alliance is put into place then it will end up winning 300 seats. &nbsp;

Sources say that the insistence of the Congress Party for 100 seats led to collapse of the talk which was taking place informally between the SP and Congress. Congress was also insisting for the position of deputy chief minister. Even Rahul&nbsp;Gandhi on Tuesday remained non-committal on the alliance with regional party without denying the question out right whether they are in talks with anyone.&nbsp;The Samajwadi Party is expected to release 78 seats sometime next week.&nbsp;

The list also indicates that both Mulayum and Shivpal Yadav are on the same page and have only accommodated people close to them. The party denied tickets to sitting ministers considered close to the chief minister Akhilesh Yadav. It includes Arvind Singh Gop from Barabanki, Pawan Pandey from Ayodhya and Kamal Akhtar from Western Uttar Pradesh. When asked as to where Akhilesh will contest the elections, Mulayam said,&rdquo; He can contest elections from anywhere he wants.&rdquo;

The list includes names which are controversial and team Akhilesh wanted them out of the power structure because of their antecedents. It includes dreaded don Atiq Ahmad from Kanpur Cant and Sibagtullah Ansari from Mohamdabad. Sibagtullah is elder brother of Muqthar Ansari again a noted don from the eastern Uttar Pradesh.

(WION)

Congress and Rashtriya Lok Dal wanted to forge an alliance with Samajwadi Party to contest polls in India's most populous state

The dream to stitch a grand alliance between Congress, Rashtriya Lok Dal and Samajwadi Party turned out to be a cropper when SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav declared 325 out of 400 seats in Uttar Pradesh. Mulayam, better known as Netaji in the political circuit of Uttar Pradesh, categorically said SP will not enter into any alliance for the forthcoming assembly elections. The elections are expected to be held in late February or early March in 2017 along with Punjab and Goa. Insiders say that the decision to go alone comes from Mulayum Singh Yadav. Akhilesh Yadav was in support of the grand alliance and had categorically said that if a grand alliance is put into place then it will end up winning 300 seats. Sources say that the insistence of the Congress Party for 100 seats led to collapse of the talk which was taking place informally between the SP and Congress. Congress was also insisting for the position of deputy chief minister. Even Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday remained non-committal on the alliance with regional party without denying the question out right whether they are in talks with anyone. The Samajwadi Party is expected to release 78 seats sometime next week. The list also indicates that both Mulayum and Shivpal Yadav are on the same page and have only accommodated people close to them. The party denied tickets to sitting ministers considered close to the chief minister Akhilesh Yadav. It includes Arvind Singh Gop from Barabanki, Pawan Pandey from Ayodhya and Kamal Akhtar from Western Uttar Pradesh. When asked as to where Akhilesh will contest the elections, Mulayam said,” He can contest elections from anywhere he wants.” The list includes names which are controversial and team Akhilesh wanted them out of the power structure because of their antecedents. It includes dreaded don Atiq Ahmad from Kanpur Cant and Sibagtullah Ansari from Mohamdabad. Sibagtullah is elder brother of Muqthar Ansari again a noted don from the eastern Uttar Pradesh. (WION)

Uttar Pradesh elections: Ruling Samajwadi Party pulls plug on pre-poll alliance talks

The Samajwadi Party and Congress have confirmed they will enter a pre-poll alliance for the upcoming assembly elections in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

Samajwadi Party, the ruling party of India&#39;s most populous state, said they remain keen on retaining &quot;secular values&quot; during the a press conference on Sunday evening.

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Congress and SP will contest Assembly Elections in UP together: Naresh Uttam, SP <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UPElection2017?src=hash">#UPElection2017</a> <a href="https://t.co/RLwVan9gjC">pic.twitter.com/RLwVan9gjC</a>
&mdash; ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANINewsUP/status/823151374674247680">January 22, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Under the new agreement, Samajwadi Party will contest 298 seats and the Congress will have 105 seats to fight from in the upcoming polls, according to SP leader Naresh Uttam.

Ending speculations that were doing the rounds on the possibility of both the parties contesting the state elections together, the alliance&nbsp;was sealed after the Congress party settled for 105 seats instead of 121 which they had demanded earlier, ANI&nbsp;reported.

The Samajwadi Party president and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, on Saturday, said that the final offer for the Congress party was 100 seats.

Congress general secretary Ahmed Patel said that Priyanka Gandhi intervened to end the deadlock over the alliance to counter the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the politically crucial state.

&quot;Wrong to suggest lightweights were dealing on behalf of Congress party.&nbsp;Discussion was at highest level- between CM (UP),GS I/C &amp; Priyanka Gandhi,&quot; he tweeted.

Blaming the Congress for its &quot;stubborn&quot; attitude, the Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal on Saturday said the possibility of an alliance was &quot;almost over&quot;.

&quot;The Chief Minister (Akhilesh Yadav) had made an offer of 100 seats to the Congress, but they are asking for 120 seats. We told them that we have 234 sitting legislators and there are some others who will also contest. So, we need at least 300 seats for ourselves,&quot; Agarwal told ANI.

On Friday, Akhilesh Yadav announced the list of candidates for the first three phases of assembly elections. &nbsp;

Uttar Pradesh will go to polls beginning February 11 in seven phases. The results will be announced on March 11.

Mulayam skips SP&#39;s manifesto meet

Earlier in the day, Samajwadi Party&#39;s Akhilesh Yadav released the manifesto Sunday, though&nbsp;Mulayam Singh Yadav and his brother Shivpal skipped the event, inflaming rumours of continued infighting.

Senior SP leader Azam Khan rushed to Mulayam&#39;s bungalow to bring him to the event. But even then the patriarch did not grace the occasion where senior party leaders and Dimple Yadav, MP and wife of the chief minister, were present.

The ruling party has been dogged by skirmishes for the past few weeks as father Mulayam and son Akhilesh were at each other&#39;s throats over a catalogue of issues.&nbsp;

The party was divided into two factions -- one led by Akhilesh and the other by Mulayam and his brother Shivpal. Both camps went all out to undermine each other&#39;s influence, only for a last-minute patch-up between the blocs.&nbsp;

On Sunday, Akhilesh spoke announced schemes which prioritises&nbsp;development of the state.

The SP manifesto announced distribution of laptops, Kanya Vidya Dhan, Samajwadi Pension, laying of Purvanchal Expressway, and establishing Janeshwar Mishra model villages besides improving helplines for police and women.

He said the model villages in the name of Janeshwar Mishra would be a tribute to the Samajwadi leader on his death anniversary today.

The Chief Minister, in his new role as the Samajwadi Party national president, directed all candidates to prepare a road map for development of their respective Assembly constituencies.

A highlight of the manifesto was Samajwadi Kisan Kosh for farmers to purchase seeds and fertilisers, perhaps to match the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Bima Yojana.

The Lucknow-based party also released a list of 77 candidates who would contest the ensuing elections.

