Assembly Polls 2022 Highlights: Former Army chief Gen JJ Singh joins BJP ahead of Punjab polls

Senior BJP leader Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank dubbed as rumours the speculations that three Uttarakhand BJP MLAs may quit the party and join the Congress. After the BJP expelled Cabinet minister Harak Singh Rawat from the party, speculations began in a section of the local media that Raipur MLA Umesh Sharma Kau, Roorkee MLA Pradip Batra and Khanpur MLA Kunwar Pranav Singh Champion could defect to the Congress.

Punjab polls: Former Army chief Gen JJ Singh joins BJP

Former Army chief Gen Joginder Jaswant Singh on Tuesday joined the BJP here in the presence of the party leadership, including Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.

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'Ready to apologise hundred times to rejoin Congress'

Keen to rejoin the Congress after being expelled from the BJP, Harak Singh Rawat on Tuesday said he is ready to apologise to former chief minister Harish Rawat any number of times for the sake of Uttarakhand's interests.

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Opposition finds pattern in central agencies’ action in election season

A raid by Enforcement Directorate (ED) of a relative of Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi in a money laundering probe in the sand mafia case on Tuesday has once again put the spotlight on the actions of central agencies during electionseason with the Opposition pointing out to similar actions in the past few years under Narendra Modi government.

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Mamata to campaign for Samajwadi Party ahead of UP Elections

Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee will campaign against the BJP in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh elections, and has at least two visits to the state queued up.

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What made Bhagwant Mann the man of the moment for AAP in Punjab

By declaring Bhagwant Mann as its chief ministerial candidate for the Assembly elections in Punjab, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has arguably exerted the only option it had to go forward.

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Cong names 9 more candidates in 3rd list for Goa polls; ex-BJP minister gets ticket

The Congress on Tuesday released its third list of nine more party candidates for the February 14Goaassembly elections and fielded leaders who were earlier in the BJP and the Trinamool Congress (TMC). Former BJP minister Michael Lobo, who recently quit the saffron party to join the Congress, figures in the list along with Lavu Mamlekar, who was earlier with the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC.

ED is 'election department' of BJP: Congress on raids in Punjab

The Congress has expressed unhappiness over ED raids on a close relative of Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi. The party on Tuesday slammed the BJP for misusing the government agency and said it is ready battle it out in Punjab and would ttell people how the BJP is trying to harass the country's only Dalit Chief Minister.

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Cong, SP in competition over who can target Hindus more: BJP

The BJP alleged on Tuesday that its rivalsSamajwadiPartyand the Congress appeared to be in a competition over who can spew more venom against Hindus and protect those who do so.

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra cited Islamic cleric Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan's support to the Congress in Uttar Pradesh assembly polls and the SP nominating several Muslims allegedly accused of involvement in riots and making communal remarks to attack theseparties.

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Akhilesh Yadav hits back at BJP on charge of fielding criminals in UP polls

Under attack over fielding candidates with a criminal background in Uttar Pradesh assembly polls,SamajwadiPartypresident Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday alleged that hispartyleaders have been framed in false cases by the ruling BJP.

Flanked by new entrant Swami Prasad Maurya, who had quit the BJP, and veteran leader Azam Khan's son Abdullah Azam, recently released from jail, Yadav also claimed that the maximum number of MLAs with a criminal background are from the saffronparty.

ED raids an attempt to pressurise me before polls: Channi

Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi said that there was an attempt to put pressure and target him and his ministers as the polling day drew near, hours after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday raided multiple locations in the state as part of a money laundering probe against the "sand mafia" and companies linked to alleged illegal sand mining.

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AAP fallen back on compromised CM candidate: Sukhbir Badal

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Singh Badal on Tuesday said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had fallen back on compromised candidate Bhagwant Mann as no one was ready to lead the party in Punjab.

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BJP likely to announce list of candidates for Goa polls on Tuesday

The BJP is expected to announce its list of candidates for the February 14 Assembly polls by Tuesday evening, said Chief Minister Pramod Sawant.

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Meet Bhagwant Mann, a mass leader who offered wings to AAP in Punjab

From his early days as a profound comic actor and satirist on television to his days as a people's politician, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Bhagwant Mann has come of age.

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"AAP has given me a very big responsibility. Our first step is to form a government in Punjab," Bhagwant Mann, AAP's CM candidate for Punjab Assembly polls 2022, told ANI.

Husband-wife vying for same seat in Lucknow

A piquant situation has emerged in Lucknow's Sarojini Nagar Assembly seat where husband and wife are together staking their claim to the ticket in the BJP.The couple in question is Swati Singh, a minister in the Yogi Adityanath government, and her husband Daya Shankar Singh, vice president in the BJP's state unit.Swati Singh is the sitting MLA from Sarojini Nagar and is keen to get the ticket for a second term.Swati's entry into politics was 'accidental' in a way.Her husband Daya Shankar Singh was in the eye of a storm in July 2016 when he made some disparaging remarks against BSP president Mayawati.

