NEW DELHI: Several exit polls on Monday forecast a clear majority for the BJP in Uttar Pradesh and the Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab with some of them giving an edge to the saffron party in Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur.

While India Today-Axis My India predicted 288-326 seats for the BJP and its partners in Uttar Pradesh and 71-101 for the SP alliance, News 24-Today’s Chanakya predicted 294 seats for the NDA and 105 for the Akhilesh Yadav-led alliance.

News 24-Today’s Chanakya predicted 43 per cent vote share for the BJP alliance in Uttar Pradesh and 35 per cent for the SP and its partners.

CNN News 18-Matrize predicted 262-277 seats for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and allies and 119-134 for the Samajwadi Party (SP) and allies in Uttar Pradesh.

Times Now-Veto predicted 225 and 151 seats for them, respectively.

Most of them were also unanimous in predicting a big win for Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab, with India Today-Axis projecting up to 76-90 seats in the 117-member assembly.

A few exit polls also forecast a hung assembly in Punjab, the only poll-bound state where Congress is in power while giving a clear edge to the AAP.

News 24-Today’s Chanakya predicted a wave in the AAP’s favour in Punjab, giving it 100 seats with a margin of 10 seats on either side.

It gave 43 to the BJP and 24 to the Congress in Uttarakhand.

TV9 Bharatvarsh-Polstrat, however, predicted 56-61 seats for the AAP in Punjab, making it the frontrunner.

The Congress was mostly predicted to be securing the second spot in Punjab.

In Uttarakhand, both the Congress and the BJP were favoured by different exit polls to win the assembly polls.

The ABP News-CVoter forecast an edge for the Congress in Uttarakhand, giving the party 32-38 seats in the 70-member assembly and the BJP 26-32 seats.

Goa was predicted by most pollsters to be heading for a hung assembly.

The BJP was given a clear edge by most exit polls in the election to the 60-member Manipur assembly, with the Congress being seen a distant second.

The BJP is in power in four of the five states.

The exit polls signal that the BJP remains the dominant party in these states and indicate a big swing in the AAP’s fortunes as Kejriwal’s party is also seen to have emerged as a force in Uttarakhand and Goa where it may corner a decent poll percentage if not many seats.

Most exit polls also predicted a big fall in the fortunes of the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and a setback for the Congress, which had hoped to retain power in Punjab and make a comeback in states like Uttarakhand and Goa.

The counting of votes will take place on March 10.

Exit polls have mostly predicted that the BJP would be emerging as the single-largest party in Manipur, where elections were held in two phases on February 28 and March 5.

According to Zee News-Designboxed, the saffron party might bag anything between 32 and 38 seats in the 60-member Assembly, while the Congress would possibly muster 12-17 seats.

IndiaTV Ground Zero Research has forecast 26-31 seats for the BJP, with the Congress ending up with 12-17 constituencies and other parties with 11-22 seats.

In almost every exit polls projection, Congress was seen as bagging fewer seats than the last election’s tally.

The party had pocketed 28 seats in 2017, three short of the magic number.

All pollsters are unanimous about BJP’s better performance.

The saffron camp, which won 22 seats in 2017, had stitched up an alliance with the NPP and other regional outfits to form government in the state, with N Biren Singh at the helm.

Interestingly, non-BJP and non-Congress parties are being expected to grab a major part of the Assembly pie this time.

India News has forecast 23-28 seats for the BJP, 10-14 for the Congress, and as many as 19-26 seats for other parties.

Results of the elections will be declared on March 10 after counting of votes.

The BJP had, during its campaigns, claimed that it had successfully created a bandh-free Manipur and bridged the hill-valley divide in the state.

It promised to empower women and bring militant groups to the discussion table if voted to power this time.

IMPHAL: A total of 11.40 per cent of 8.38 lakh voters Saturday exercised their franchise in the first two hours of voting across 22 constituencies in the second and final phase of assembly elections in Manipur.

No untoward incident has so far been reported from anywhere, election officials said. Among the early voters were Congress leader and former chief minister O Ibobi Singh in Thoubal district.

“Congress will definitely win with an absolute majority, but in case we fall short by one or two seats, the party is open for a coalition,” he said after casting his vote.

The electoral fate of 92 candidates will be decided on Saturday, including 12 from the BJP, followed by Congress (18), National People’s Party (11), Janata Dal (United) and Naga People’s Front (10 each).