(WION with inputs from agencies) 
&nbsp;

&nbsp;

The deadlock ended after the Congress settled for 105 seats instead of 121 which they had demanded earlier

The Samajwadi Party and Congress have confirmed they will enter a pre-poll alliance for the upcoming assembly elections in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Samajwadi Party, the ruling party of India's most populous state, said they remain keen on retaining "secular values" during the a press conference on Sunday evening. Congress and SP will contest Assembly Elections in UP together: Naresh Uttam, SP #UPElection2017 pic.twitter.com/RLwVan9gjC — ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) January 22, 2017 × Under the new agreement, Samajwadi Party will contest 298 seats and the Congress will have 105 seats to fight from in the upcoming polls, according to SP leader Naresh Uttam. Ending speculations that were doing the rounds on the possibility of both the parties contesting the state elections together, the alliance was sealed after the Congress party settled for 105 seats instead of 121 which they had demanded earlier, ANI reported. The Samajwadi Party president and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, on Saturday, said that the final offer for the Congress party was 100 seats. Congress general secretary Ahmed Patel said that Priyanka Gandhi intervened to end the deadlock over the alliance to counter the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the politically crucial state. "Wrong to suggest lightweights were dealing on behalf of Congress party. Discussion was at highest level- between CM (UP),GS I/C & Priyanka Gandhi," he tweeted. Blaming the Congress for its "stubborn" attitude, the Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal on Saturday said the possibility of an alliance was "almost over". "The Chief Minister (Akhilesh Yadav) had made an offer of 100 seats to the Congress, but they are asking for 120 seats. We told them that we have 234 sitting legislators and there are some others who will also contest. So, we need at least 300 seats for ourselves," Agarwal told ANI. On Friday, Akhilesh Yadav announced the list of candidates for the first three phases of assembly elections. Uttar Pradesh will go to polls beginning February 11 in seven phases. The results will be announced on March 11. Mulayam skips SP's manifesto meet Earlier in the day, Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav released the manifesto Sunday, though Mulayam Singh Yadav and his brother Shivpal skipped the event, inflaming rumours of continued infighting. Senior SP leader Azam Khan rushed to Mulayam's bungalow to bring him to the event. But even then the patriarch did not grace the occasion where senior party leaders and Dimple Yadav, MP and wife of the chief minister, were present. The ruling party has been dogged by skirmishes for the past few weeks as father Mulayam and son Akhilesh were at each other's throats over a catalogue of issues. The party was divided into two factions -- one led by Akhilesh and the other by Mulayam and his brother Shivpal. Both camps went all out to undermine each other's influence, only for a last-minute patch-up between the blocs. On Sunday, Akhilesh spoke announced schemes which prioritises development of the state. The SP manifesto announced distribution of laptops, Kanya Vidya Dhan, Samajwadi Pension, laying of Purvanchal Expressway, and establishing Janeshwar Mishra model villages besides improving helplines for police and women. He said the model villages in the name of Janeshwar Mishra would be a tribute to the Samajwadi leader on his death anniversary today. The Chief Minister, in his new role as the Samajwadi Party national president, directed all candidates to prepare a road map for development of their respective Assembly constituencies. A highlight of the manifesto was Samajwadi Kisan Kosh for farmers to purchase seeds and fertilisers, perhaps to match the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Bima Yojana. The Lucknow-based party also released a list of 77 candidates who would contest the ensuing elections. (WION with inputs from agencies)

Uttar Pradesh elections: Congress, Samajwadi Party announce alliance

The talks between the Congress, Samajwadi Party (SP) and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) on seat sharing for assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh is in the last phase of discussion, with the Congress also wanting the position of deputy CM as part of the deal, sources told WION.

Sources confirmed to WION that talks between all three constituents are taking place at the highest level. &nbsp;The SP has proposed 78 seats to the Congress and 22 seats to RLD which still holds sway in some districts of the western Uttar Pradesh. But well-placed sources confirmed that Congress is still insisting on 100 seats and the final decision on the matter would be taken by Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi. Sources also say that apart from numbers, there is also a dispute on 15 seats which are being described as &ldquo;prestige seats&rdquo; by all sides. There is the possibility that a friendly fight can take place on these but the Congress wants to avoid it as it would send a wrong signal to the electorate.

The understanding is that if the three parties fail to come together then it would become a straight fight between the BJP and BSP. Even the SP stands to lose a chunk of upper castes in case it fights against all other parties. Even Congress stands to benefit as it has no organisational structure in Uttar Pradesh and with an SP-alliance, its candidate can get the minority votes which as of now lie with Mulayum Singh Yadav. Lastly, RLD&rsquo;s presence would strengthen the SP in western UP where there is often a straight fight between the BSP and the BJP.

Insiders say that alliance should be announced at the earliest for early distribution of election tickets and ample time to project Akhilesh Yadav as the chief ministerial candidate. For now, the ball is in Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi&rsquo;s court. 
 
(WION)

Congress also wants the position of deputy chief minister, sources told WION

The talks between the Congress, Samajwadi Party (SP) and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) on seat sharing for assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh is in the last phase of discussion, with the Congress also wanting the position of deputy CM as part of the deal, sources told WION. Sources confirmed to WION that talks between all three constituents are taking place at the highest level. The SP has proposed 78 seats to the Congress and 22 seats to RLD which still holds sway in some districts of the western Uttar Pradesh. But well-placed sources confirmed that Congress is still insisting on 100 seats and the final decision on the matter would be taken by Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi. Sources also say that apart from numbers, there is also a dispute on 15 seats which are being described as “prestige seats” by all sides. There is the possibility that a friendly fight can take place on these but the Congress wants to avoid it as it would send a wrong signal to the electorate. The understanding is that if the three parties fail to come together then it would become a straight fight between the BJP and BSP. Even the SP stands to lose a chunk of upper castes in case it fights against all other parties. Even Congress stands to benefit as it has no organisational structure in Uttar Pradesh and with an SP-alliance, its candidate can get the minority votes which as of now lie with Mulayum Singh Yadav. Lastly, RLD’s presence would strengthen the SP in western UP where there is often a straight fight between the BSP and the BJP. Insiders say that alliance should be announced at the earliest for early distribution of election tickets and ample time to project Akhilesh Yadav as the chief ministerial candidate. For now, the ball is in Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi’s court. (WION)

Uttar Pradesh polls: Grand alliance talks between SP, Congress and RLD enter final stretch in India's most populous state

In a bid to corner the Opposition&#39;s Congress ahead of the Budget session, the ruling BJP launched a fresh attack on the party, accusing it of pulling strings to secure loans for liquor baron Vijay Mallya&#39;s now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

The BJP alleged the &quot;corrupt hands&quot; which helped Mallya get bank loans belonged to the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram. The party quoted from purported letters written by Mallya to Manmohan Singh in which he sought his intervention and subsequent to which Kingfisher Airlines received loans.

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra asked Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her deputy Rahul Gandhi to explain at whose behest the defaulting company got loans.

Reacting to the allegations, former PM Manmohan Singh said that all Prime Ministers and others in the government receive letters from various captains of industry and that what was being talked about was just an ordinary piece of letter &quot;which any government in my position would have dealt with.&quot;

&ldquo;All PMs and other ministers in any govt receive representatives from various captains of industry which is passed on to appropriate authority. What I did was with full satisfaction of mine that we were not doing anything against law of the land. It was a normal routine transaction and therefore the letter that&rsquo;s being talked about is nothing but an ordinary piece of letter. It&rsquo;s an ordinary piece of letter which any Government in my position would have dealt with,&rdquo; he was quoted as saying by ANI.

Earlier in a press conference, the BJP dragged the Congress leadership into the row, alleging that the then principal secretary to the PM, Pulok Chatterjee, would &quot;snatch files&quot; from Manmohan Singh to take it to 10 Janpath, residence of Sonia Gandhi.&nbsp;

&quot;The hands which pulled the strings to ensure that Mallya received loans are visible now. They belonged to Chidambaram and Singh.

&quot;Did the hands of 10 Janpath also pull the strings? Sonia and Rahul Gandhi should come out in public to say at whose behest the loans were sanctioned to Kingfisher Airline,&quot; he said. &quot;It was after one such letter Mallya had written to Singh on November 14, 2011 that the Prime Minister told the media that &#39;we have to find ways to get Kingfisher out of trouble&#39;,&quot; Patra said. In another letter, he sought Singh&#39;s intervention to get funds from banks released immediately, the BJP leader claimed.

In one of the letters, Mallya said he was very &quot;relieved&quot; and &quot;pleased&quot;, apparently referring to developments in the interim, according to Patra. A top official in the Prime Minister&#39;s Office had spoken to ministries concerned following his letter to Singh and Mallya had mentioned it, he said.&nbsp;

Patra cited another letter the absconding liquor baron allegedly wrote to Chidambaram in March 2013, seeking his intervention to get a No Objection Certificate from the State Bank of India -- which headed the consortium of banks which had given unrecovered loans to the airlines, and its subsidiaries -- while his liquor company was in talks with Diageo for a deal.&nbsp;

Asked about Mallya&#39;s defence, Patra said the businessman said they would not listen to a defaulter and he should come back if he wanted to be heard.