Snappy hashtags, peppy tunes: Political parties hit virtual campaign trail

Snappy hashtags, peppy tunes and quick repartee, political parties have taken their campaign to the virtual world with great aplomb as five states go to elections next month under the shadow of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Wordsmiths and artists of different parties are working overtime to deliver punches and counter punches in their bid to reach out to voters through different platforms ranging from Facebook to YouTube.

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ED raids house of Punjab CM's nephew in sand mining case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday morning carried out raids at ten different locations belonging to Punjab Chief Minster Charanjit Singh Channi's nephew Bhupinder Singh Honey, in connection with a Prevention of Money Laundering case pertaining to illegal sand mining in Punjab weeks before assembly elections.A source said that the ED team conducted first raid at the residence of Honey which is at Homeland Heights early Tuesday morning.

AIMIM fields Atiq Ahmed'a wife from Prayagraj

The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has fielded Shaista Parveen, wife of mafia don and former MP Atiq Ahmed, from the Allahabad West Assembly seat of Prayagraj.The seat was once considered to be a stronghold of Atiq.Although her candidature has not been announced officially by the party, divisional spokesperson of AIMIM, Afsar Mehmood confirmed that she will be the party's candidate from Allahabad West.

Yogi's win would change BJP's internal matrix

Being the first saffron-clad chief minister of UP, Yogi Adityanath, of course, had to fulfil the cultural aspirations of Hindus. But Hindu is not a monolithic identity, and being the dominant majority, Hindus do not prefer to do tactical voting like Muslims.

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BJP meet on Wednesday to finalise candidates for Assembly polls

The BJP's Central Election Committee (CEC) will meet on Wednesday to finalise candidates for Goa, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh.Shortlisted names of the candidates recommended to the CEC have been already discussed by the top leadership with the state units.Sources said that the meeting will be held on January 19 and names for Goa, and Uttarakhand are to be approved. "Names for a few more phases of Uttar Pradesh will be approved by the CEC," sources said.

Maurya slams SP for changing Kariana candidate

Uttar Pradesh deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya has slammed the Samajwadi Party (SP) for replacing Nahid Hasan, its candidate from the Kairana Assembly seat in west UP with his sister Iqra Hasan.

"I have heard that under severe criticism, the SP has now replaced its tainted candidate from Kairana with his sister. This is unacceptable as the BJP believes that fielding a tainted individual or any of their family members is equally wrong," Keshav Prasad Maurya said.

BJP, allies yet to reach on final conclusion over seat-sharing in Punjab

In Punjab, the BJP for the first time would be seen in the role of 'elder brother' in an alliance and it is certain that the Amarinder Singh and Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa's party will contest the assembly elections in alliance with the BJP.

However the parties haven't yet reached to any final conclusion on the seat-sharing. If sources are to be believed, there are still some differences between the three parties over many seats.

On Monday, the political situation in Punjab and the names of probable candidates were discussed in detail at the BJP National Headquarters in Delhi under the chairmanship of party's National President J.P. Nadda, in the presence of Home Minister Amit Shah.

AMU panel puts out 'charter' for political parties

The coordination committee of Uttar Pradesh state executive body of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) has passed a 15-point resolution as a charter of 'Muslim issues' and sought its inclusion in the election manifesto of political parties.The committee has also sought an assurance of the implementation of the issues.In the resolution passed by the committee, comprising over 100 members including teaching, non-teaching staff, students and alumni, it demanded speedy investigation and release of innocent persons framed under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and National Security Act.

PM Modi to virtually interact with party workers in Varanasi today

Punjab cops keeping vigil on illegal activities, vulnerable areas with drones

To ensure free, fair and transparent assembly elections next month in Punjab, the police have intensified search operations, especially in the border districts, to keep a vigil on illegal activities in vulnerable areas. The operations are being assisted by the BSF, Punjab Armed Police, CID Units and Special Branch, besides the Excise and Taxation Department and Dog squad and anti-sabotage teams, Chief Director Ishwar Singh of the Vigilance Bureau-cum-State Police Nodal Officer (SPNO) said on Monday.

In a jolt, Gujarat AAP loses 2 key faces, one of them joins BJP

In a setback to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Gujarat ahead of the Assembly polls, two prominent leaders - Vijay Suvada and Mahesh Savani - deserted the Arvind Kejriwal-led outfit within a span of 24 hours and one of them joined the ruling BJP on Monday. Suvada, a popular folk singer who resigned from the AAP membership on Sunday, joined the ruling BJP in the presence of its state unit chief CR Paatil in Gandhinagar a day later, saying he has "returned home".

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No MLA quitting BJP, it's just rumours, says Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank

Senior BJP leader Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank on Monday dubbed as rumours the speculations that three Uttarakhand BJP MLAs may quit the party and join the Congress.

"The rumours have taken even the MLAs concerned by surprise," Nishank told reporters here in reply to a question.