Polling will continue till 4 pm The first phase of voting held on February 28 was marred by stray incidents of violence and repoll was ordered in 12 polling stations in three districts – Churachandpur, Kangpokpi and Imphal East.

Ambedkarnagar (UP): Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday claimed the BJP is hatching a conspiracy to end reservation and hence, is selling government organisations to the private sector.

Addressing an election meeting in the Jalalpur assembly constituency, Yadav said his party will win all the seats of Ambedkarnagar as well as of neighbouring Azamgarh district in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.

“The BJP is hatching a conspiracy to end reservation, and hence it is selling government organisations to the private sector,” he said.

Ambedkarnagar has five assembly seats and will vote on March 3 in the sixth phase. Azamgarh, with 10 assembly seats, will vote on March 7 in the last phase.

The BJP is in a bad situation after the polling so far, Yadav claimed.

“In the five phases of elections, the people of the state have rejected the BJP, and by the time the sixth phase comes, it will become certain that the BJP would be wiped off,” Yadav said.

With the high-octane Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls reaching the Purvanchal region of the state, caste factor appears to be gaining prominence.

Regional parties like the ones led by Om Prakash Rajbhar (SBSP) and Anupriya Patel (Apna Dal-Sonelal), which have formed alliances with the SP and the BJP respectively, have support bases in their respective castes in this region.

Former Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal

Hoshiarpur: A court here on Thursday granted bail to former Punjab chief minister and SAD patriarch Parkash Singh Badal in a dual constitution case that was filed against his party in 2009.

The court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) Rupinder Singh granted bail to Badal (94) in the case wherein the complainant had accused the SAD of submitting two different constitutions — one with the Gurdwara Election Commission and the second with the Election Commission of India (ECI) to seek recognition as a political party.

Hitesh Puri, lawyer for social activist and complainant Balwant Singh Khera, said that Badal had furnished his surety bonds/bail bonds in the local trial court of ACJM to the tune of Rs 1 lakh in pursuance of the interim bail order of Wednesday passed by the court of J P S Khurmi, Additional Sessions Judge, Hoshiarpur.

Badal on Thursday appeared in the trial court of ACJM.

In October last year, a court here had granted interim bail to Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal in the same case involving the allegation that his party had submitted a false undertaking to the poll panel to seek recognition for his party.

The complainant had alleged that the SAD had given a false undertaking to the ECI that it had amended its constitution to incorporate the principles of socialism and secularism whereas it continued its activities as a panthic party and openly participated in Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee elections.

DEHRADUN: Former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat on Monday claimed his Congress party will win 45-48 seats in the assembly polls this time owing to a strong anti-incumbency wave.

“If we compare the 2002 assembly polls with the 2022 assembly polls we are in a better position this time. In 2002 we won the polls on the strength of our positivity while the anti-incumbency against the BJP government at that time was not as strong as this time,” Rawat said.

“In comparison to 2002 there is more positivity in Congress in 2022 and so is the anti-incumbency against the BJP. So we are confident of winning 45-48 seats and forming the government,” he said.

The Congress general secretary said in 2002 everyone was in doubt about the party’s victory but he personally was sure it would win at least 40 seats.

In 2002, the Congress had formed the government winning 36 out of a total of 70 seats.

Rawat was the party’s state unit president at that time and the election was fought under his leadership.

Rawat said when Congress president Sonia Gandhi saw the impressive turnout at her rallies in Bageshwar she had agreed with him that the party was going to form the government in the state.

The 2002 assembly poll results in Uttarakhand had even surprised the then deputy prime minister Lal Krishna Advani, he said.

Rawat said Advani had invited him to tea to explain how he managed to win the polls.

In the 30-member interim assembly before the year 2002, the BJP had 23 seats and the Congress two.

In the 2012 assembly polls, the Congress formed the government again but with the help of independents as it was four seats short of the magic figure.

Yashpal Arya was the party’s state unit chief at the time of 2012 assembly polls.

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CHENNAI: Even as the votes for the urban local bodies are being counted on Tuesday, early trends indicate that the ruling DMK is set to register a landslide victory.

As many as 218 members have been elected unopposed for corporations (4), municipalities (18) and town panchayats (196), said the state election commission (SEC).