<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aZQpHi_lMhY" width="560"></iframe>

(This report first appeared in DNA)

 
&nbsp;

The BJP alleged that in 2011, former PM Manmohan Singh told the press 'we have to find ways to get Kingfisher out of trouble'.

In a bid to corner the Opposition's Congress ahead of the Budget session, the ruling BJP launched a fresh attack on the party, accusing it of pulling strings to secure loans for liquor baron Vijay Mallya's now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines. The BJP alleged the "corrupt hands" which helped Mallya get bank loans belonged to the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram. The party quoted from purported letters written by Mallya to Manmohan Singh in which he sought his intervention and subsequent to which Kingfisher Airlines received loans. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra asked Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her deputy Rahul Gandhi to explain at whose behest the defaulting company got loans. Reacting to the allegations, former PM Manmohan Singh said that all Prime Ministers and others in the government receive letters from various captains of industry and that what was being talked about was just an ordinary piece of letter "which any government in my position would have dealt with." “All PMs and other ministers in any govt receive representatives from various captains of industry which is passed on to appropriate authority. What I did was with full satisfaction of mine that we were not doing anything against law of the land. It was a normal routine transaction and therefore the letter that’s being talked about is nothing but an ordinary piece of letter. It’s an ordinary piece of letter which any Government in my position would have dealt with,” he was quoted as saying by ANI. Earlier in a press conference, the BJP dragged the Congress leadership into the row, alleging that the then principal secretary to the PM, Pulok Chatterjee, would "snatch files" from Manmohan Singh to take it to 10 Janpath, residence of Sonia Gandhi. "The hands which pulled the strings to ensure that Mallya received loans are visible now. They belonged to Chidambaram and Singh. "Did the hands of 10 Janpath also pull the strings? Sonia and Rahul Gandhi should come out in public to say at whose behest the loans were sanctioned to Kingfisher Airline," he said. "It was after one such letter Mallya had written to Singh on November 14, 2011 that the Prime Minister told the media that 'we have to find ways to get Kingfisher out of trouble'," Patra said. In another letter, he sought Singh's intervention to get funds from banks released immediately, the BJP leader claimed. In one of the letters, Mallya said he was very "relieved" and "pleased", apparently referring to developments in the interim, according to Patra. A top official in the Prime Minister's Office had spoken to ministries concerned following his letter to Singh and Mallya had mentioned it, he said. Patra cited another letter the absconding liquor baron allegedly wrote to Chidambaram in March 2013, seeking his intervention to get a No Objection Certificate from the State Bank of India -- which headed the consortium of banks which had given unrecovered loans to the airlines, and its subsidiaries -- while his liquor company was in talks with Diageo for a deal. Asked about Mallya's defence, Patra said the businessman said they would not listen to a defaulter and he should come back if he wanted to be heard. (This report first appeared in DNA)

Routine for govt to receive requests for help: Manmohan Singh on Vijay Mallya 'bailout'

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi addressed their first joint conference after an alliance between their parties for the high-stakes state assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. The two leaders launched the campaign with the&nbsp;tagline&nbsp;&quot;UP favours this alliance (UP ko ye saath pasand hai).&quot; The press conference was followed by a road show in Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow.

Here are the highlights from their address:&nbsp;

Akhilesh Yadav and I don&#39;t just have a political relationship, but also a personal one. Our alliance will truly help Uttar Pradesh: Rahul Gandhi 
 
The alliance has made the personal and political relationship between Akhilesh and me better: Rahul Gandhi

I had said Akhilesh is a good boy, but he wasn&#39;t allowed to work: Rahul Gandhi

Campaign strategy will not be divulged: Rahul Gandhi on whether mother Sonia, Akhilesh&#39;s father Mulayam Singh would campaign&nbsp;

Priyanka (sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra) has been of tremendous help to me and I have been so to her, if she campaigns or not is her choice; she is an asset to Congress: Rahul Gandhi 
 
Whether we will form an alliance in Lok Sabha or not is open to discussion: Rahul Gandhi

This is people&#39;s alliance. Rahul Gandhi and I know each other. It is a matter of happiness that we will now also work together: Akhilesh Yadav

We are like two wheels of the same cycle - one of progress and one of prosperity. Cycle and hand is a great combination: Akhilesh Yadav

If we reveal anything now,&nbsp;no suspense will remain: Akhilesh on seat-sharing in constituencies of Rae Bareli and Amethi&nbsp; 
 
This alliance isn&#39;t opportunistic: Akhilesh Yadav

Uttar Pradesh will&nbsp;vote for a new state assembly in a seven-phase election between February 11 and March 8. Out of the 403 assembly seats, Congress will contest 105 seats and the Samajwadi Party will field its candidates in the remaining 298 seats. 
 
(WION)

"If we reveal anything now,?no suspense will remain," said Akhilesh on seat-sharing in constituencies of Rae Bareli and Amethi?

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi addressed their first joint conference after an alliance between their parties for the high-stakes state assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. The two leaders launched the campaign with the tagline "UP favours this alliance (UP ko ye saath pasand hai)." The press conference was followed by a road show in Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow. Here are the highlights from their address: Akhilesh Yadav and I don't just have a political relationship, but also a personal one. Our alliance will truly help Uttar Pradesh: Rahul Gandhi The alliance has made the personal and political relationship between Akhilesh and me better: Rahul Gandhi I had said Akhilesh is a good boy, but he wasn't allowed to work: Rahul Gandhi Campaign strategy will not be divulged: Rahul Gandhi on whether mother Sonia, Akhilesh's father Mulayam Singh would campaign Priyanka (sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra) has been of tremendous help to me and I have been so to her, if she campaigns or not is her choice; she is an asset to Congress: Rahul Gandhi Whether we will form an alliance in Lok Sabha or not is open to discussion: Rahul Gandhi This is people's alliance. Rahul Gandhi and I know each other. It is a matter of happiness that we will now also work together: Akhilesh Yadav We are like two wheels of the same cycle - one of progress and one of prosperity. Cycle and hand is a great combination: Akhilesh Yadav If we reveal anything now, no suspense will remain: Akhilesh on seat-sharing in constituencies of Rae Bareli and Amethi This alliance isn't opportunistic: Akhilesh Yadav Uttar Pradesh will vote for a new state assembly in a seven-phase election between February 11 and March 8. Out of the 403 assembly seats, Congress will contest 105 seats and the Samajwadi Party will field its candidates in the remaining 298 seats. (WION)

Akhilesh and I like 2 wheels of a cycle: Rahul Gandhi, Uttar Pradesh CM's first address post alliance

BJP president Amit Shah released the party&#39;s manifesto for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh elections promising to build the Ram temple at Ayodhya.

&quot;Efforts will be made to ensure that Ram temple is constructed under constitutional provisions,&quot; Amit Shah declared while releasing the BJP manifesto. This means BJP is back to propagating the hindutva agenda even as it tries to push the development card in the elections. The Ram temple is sure to be seized upon by the SP-Congress coalition and also the BSP, possibly at the cost of other major issues.

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati (BSP) reacted sharply almost immediately at&nbsp;BJP&#39;s Ram temple promise, declaring&nbsp;&quot;the BJP is trying to mislead the people of Uttar Pradesh&quot;. Political parties across Uttar Pradesh will now try to checkmate the BJP on its Ram temple agenda at a crucial stage in the campaign, ahead of the first phase of voting on 11th February. &nbsp;

The BJP has named the manifesto as &nbsp;&#39;Lok Kalyan Sankalp Patra&#39; (pledge for people&#39;s&nbsp;welfare) for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.

&quot;BIMARU&#39; (Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, UP) states have improved, but not Uttar Pradesh. Centre sanctioned Rs one lakh crore to Uttar Pradesh but no development has occurred, in fact,&nbsp;the law and order is at a new low,&quot; the BJP president added as he released the manifesto.

