Samajwadi Party MLA Nahid Hasan, who was arrested under the Gangster Act in Uttar Pradesh, did not get bail. Meanwhile, the SP and the ruling BJP clashed over the issue of fielding criminals in the elections.
Here’s a look at key developments in five states where elections are due next month.
Punjab
AAP on Tuesday named Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann as the party’s chief ministerial face for Punjab. Party leader Arvind Kejriwal said that most of the people who gave their feedback told Mann as their choice. Kejriwal and Mann hug each other while Mann can also be seen wiping tears from his eyes.
The rival Congress, meanwhile, clashed with the BJP as the Enforcement Directorate raided a relative of Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi.
Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala He said that the BJP government was insulting a Dalit who was made the Chief Minister of Punjab and Dalits and Backward Classes would not forgive the party for this.
He also accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of working closely with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal was one of the first to attack Channi over the raid.
Surjewala alleged that the ED has become the ‘election department’ of the BJP.
Uttar Pradesh
A special court in Kairana in Uttar Pradesh rejected the bail plea of Samajwadi Party MLA Nahid Hasan, arrested last week in a case under the stringent Gangsters Act. Hassan, who was arrested on January 15, has filed his nomination from Kairana assembly constituency on a Samajwadi Party ticket for the February 10 elections. MP/MLA Special Court Judge Subodh Singh Said there was no case for bail and dismissed Hasan’s plea.
Hasan’s counsel said that they would soon approach the High Court for his bail.
According to public prosecutor Ashok Pundhir, a court has sent the MLA to judicial custody for 14 days.
In an attack on fielding candidates with criminal background in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav alleged that his party leaders were being implicated in false cases by the ruling BJP.
Uttarakhand
Chief Minister in Uttarakhand Pushkar Singh Dhami attacked the Congress, claiming that his government had earlier only laid the foundation stone of the projects and left them there while the BJP government was completing the projects started. Taking a jibe at Congress leaders for trying to take credit for the development work done in the last five years of the BJP rule in the state, Dhami said this is a difference between the two parties.
Meanwhile, speculation continued on the next move of former minister Harak Singh Rawat who was expelled from the BJP.
Goa
Congress released its third list of nine more party candidates for Goa Assembly elections. The party has fielded Michael Lobo from Calangute, Aman Lotikar from Tivim and Meghshyam Raut from Bicholim assembly seat. It also fielded Vikas Prabhudesai from Porvorim and Antony L Fernandes from St. Andre and Dharmesh Sagalani from Sanquelim.
Meanwhile, the BJP and the NCP began a war of words over the latter’s planned attempt in Goa. Former Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis. Fadnavis, who is in charge of BJP affairs in Goa, had ridiculed Sharad Pawar’s efforts to forge an alliance with the Congress and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the coastal state.
“A party does not gain a national footprint by simply including ‘Nationalist’ in its name. Though it is called the Nationalist Congress Party, in fact, the party is confined to western Maharashtra,” he told reporters.
NCP leaders Ajit Pawar, Supriya Sule and Nawab Malik Hit back at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and asked him to exercise restraint while speaking about Sharad Pawar.
TMC also released the list of candidates.
All India Trinamool Congress is pleased to announce the first list of candidates for Goa Assembly Election https://t.co/lqglq0IKHU
— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) 1642518745000
Manipur
Meanwhile, the All Manipur Christian Organization (AMCO) urged the Election Commission to reschedule the first phase of assembly elections on February 27 as Sunday is the community’s prayer day.
The AMCO expressed its displeasure and requested the Election Commission to conduct the first phase of polling on any day of the week except Sunday. “We urge the Election Commission to reschedule the date for the first phase of polling to show solidarity and respect for the religious sentiments of Christians,” it said in a statement.
Elections to the 60-member Manipur Assembly will be held in two phases on February 27 and March 3. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. Christians constitute 41.29 percent of Manipur’s three million people, of which 41.39 percent are Hindus and 8.40 percent belong to the Muslim community.
(With agency input.)
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