The four candidates elected unopposed for Corporations belong to the DMK. They were elected from Erode (ward 15), Karur (ward 22) and Vellore (ward 7 &8).

Similarly, the 18 unanimously elected representatives from municipalities include 15 from the DMK and three independents.
 
Among the 196 Town Panchayat representatives who were elected unopposed, 110 belong to the DMK and its alliance parties, Congress, Left, MDMK and VCK. About 13 of them are from the AIADMK and 73 are independents.
 
According to SEC’s official website, as of 11 am, results were announced for 69 ward members’ posts in Erode, Thanjavur, Chennai, Karur, Madurai and Virudhunagar corporations. The DMK alliance emerged victorious in 53 seats, while the AIADMK bagged six. Independents won seven councillor posts.

Similarly, results were announced for 344 ward member posts in over 100 municipalities, of which the DMK won 253 seats. While the AIADMK registered a victory in 71 seats, the BJP and the DMDK which faced the election alone won three seats each.

About 1236 out of 1788 ward members who emerged victorious in Town Panchayats are from the DMK and its allies. The AIADMK won 334 and BJP received 26 seats. DMDK won in five places.

LUCKNOW: A 27-year-old burqa-clad woman, who is a triple-talaq victim, is campaigning for the BJP in the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls to make the Muslim women realise the “good work” being done by the saffron party in the state.

She is usually accompanied by female members of the BJP as well as members of the party’s minority cell during the campaigning. “I have done door-to-door campaigning and held small meetings with the female voters for BJP candidates both in Meerut and Bareilly. I will also join the campaigning for the party in central and eastern UP districts,” Khan, who joined the minority wing of the BJP in January this year, told PTI.

“We move in smaller groups for door-to-door campaigning and try to meet the maximum women voters in a day. I inform the voters about welfare schemes of the BJP government We usually campaign in areas with considerable Muslim voters,” Khan said.

When asked about her reasons for joining the BJP, Khan, who hails from Bareilly, said, “I have realised that all political parties be it the Samajwadi Party, the Congress or the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), all use Muslims only as a vote bank. They take our votes to get to power and then forget us for the next five years. This is why the Muslim community is one of the least developed communities in our society. However, this is not the story in the BJP, where everyone is considered as equal.”

“I want the women of the Muslim community to realise the good work of the BJP under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.I am confident that the social condition of the Muslims will improve if the BJP comes to power again in Uttar Pradesh,” she added.

On BJP not giving tickets to any Muslim candidate in the assembly polls, Khan said, “I believe that the decision for ticket distribution is done on the basis of merit and not just on vote bank in the BJP. I am sure that the party will get suitable candidates from the Muslim community who will get tickets in future elections.”

A post-graduate pursuing law, Khan came into the spotlight in 2017 after she filed a complaint of domestic violence and dowry against her husband and his family members.

She had alleged that her husband, who comes from an influential religious family in Bareilly, gave her instant triple talaq. The cases are under trial in local courts in Bareilly. “The harassment I suffered just after marriage gave me strength to fight for other Muslim women who are victims of triple talaq as well as dowry,” she said.

Khan said the anti-triple talaq law passed by the Centre as well as the Uttar Pradesh government’s unlawful religious conversion law are a “boon for the Muslim women and the society”.

Lucknow: The Congress on Wednesday promised to waive farm loans within 10 days and provide 20 lakh jobs if the party forms the government in Uttar Pradesh.

The poll manifesto released by party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also vowed to provide Rs 3,000 as compensation to farmers for crop damage by stray cattle, a problem gripping cultivators in many parts of the state.

The manifesto — “Unnati Vidhan” — was termed by Priyanka as “Jan Ghoshna Patra’ (people’s manifesto).

The vision document was brought released a day before voting starts in 58 assembly seats in the state.

Two earlier manifestos — “Shakti Vidhan” for women and “Bharti Vidhan” for youth — have already been released by the party.

The BJP and the Samajwadi Party released their manifesto for the UP election on Tuesday.

Releasing the manifesto, Priyanka said, the Congress will waive loans of farmers within 10 days of government formation, and also purchase wheat and paddy at Rs 2,500 per quintal as well as sugarcane at the rate of Rs 400 per quintal, after coming to power.

She said in Chhattisgarh, her party’s government had written off farmers’ loans within three hours of being sworn-in.

The issues of unemployment and inflation have been taken care while formulating the manifesto of the state, she said.