The document focuses on farmers&#39; welfare, Amit Shah said, adding agricultural loans will be waived once BJP comes to power. &quot;We will provide laptops to all students without any discrimination and provide free WI-Fi to all colleges and universities,&quot; he asserted. The BJP president also said special focus would be given to Bundelkhand for its all round development.

Special Task Force to be set up to put an end to illegal mining in the state, Shah stated.

The BJP in its manifesto has stated that there would no interviews for Class III and IV Uttar Pradesh government jobs to end corruption in recruitment and the party will form teams at district levels to check &quot;exodus&quot; of people due to communal tension.

The party has also promised to set up food processing parks and ensure uninterrupted power at cheaper rates for the poor.

BJP Uttar Pradesh election manifesto highlights:

* Rs 500 crore will be allocated for the Baba Ambedkar 
fund.

*All colleges and universities will have free Wi-Fi.

*Up to 6 lakh loan from permanent houses and toilets. BPL citizens to get 2 lakh life cover.

*24x7 electricity in all houses. PM has said before 2019, all villages will have electricity.

*Villages will be connected with mini-bus services. People will be able to use metro at any time with their families.

*There will be a Bundelkhand and Poorvanchal development board under the directed supervision of the chief minister&#39;s office.

*Redressal system in every district to sort our trader disputes.

*Rs 5,000 for every girl child born in poor families; no age bar for widow pensions which will be Rs 1000.

*The opinion of all women on triple talaq will be taken and placed in front of the Supreme Court. 
&nbsp;

(WION)

&nbsp;

BJP president Amit Shah said his party will form teams at the district level to check 'exodus' of people due to communal tension

BJP president Amit Shah released the party's manifesto for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh elections promising to build the Ram temple at Ayodhya. "Efforts will be made to ensure that Ram temple is constructed under constitutional provisions," Amit Shah declared while releasing the BJP manifesto. This means BJP is back to propagating the hindutva agenda even as it tries to push the development card in the elections. The Ram temple is sure to be seized upon by the SP-Congress coalition and also the BSP, possibly at the cost of other major issues. Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati (BSP) reacted sharply almost immediately at BJP's Ram temple promise, declaring "the BJP is trying to mislead the people of Uttar Pradesh". Political parties across Uttar Pradesh will now try to checkmate the BJP on its Ram temple agenda at a crucial stage in the campaign, ahead of the first phase of voting on 11th February. The BJP has named the manifesto as 'Lok Kalyan Sankalp Patra' (pledge for people's welfare) for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. "BIMARU' (Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, UP) states have improved, but not Uttar Pradesh. Centre sanctioned Rs one lakh crore to Uttar Pradesh but no development has occurred, in fact, the law and order is at a new low," the BJP president added as he released the manifesto. The document focuses on farmers' welfare, Amit Shah said, adding agricultural loans will be waived once BJP comes to power. "We will provide laptops to all students without any discrimination and provide free WI-Fi to all colleges and universities," he asserted. The BJP president also said special focus would be given to Bundelkhand for its all round development. Special Task Force to be set up to put an end to illegal mining in the state, Shah stated. The BJP in its manifesto has stated that there would no interviews for Class III and IV Uttar Pradesh government jobs to end corruption in recruitment and the party will form teams at district levels to check "exodus" of people due to communal tension. The party has also promised to set up food processing parks and ensure uninterrupted power at cheaper rates for the poor. BJP Uttar Pradesh election manifesto highlights: * Rs 500 crore will be allocated for the Baba Ambedkar fund. *All colleges and universities will have free Wi-Fi. *Up to 6 lakh loan from permanent houses and toilets. BPL citizens to get 2 lakh life cover. *24x7 electricity in all houses. PM has said before 2019, all villages will have electricity. *Villages will be connected with mini-bus services. People will be able to use metro at any time with their families. *There will be a Bundelkhand and Poorvanchal development board under the directed supervision of the chief minister's office. *Redressal system in every district to sort our trader disputes. *Rs 5,000 for every girl child born in poor families; no age bar for widow pensions which will be Rs 1000. *The opinion of all women on triple talaq will be taken and placed in front of the Supreme Court. (WION)

BJP releases Uttar Pradesh election manifesto, promises to build Ram temple at  Ayodhya

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi today officially announced Punjab Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh as the party&#39;s chief ministerial face in the upcoming polls in the state.

&quot;Punjab will be run by its people. I want to tell you that Punjab&#39;s chief minister will be from Punjab and Punjab&#39;s chief minister is sitting here. Amarinder Singh is Punjab&#39;s chief ministerial candidate and he will be Punjab&#39;s chief minister,&quot; Rahul said while addressing a rally in the pocket-borough of Punjab minister Bikram Singh Majithia.

&quot;Amarinder Singh has given his blood and sweat for Punjab. He has worked day and night for the development of Punjab. He has always worked for the Punjabi and Sardar community. He is going to be our chief minister,&quot; Rahul said.

He also attacked the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and said the state was under the monopoly of the Badal family. He accused the Badals of accusing them of &quot;plunder, corruption&quot; and &quot;exodus&quot; of the industries to other states.

74-year-old Amarinder, who is fighting his last election, will be the next Chief Minister (CM), if the party forms government in Punjab. Captain Amarinder Singh is all set to fight the assembly elections against the SAD chief and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal from Lambi.

Rahul Gandhi said Punjab will not be run by &quot;remote control&quot;, taking a veiled dig at AAP chief and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, accusing him of wanting to become the chief minister of Delhi and Punjab at the same time.

The Congress vice-president has also said that if his party comes to power, the government will bring a law to deal with the drug menace in the state.

&quot;I just want to say a few things, we (Congress) will form such laws and a government against drugs in Punjab, that will make everyone shiver at the first thought of drugs,&quot; he said.

Punjab Cabinet Minister Bikram Singh Majithia is seeking re-election for the third time from Majitha constituency. Congress has fielded Sukhjinder Raj Singh against him.

Punjab goes to polls for 117 seats in a single-phase on February 4. Counting will be held on March 1.&nbsp;

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also lead the election campaign of the Akali-BJP coalition in Punjab today. He addressed a rally in the city of Jalandhar and was accompanied by CM Parkash Singh Badal. Badal slammed the Congress for its &quot;divide and rule&quot; strategy for the upcoming elections. Modi praised the Badals for their governance and said the people of Punjab wanted them back in power.

The BJP&#39;s Punjab manifesto focuses on implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), physical infrastructure, poverty elimination, education, and health care.

(WION with inputs from agencies)

The Congress vice-president, PM Modi and chief minister Parkash Singh Badal addressed election rallies in the state today

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi today officially announced Punjab Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh as the party's chief ministerial face in the upcoming polls in the state. "Punjab will be run by its people. I want to tell you that Punjab's chief minister will be from Punjab and Punjab's chief minister is sitting here. Amarinder Singh is Punjab's chief ministerial candidate and he will be Punjab's chief minister," Rahul said while addressing a rally in the pocket-borough of Punjab minister Bikram Singh Majithia. "Amarinder Singh has given his blood and sweat for Punjab. He has worked day and night for the development of Punjab. He has always worked for the Punjabi and Sardar community. He is going to be our chief minister," Rahul said. He also attacked the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and said the state was under the monopoly of the Badal family. He accused the Badals of accusing them of "plunder, corruption" and "exodus" of the industries to other states. 74-year-old Amarinder, who is fighting his last election, will be the next Chief Minister (CM), if the party forms government in Punjab. Captain Amarinder Singh is all set to fight the assembly elections against the SAD chief and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal from Lambi. Rahul Gandhi said Punjab will not be run by "remote control", taking a veiled dig at AAP chief and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, accusing him of wanting to become the chief minister of Delhi and Punjab at the same time. The Congress vice-president has also said that if his party comes to power, the government will bring a law to deal with the drug menace in the state. "I just want to say a few things, we (Congress) will form such laws and a government against drugs in Punjab, that will make everyone shiver at the first thought of drugs," he said. Punjab Cabinet Minister Bikram Singh Majithia is seeking re-election for the third time from Majitha constituency. Congress has fielded Sukhjinder Raj Singh against him. Punjab goes to polls for 117 seats in a single-phase on February 4. Counting will be held on March 1. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also lead the election campaign of the Akali-BJP coalition in Punjab today. He addressed a rally in the city of Jalandhar and was accompanied by CM Parkash Singh Badal. Badal slammed the Congress for its "divide and rule" strategy for the upcoming elections. Modi praised the Badals for their governance and said the people of Punjab wanted them back in power. The BJP's Punjab manifesto focuses on implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), physical infrastructure, poverty elimination, education, and health care. (WION with inputs from agencies)

Rahul Gandhi names Amarinder Singh as chief ministerial candidate for Punjab polls

Regional elections in India&#39;s northern state of Punjab got mired in political slugfest as&nbsp;contending parties took an opportunity to take a shot at the other.

While India&#39;s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose party the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is supporting the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), attacked the Congress for their &quot;political opportunism&quot;, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took a similar swipe at the ruling party in Punjab saying that they had drained resources from the state.

Addressing a rally in Jalandhar city in Punjab, Modi, alluding to the Congress&#39; decision to tie a prepoll alliance with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh state, said the Gandhi-led part was like &quot;water and changes its shape to suit its political needs&quot;.

The prime minister also attacked the Congress for blaming the ruling coalition of tarnishing the image of Punjab, especially the drug menace that has convulsed the state.

He said the Congress was only hellbent on tarnishing the image of the youth.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi also raised the political temperature in the state. He accused them of draining the resources, not helping the farmers and turning a blind eye to the drug menace in the state.

&ldquo;Four years back, I said that 70 per cent youth are affected by drugs. Badals made fun of me. Now whole Punjab is saying what I had said,&rdquo; Rahul claimed, according to The Indian Express.

The Congress also named Captain Amrinder Singh as their chief ministerial candidate.

Punjab, which is in a three-way tussle between the BJP-SAD coalition, the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party,&nbsp;will go to polls on February 4.

(WION)

&nbsp;

Indian PM Modi accused the Congress of political opportunism, while the Congress accused them of draining Punjab's resources

Regional elections in India's northern state of Punjab got mired in political slugfest as contending parties took an opportunity to take a shot at the other. While India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose party the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is supporting the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), attacked the Congress for their "political opportunism", Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took a similar swipe at the ruling party in Punjab saying that they had drained resources from the state. Addressing a rally in Jalandhar city in Punjab, Modi, alluding to the Congress' decision to tie a prepoll alliance with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh state, said the Gandhi-led part was like "water and changes its shape to suit its political needs". The prime minister also attacked the Congress for blaming the ruling coalition of tarnishing the image of Punjab, especially the drug menace that has convulsed the state. He said the Congress was only hellbent on tarnishing the image of the youth. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi also raised the political temperature in the state. He accused them of draining the resources, not helping the farmers and turning a blind eye to the drug menace in the state. “Four years back, I said that 70 per cent youth are affected by drugs. Badals made fun of me. Now whole Punjab is saying what I had said,” Rahul claimed, according to The Indian Express. The Congress also named Captain Amrinder Singh as their chief ministerial candidate. Punjab, which is in a three-way tussle between the BJP-SAD coalition, the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party, will go to polls on February 4. (WION)

Punjab elections: Political heat rises as contending parties train guns at each other

By Gargi Gupta and Iftikhar Gilani

They may have gone to space, won medals and been prime minister and president, but for Vinay Katiyar, and of his ilk, women in politics are only as good as their faces -- the prettier the better. And winning an election is a simple matter of fielding the prettiest face. Like a Miss India contest.

Priyanka Gandhi, in contrast, showed remarkable sangfroid when she just laughed off the BJP politician&#39;s crude sexism. Round one, in the gender sensitivity stakes, definitely goes to the Congress. Priyanka (45), daughter of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who has been made a star campaigner by her party to help out in the UP elections reacted to Katiyar&#39;s comments, saying he makes her laugh &quot;because he exposes the BJP&#39;s mindset towards the better half of the population of India!&quot;

Katiyar, however, remained unapologetic, asserting that there is nothing wrong in calling someone beautiful and should not be dubbed as sexist as he had no dirty motive except to state that &quot;we too can field beautiful women (as star campaigners)&quot; when a reporter asked if Priyanka&#39;s presence would make a difference to the Congress&#39; fortunes. He added that all he wanted to convey was that &quot;it is wrong and unfair to compare beauty with capability but the Congress is doing this&quot; and it should not be seen as objectifying a woman.

Asked to explain what many called &quot;objectification&quot;, Katiyar refused to apologise and said: &quot;I think Smriti Irani is as beautiful and she is also campaigning.&quot; To this Priyanka Gandhi, said: &quot;Ha ha ha. He&#39;s right...they do! And if that&#39;s all he sees in my colleagues who are such strong, brave and beautiful women that have battled through all sorts of hardships to get where they are, then he makes me laugh even more.&quot;

&quot;I hope he didn&#39;t mean what he said,&quot; said Poonam Mahajan, MP and BJP Yuva Morcha president. She, however, distanced the BJP from the controversy by saying that the party does more for women than the Congress. It is the Congress which can&#39;t get over its Gandhi mindset, she added.

Katiyar, who was the BJP&#39;s Ram Mandir face in the 1990s, is known for his pungent remarks. He even lobbied to be declared as the BJP&#39;s chief ministerial candidate, though he was dropped from even the party&#39;s list of 40 star campaigners.

Priyanka Gandhi&#39;s businessman-husband Robert Vadra also jumped in, slamming Katiyar and demanding a public apology from him for his &quot;misogynist and atrocious remark&quot;. Hitting the Twitter handle, he wrote: &quot;This exposes the shameful mindset of some of our political leaders. We all need to respect women and accept them as equals.&quot;

&quot;We, as a society, have to stop commoditising and objectifying women. Katiyar should publicly apologise for his remarks,&quot; Vadra said in another tweet. But Katiyar and Sharad Yadav, who voiced that other misogynistic shocker - that the vote&#39;s izzat was greater than the izzat of his voters&#39; womenfolk - are the norm rather than the exception in Indian politics, and the Congress &ndash; though on the moral high ground this time - is not free of women-baiters either.

Vaasanthi, the author of a recent book on J Jayalalithaa, entitled Amma: Jayalalithaa&#39;s Journey from Movie Star to Political Queen, recounts how, soon after posters came up announcing the then prominent filmstar&#39;s first political rally in the town of Kudallur, DMK leaders began to refer to it as the &quot;Kudallur cabaret&quot;.

The sexual innuendo was to get worse. In the book Vaasanthi writes, &quot;Jayalalitha was asked in an interview why she was in politics and she replied, quoting Gandhiji that she was there to serve the people. DMK miscreants turned around what she said - young men of Tamil Nadu,&#39; they told their supporters, here is a person offering her body in service to the people,&quot; she recounts another instance of gender persecution of women who would later be revered and feared as Puratchi Thalaivi early in her career.

If a woman politician had made it big, it must be because of a &#39;sugar daddy&#39; - so the innuendo went. In his book, Behenji, journalist Ajoy Bose refers to the disgruntled whispers within the BSP when the party founder promoted Mayawati over the heads of senior, male party members, and the open speculation of a relationship.

And if you want to run her down - make disparaging innuendoes about how she looks, and how few men would want her as SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav is widely alleged to have done after the shocking incident in 1992 when Mayawati locked herself inside the Lucknow state guest house while a large mob of SP workers wrecked violence outside, threatening, she has always said, to rape and kill her.

In other words, if you can&#39;t stop her with words - use other means, i.e. violence. Mamata Banerjee, the other intrepid women politician in India, has alleged that&#39;s how the Left Front wanted to silence her, pointing to how she was beaten up by police and left goons in 1993, when she was leading a Youth Congress rally.