“Our government will provide 20 lakh government jobs. While 12 lakh jobs will be given for filling vacant posts, 8 lakh new jobs will be created,” she said, adding 40 percent of these would be earmarked for women.

She said, “Rs 3,000 compensation will be given to farmers for crop damage by stray cattle. ‘Godhan Nyay Yojna’ will be started under which cow dung will be purchased at Rs 2 per kg,” she said.

Priyanka said the Congress wanted to end outsourcing in the government, and will regularise those, who are on contract or are being outsourced, in a phased manner.

The manifesto also promised to reduce electricity bills to half and provide Rs 25,000 as compensation to families who have lost earning members to Covid.

Priyanka said the budget provision on health services will be increased by 5 per cent and promised Rs 50 Lakh compensation to those who lost lives due to coronavirus.

To support small businesses, the party promised to develop traditional business hubs like brass in Moradabad and leather in Agra.

“Two lakh teachers will be recruited and Siksha Mitra will be made permanent on the basis of their experience and expertise. Vacant post of Sanskrit and Urdu teachers in the state will also be filled,” the Congress general secretary said.

The future roadmap also promised to increase emolument of sweepers, village heads and Rs 3,000 compensation to the specially-abled, the manifesto promised.

The Congress also promised a reserved seat in Legislative Council for ex-army men and withdraw false cases lodged against journalists in the state.

Priyanka said provision for home district transfer for women police personnel to be done, adding that SC/ST students will be given free education from KG to post-graduate level.

“Nishad (boatmen) community will be given right on river resources and Kol community will be included in the ST category,” the manifesto said.

Priyanka said while fee hike in schools will be controlled at the block level and public libraries with internet facilities will be opened.

The Congress general secretary said the “Unnati Vidhan” has promised land rights for urban development and the slum land will be in the name of the person concerned.

“Also the middle class will get land and economic incentives for affordable housing,” she said.

Asked about the old pension scheme, Priyanka said, “We have discussed the old pension scheme. We think a mid way can be found in this. The government should increase its share of the pension.”

Last year, Priyanka had launched ‘Shakti Vidhan’ manifesto for women promising that 40 percent of the 20 lakh new jobs her party aims to create in the state will be allotted to women.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi and party’s state unit president Navjot Singh Sidhu |

Ludhiana: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday declared Charanjit Singh Channi as his party’s chief ministerial face for the high-stakes Punjab Assembly polls.

Gandhi made this announcement while addressing a virtual rally here.

“People of Punjab said we need a CM from ‘gareeb ghar’ (poor family),” said Gandhi.

The other main contender for the party’s CM face was Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, a Jat Sikh face.

The party had taken feedback from its leaders and workers, and had also sought the opinion of the public on who should be its chief ministerial candidate through an automated call system.

Gandhi also lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he is not the PM but a “king”.

Have you seen him helping anyone on roadside, he asks.

BAGHPAT: AIMIM national president Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday cautioned minorities against Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, claiming that he will not keep his promises once the election process is over.

The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief also alleged that those behind the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi were the ones who opened fire at him.

“They fired bullets at me because I dared to look into the eyes of BJP and tell the truth. Those who fired at me are the very people who had murdered Mahatama Gandhi. If you kill one Owaisi, lakhs of Owaisis will be born,” he claimed at a public meeting in Asara village in support of party candidate Anees Ahmed from Chhaprauli seat.

On Thursday, gunshots were fired at Owaisi’s vehicle at Hapur in western Uttar Pradesh when he was returning to Delhi after campaigning for the assembly elections.

On the participation of Muslims in politics, he said, “They go to the doorsteps of others and ask for tickets, they should come to me, we will give (them) tickets. Sounding a cautionary note against the SP president, Owaisi claimed, “I’m alerting you today that Akhilesh will cheat you again. “

“He is giving a lollipop to minority community leaders that they will be made Rajya Sabha members, MLCs, but he will not do anything later. He said his party will make minority community members sit on their shoulders and polish their politics but “Akhilesh will drown them.”

In an attempt to highlight the power of a vote, he said that just as an elephant is tied from a chain, similarly Muslims have been tied up by political parties. “They should recognise their power and break the chains to become as strong as an elephant,” he said.

Owaisi also attacked Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and alleged, ‘Yogi Baba’ tells lies like ‘his Ustad (Narendra) Modi’.