Ironic, isn&#39;t it, that all three women politicians have a reputation of ruling with an iron hand?

(This article first appeared in DNA)

&nbsp;

There are more beautiful women star campaigners than Priyanka Gandhi, senior BJP politician Vinay Katiyar had said

By Gargi Gupta and Iftikhar Gilani They may have gone to space, won medals and been prime minister and president, but for Vinay Katiyar, and of his ilk, women in politics are only as good as their faces -- the prettier the better. And winning an election is a simple matter of fielding the prettiest face. Like a Miss India contest. Priyanka Gandhi, in contrast, showed remarkable sangfroid when she just laughed off the BJP politician's crude sexism. Round one, in the gender sensitivity stakes, definitely goes to the Congress. Priyanka (45), daughter of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who has been made a star campaigner by her party to help out in the UP elections reacted to Katiyar's comments, saying he makes her laugh "because he exposes the BJP's mindset towards the better half of the population of India!" Katiyar, however, remained unapologetic, asserting that there is nothing wrong in calling someone beautiful and should not be dubbed as sexist as he had no dirty motive except to state that "we too can field beautiful women (as star campaigners)" when a reporter asked if Priyanka's presence would make a difference to the Congress' fortunes. He added that all he wanted to convey was that "it is wrong and unfair to compare beauty with capability but the Congress is doing this" and it should not be seen as objectifying a woman. Asked to explain what many called "objectification", Katiyar refused to apologise and said: "I think Smriti Irani is as beautiful and she is also campaigning." To this Priyanka Gandhi, said: "Ha ha ha. He's right...they do! And if that's all he sees in my colleagues who are such strong, brave and beautiful women that have battled through all sorts of hardships to get where they are, then he makes me laugh even more." "I hope he didn't mean what he said," said Poonam Mahajan, MP and BJP Yuva Morcha president. She, however, distanced the BJP from the controversy by saying that the party does more for women than the Congress. It is the Congress which can't get over its Gandhi mindset, she added. Katiyar, who was the BJP's Ram Mandir face in the 1990s, is known for his pungent remarks. He even lobbied to be declared as the BJP's chief ministerial candidate, though he was dropped from even the party's list of 40 star campaigners. Priyanka Gandhi's businessman-husband Robert Vadra also jumped in, slamming Katiyar and demanding a public apology from him for his "misogynist and atrocious remark". Hitting the Twitter handle, he wrote: "This exposes the shameful mindset of some of our political leaders. We all need to respect women and accept them as equals." "We, as a society, have to stop commoditising and objectifying women. Katiyar should publicly apologise for his remarks," Vadra said in another tweet. But Katiyar and Sharad Yadav, who voiced that other misogynistic shocker - that the vote's izzat was greater than the izzat of his voters' womenfolk - are the norm rather than the exception in Indian politics, and the Congress – though on the moral high ground this time - is not free of women-baiters either. Vaasanthi, the author of a recent book on J Jayalalithaa, entitled Amma: Jayalalithaa's Journey from Movie Star to Political Queen, recounts how, soon after posters came up announcing the then prominent filmstar's first political rally in the town of Kudallur, DMK leaders began to refer to it as the "Kudallur cabaret". The sexual innuendo was to get worse. In the book Vaasanthi writes, "Jayalalitha was asked in an interview why she was in politics and she replied, quoting Gandhiji that she was there to serve the people. DMK miscreants turned around what she said - young men of Tamil Nadu,' they told their supporters, here is a person offering her body in service to the people," she recounts another instance of gender persecution of women who would later be revered and feared as Puratchi Thalaivi early in her career. If a woman politician had made it big, it must be because of a 'sugar daddy' - so the innuendo went. In his book, Behenji, journalist Ajoy Bose refers to the disgruntled whispers within the BSP when the party founder promoted Mayawati over the heads of senior, male party members, and the open speculation of a relationship. And if you want to run her down - make disparaging innuendoes about how she looks, and how few men would want her as SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav is widely alleged to have done after the shocking incident in 1992 when Mayawati locked herself inside the Lucknow state guest house while a large mob of SP workers wrecked violence outside, threatening, she has always said, to rape and kill her. In other words, if you can't stop her with words - use other means, i.e. violence. Mamata Banerjee, the other intrepid women politician in India, has alleged that's how the Left Front wanted to silence her, pointing to how she was beaten up by police and left goons in 1993, when she was leading a Youth Congress rally. Ironic, isn't it, that all three women politicians have a reputation of ruling with an iron hand? (This article first appeared in DNA)

Sexist remark against Priyanka Gandhi: Will politicos mind their language?

Controversial BJP Rajya Sabha MP Vinay Katiyar fired a shot at India&#39;s Congress party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra who is a star campaigner in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh elections.The firebrand BJP MP made a derogatory remark against Priyanka Gandhi Vadra &nbsp;saying &quot;she is not the most beautiful star campaigner&quot;.

When asked about Priyanka being named as a star campaigner by Congress for Uttar Pradesh polls, Katiyar said, &quot;It doesn`t matter if she is going to be a star campaigner for the Congress in the upcoming assembly elections. There are number of star campaigners who are more beautiful than her,&quot; Katiyar told ANI news agency.&nbsp;

The remark created a political storm with Congress quickly reacting to the comments, terming it as &quot;petty and insulting culture of BJP that commodifies women&quot;.

Scoffing at Vinay Katiyar for his sexist remarks against her, Priyanka Gandhi reacted immediately, saying it &quot;exposes the BJP&#39;s mindset towards the better half of the country&#39;s population&quot;.&nbsp;

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Response from Ms.Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as given to <a href="https://twitter.com/Tavysingh">@Tavysingh</a> in response to Mr.Katiyar&#39;s statement <a href="https://t.co/tYLtZpPglv">pic.twitter.com/tYLtZpPglv</a>
&mdash; Preeti Sahai (@sahai_preeti) <a href="https://twitter.com/sahai_preeti/status/824164381097390080">January 25, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">&times;</a></div>

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said BJP has &quot;insulted&quot; India&#39;s womanhood and such conduct, behaviour and words prove BJP&#39;s mentality.&nbsp;

(WION)

BJP Rajya Sabha MP Vinay Katiyar personal remark against Priyanka Gandhi Vadra created a political storm ?

Controversial BJP Rajya Sabha MP Vinay Katiyar fired a shot at India's Congress party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra who is a star campaigner in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh elections.The firebrand BJP MP made a derogatory remark against Priyanka Gandhi Vadra saying "she is not the most beautiful star campaigner". When asked about Priyanka being named as a star campaigner by Congress for Uttar Pradesh polls, Katiyar said, "It doesn`t matter if she is going to be a star campaigner for the Congress in the upcoming assembly elections. There are number of star campaigners who are more beautiful than her," Katiyar told ANI news agency. The remark created a political storm with Congress quickly reacting to the comments, terming it as "petty and insulting culture of BJP that commodifies women". Scoffing at Vinay Katiyar for his sexist remarks against her, Priyanka Gandhi reacted immediately, saying it "exposes the BJP's mindset towards the better half of the country's population". Response from Ms.Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as given to @Tavysingh in response to Mr.Katiyar's statement pic.twitter.com/tYLtZpPglv — Preeti Sahai (@sahai_preeti) January 25, 2017 × Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said BJP has "insulted" India's womanhood and such conduct, behaviour and words prove BJP's mentality. (WION)

Katiyar's remark exposes 'BJP's mindset', says Priyanka

Amid sexist remarks made by the Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav, Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) senior leader and Rajya Sabha MP? Vinay Katiyar on Wednesday stroked a controversy by saying that there are more beautiful campaigners that Priyanka Gandhi.

&quot;How does it affect. There are more beautiful girls and women who are star campaigner. There are some actress, artists,&quot; Katiyar said.

Katiyar, who is also the founder-president of Bajrang Dal made remarks when he was asked about the election campaign.

A day ago, BJP&#39;s Uttar Pradesh chief Keshav Prasad Maurya raked up the contentious issue of Ram Temple before the first phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections on February 11, saying a &quot;grand&quot; temple will be built in Ayodhya if BJP secures an outright majority.

&quot;Ram Mandir is a subject of faith. It is not going to be built in two months. The temple will be constructed after the elections. BJP will come to power with a full majority,&quot; he told reporters here.

Whereas Sharad Yadav stirred a controversy saying, &quot;Honour of vote is bigger and more important than honour of daughter. If daughter&#39;s honour is compromised, it only affects the village or community but if the vote&#39;s honour is compromised, it impacts the entire nation,&quot; Yadav said.

Meanwhile, The National Commission for Women (NCW) has issued a notice to the Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav for his derogatory remark on women.

(This report first appeared on DNA)

'How does it affect. There are more beautiful girls and women who are star campaigner. There are some actress, artists,' Katiyar said

Amid sexist remarks made by the Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav, Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) senior leader and Rajya Sabha MP? Vinay Katiyar on Wednesday stroked a controversy by saying that there are more beautiful campaigners that Priyanka Gandhi. "How does it affect. There are more beautiful girls and women who are star campaigner. There are some actress, artists," Katiyar said. Katiyar, who is also the founder-president of Bajrang Dal made remarks when he was asked about the election campaign. A day ago, BJP's Uttar Pradesh chief Keshav Prasad Maurya raked up the contentious issue of Ram Temple before the first phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections on February 11, saying a "grand" temple will be built in Ayodhya if BJP secures an outright majority. "Ram Mandir is a subject of faith. It is not going to be built in two months. The temple will be constructed after the elections. BJP will come to power with a full majority," he told reporters here. Whereas Sharad Yadav stirred a controversy saying, "Honour of vote is bigger and more important than honour of daughter. If daughter's honour is compromised, it only affects the village or community but if the vote's honour is compromised, it impacts the entire nation," Yadav said. Meanwhile, The National Commission for Women (NCW) has issued a notice to the Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav for his derogatory remark on women. (This report first appeared on DNA)

There are pretty campaigners than Priyanka Gandhi, says BJP leader Vinay Katiyar

The Congress party in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh is toying with the idea of using &quot;insider vs outsider&quot;&nbsp;idiom in the upcoming assembly elections. A highly placed source in the campaign team confirmed to WION that Congress would like to portray Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi as local boys against Narendra Modi as an outsider.&nbsp;

&ldquo;We have not formalised the proposal but it is one idea we would like to play with,&rdquo; the source said. The reason why Congress has zeroed in on this idea is because the BJP has not declared a chief ministerial candidate for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections and would be banking on the charisma of Narendra Modi.&nbsp;

The source also said that since it is an assembly election Akhilesh and Rahul can easily be portrayed as local boys and the prime minister as a rank outsider since the chief minister&#39;s face is the one that stays back in the state once the election is over. 
&nbsp; 
The idea also stands an equally good chance of running in hot water as Modi as a national campaigner is still the most powerful face in the country. Narendra Modi also happens to be a sitting member of parliament (MP) from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.

By calling him an outsider, Modi can also get to play on an emotional pitch that flimsy issues are being used to personally target him and lastly even Gandhis migrated from Kashmir and settled in Allahabad which embraced them as their own.&nbsp;

Finally, the idea that the prime minister who has the national mandate be called an outsider in itself looks weak when it was under his leadership that the BJP won 71 seats in Uttar Pradesh in the general elections in 2014. 
&nbsp; 
Many would say that this goes with Prashant Kishore&rsquo;s style which relies on powerful hashtags focused on a face rather than party issues. Even in this case Prashant Kishore will campaign focusing on the face rather than manifesto promises. From &quot;chai par charcha&quot;, and &quot;Bihar mein bahar ho, Nitish Kumar ho&quot; to &quot;Coffee with Captain&quot; and now &quot;Rawat sang dawat&quot;, all have been produced by Kishore&rsquo;s team. 
&nbsp; 
The sources also indicated that Priyanka Gandhi&rsquo;s role in UP campaign will remain very limited and focus will only be on the campaign of Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi. The source also confirmed to WION that Priyanka&rsquo;s campaign will be limited to Rai Barelli and Amethi and that too will remain low profile in nature. Sources said that SP-Congress campaign would have more local flavour than national.&nbsp;

(WION)

Sources also said that Priyanka Gandhi is likely to play a limited role in the upcoming UP assembly elections

The Congress party in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh is toying with the idea of using "insider vs outsider" idiom in the upcoming assembly elections. A highly placed source in the campaign team confirmed to WION that Congress would like to portray Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi as local boys against Narendra Modi as an outsider. “We have not formalised the proposal but it is one idea we would like to play with,” the source said. The reason why Congress has zeroed in on this idea is because the BJP has not declared a chief ministerial candidate for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections and would be banking on the charisma of Narendra Modi. The source also said that since it is an assembly election Akhilesh and Rahul can easily be portrayed as local boys and the prime minister as a rank outsider since the chief minister's face is the one that stays back in the state once the election is over. The idea also stands an equally good chance of running in hot water as Modi as a national campaigner is still the most powerful face in the country. Narendra Modi also happens to be a sitting member of parliament (MP) from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. By calling him an outsider, Modi can also get to play on an emotional pitch that flimsy issues are being used to personally target him and lastly even Gandhis migrated from Kashmir and settled in Allahabad which embraced them as their own. Finally, the idea that the prime minister who has the national mandate be called an outsider in itself looks weak when it was under his leadership that the BJP won 71 seats in Uttar Pradesh in the general elections in 2014. Many would say that this goes with Prashant Kishore’s style which relies on powerful hashtags focused on a face rather than party issues. Even in this case Prashant Kishore will campaign focusing on the face rather than manifesto promises. From "chai par charcha", and "Bihar mein bahar ho, Nitish Kumar ho" to "Coffee with Captain" and now "Rawat sang dawat", all have been produced by Kishore’s team. The sources also indicated that Priyanka Gandhi’s role in UP campaign will remain very limited and focus will only be on the campaign of Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi. The source also confirmed to WION that Priyanka’s campaign will be limited to Rai Barelli and Amethi and that too will remain low profile in nature. Sources said that SP-Congress campaign would have more local flavour than national. (WION)

UP elections: Akhilesh & Rahul to fight on 'insider vs outsider' card

Congress and Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders engaged in thrashing out the contours of their alliance by exchanging lists of seats and candidates last week were in for a rude shock to find Muawiyah Ali, who had won Deoband by-poll elections last year, in both parties&#39; lists.

The Congress had claimed the seat, saying it had wrested it from the SP only last year by a margin of 3,400 votes. Ironically, the party seemed to be blissfully unaware that Ali had since joined the SP and being the sitting MLA, had got that party&rsquo;s ticket. The Congress managed to get the seat but immediately replaced Ali with Mukesh Chaudhary. Ali, after realising the seat had gone to the Congress, reportedly insisted on fielding his wife who he claimed was still a party member.

The comedy of errors is a perfect illustration of how the Congress and the SP are targeting the same target audience in their bid to stop the Bharatiya Janata Party in the state; in the 2014 general elections, the right-wing party swept through the state, winning 71 of 80 Lok Sabha seats.

But the alliance has not been smooth sailing; that ship many a time came close to crashing on the rocks of political obstinacy and unpredictability. It finally took the firm hands of two women &mdash; Priyanka Gandhi and Dimple Yadav, both furiously backchanneling at the close &mdash; to steady nerves on both sides and bring the ship safely into harbour.

Sources in both parties told DNA that the alliance, finalised only yesterday, was part of backroom discussions since October 2016, when Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi wound up his 3,500-km &lsquo;Kisan Yatra&rsquo; across 48 districts and 141 Assembly segments. Upon returning Delhi, he reportedly toned down his initial resistance towards an alliance after a number of local leaders told him that going it alone would not cut much ice in a four-way contest and would only benefit the BJP.

Insiders say that most workers, including state unit chief Raj Babbar, initially favoured opening talks with the Bahujan SamaJ party (BSP). Those plans were scuttled after Mayawati rejected the overtures, saying she was only interested in a post-election tie-up.

Campaign strategist Prashant Kishor, who had earlier been asked to stay away from the state&rsquo;s matters, was brought back to establish contact with Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, a move that coincided with the ongoing internecine Yadav family feud.

However, sources say it was only after the other Gandhi scion, Priyanka, came into the picture that Rahul gave his go-ahead for the alliance. She also reportedly shot down his idea of taking advantage of the SP infighting, as well as of demanding at least 200 seats, pointing out that the party likely did not have that many viable candidates.

Meanwhile, Akhilesh was not sure of getting the party symbol and feared that his father Mulayam Singh Yadav and uncle Shivpal Yadav could field candidates to undermine his chances. To shore up his strength, therefore, claim Congress leaders, Akhilesh had himself offered 144 seats to them. But when the dust settled on the SP&rsquo;s internal war, with Akhilesh firmly in the saddle, his aides opposed giving more than 80 seats to the Congress.

It was again left to Priyanka, who worked with Akhilesh&rsquo;s wife Dimple, to salvage the alliance. Over the past month, it is believed that Priyanka made at least three trips to Lucknow by a special aircraft to carry on negotiations, without anyone having an inkling of what she was up to. On Friday, after the SP announced its list of candidates, Priyanka is believed to have exchanged as many as a dozen text messages with Akhilesh and his wife Dimple.

In one, she is understood to have written something along the lines of &lsquo;If you do not align with Congress, it that means the Samajwadi Party is supporting the rule of BJP&rsquo;. Akhilesh, said an person familiar with the exchange, replied that that situation would never arise so long as Mulayam Yadav was the driving force of the party.

The only other persons in the loop were Congress General Secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad &mdash; whose role was a surprise, given his past opposition to such an alliance &mdash; and Akhilesh&rsquo;s uncle Ram Gopal Yadav. It was finally Azad who broke the news of the alliance and asked local Congress leaders to identify seats. Azad reportedly met Ram Gopal secretly at least thrice to finalise the deal. In the 2012 elections, the SP had won 226 seats while the Congress had a mere 20 MLAs since eight of its members, including former state Congress president Rita Bahuguna Joshi, later defected to other parties.

Psychologically, they say, it will help Akhilesh beat anti-incumbency and pull floating voters, and also defeat the BJP strategy to divide the Muslim vote. Both parties are aiming for 35-37 per cent votes by targeting 25 per cent non-Muslims and attracting Muslims, who are 18 per cent of the population.

(This report first appeared in DNA)

Priyanka Gandhi and Dimple Yadav worked furiously behind the scenes to get the alliance going

Congress and Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders engaged in thrashing out the contours of their alliance by exchanging lists of seats and candidates last week were in for a rude shock to find Muawiyah Ali, who had won Deoband by-poll elections last year, in both parties' lists. The Congress had claimed the seat, saying it had wrested it from the SP only last year by a margin of 3,400 votes. Ironically, the party seemed to be blissfully unaware that Ali had since joined the SP and being the sitting MLA, had got that party’s ticket. The Congress managed to get the seat but immediately replaced Ali with Mukesh Chaudhary. Ali, after realising the seat had gone to the Congress, reportedly insisted on fielding his wife who he claimed was still a party member. The comedy of errors is a perfect illustration of how the Congress and the SP are targeting the same target audience in their bid to stop the Bharatiya Janata Party in the state; in the 2014 general elections, the right-wing party swept through the state, winning 71 of 80 Lok Sabha seats. But the alliance has not been smooth sailing; that ship many a time came close to crashing on the rocks of political obstinacy and unpredictability. It finally took the firm hands of two women — Priyanka Gandhi and Dimple Yadav, both furiously backchanneling at the close — to steady nerves on both sides and bring the ship safely into harbour. Sources in both parties told DNA that the alliance, finalised only yesterday, was part of backroom discussions since October 2016, when Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi wound up his 3,500-km ‘Kisan Yatra’ across 48 districts and 141 Assembly segments. Upon returning Delhi, he reportedly toned down his initial resistance towards an alliance after a number of local leaders told him that going it alone would not cut much ice in a four-way contest and would only benefit the BJP. Insiders say that most workers, including state unit chief Raj Babbar, initially favoured opening talks with the Bahujan SamaJ party (BSP). Those plans were scuttled after Mayawati rejected the overtures, saying she was only interested in a post-election tie-up. Campaign strategist Prashant Kishor, who had earlier been asked to stay away from the state’s matters, was brought back to establish contact with Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, a move that coincided with the ongoing internecine Yadav family feud. However, sources say it was only after the other Gandhi scion, Priyanka, came into the picture that Rahul gave his go-ahead for the alliance. She also reportedly shot down his idea of taking advantage of the SP infighting, as well as of demanding at least 200 seats, pointing out that the party likely did not have that many viable candidates. Meanwhile, Akhilesh was not sure of getting the party symbol and feared that his father Mulayam Singh Yadav and uncle Shivpal Yadav could field candidates to undermine his chances. To shore up his strength, therefore, claim Congress leaders, Akhilesh had himself offered 144 seats to them. But when the dust settled on the SP’s internal war, with Akhilesh firmly in the saddle, his aides opposed giving more than 80 seats to the Congress. It was again left to Priyanka, who worked with Akhilesh’s wife Dimple, to salvage the alliance. Over the past month, it is believed that Priyanka made at least three trips to Lucknow by a special aircraft to carry on negotiations, without anyone having an inkling of what she was up to. On Friday, after the SP announced its list of candidates, Priyanka is believed to have exchanged as many as a dozen text messages with Akhilesh and his wife Dimple. In one, she is understood to have written something along the lines of ‘If you do not align with Congress, it that means the Samajwadi Party is supporting the rule of BJP’. Akhilesh, said an person familiar with the exchange, replied that that situation would never arise so long as Mulayam Yadav was the driving force of the party. The only other persons in the loop were Congress General Secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad — whose role was a surprise, given his past opposition to such an alliance — and Akhilesh’s uncle Ram Gopal Yadav. It was finally Azad who broke the news of the alliance and asked local Congress leaders to identify seats. Azad reportedly met Ram Gopal secretly at least thrice to finalise the deal. In the 2012 elections, the SP had won 226 seats while the Congress had a mere 20 MLAs since eight of its members, including former state Congress president Rita Bahuguna Joshi, later defected to other parties. Psychologically, they say, it will help Akhilesh beat anti-incumbency and pull floating voters, and also defeat the BJP strategy to divide the Muslim vote. Both parties are aiming for 35-37 per cent votes by targeting 25 per cent non-Muslims and attracting Muslims, who are 18 per cent of the population. (This report first appeared in DNA)

A tale of two women: How the Congress-SP deal was salvaged

Former chief minister of the northern Indian states of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh and a senior Congress leader, Narayan Dutt Tiwari along with his son Rohit Shekhar joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today.

According to reports, Tiwari wants a BJP ticket for his son from Kumaon region of Uttarakhand and therefore is all set to change his loyalty.

The 91-year-old leader was thrice the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh (1976-77, 1984-85, 1988-89) and once the chief minister of Uttarakhand (2002-2007).

In 1986-1987, he served in former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi&#39;s cabinet as minister for external affairs.

&nbsp;

(ANI)

&nbsp;

Tiwari, 91, wants a BJP ticket for his son from the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand and therefore is reportedly changing his loyalty

Former chief minister of the northern Indian states of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh and a senior Congress leader, Narayan Dutt Tiwari along with his son Rohit Shekhar joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today. According to reports, Tiwari wants a BJP ticket for his son from Kumaon region of Uttarakhand and therefore is all set to change his loyalty. The 91-year-old leader was thrice the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh (1976-77, 1984-85, 1988-89) and once the chief minister of Uttarakhand (2002-2007). In 1986-1987, he served in former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's cabinet as minister for external affairs. (ANI)

India: Senior Congress politician ND Tiwari, son join BJP

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