In a bid to corner Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav, prime minister Narendra Modi on Sunday raked up an alleged remark made by the former wherein he had said that people often chose to live in 'Kashi' (old name of Varanasi) in their "last days".
A bomb blast and firing at a JDU) candidate by miscreants raised questions about law and order situation in Manipur as the state goes for polls on Monday in 38 out of 60 Assembly constituencies.
Around 53.93 per cent voter turnout was registered till 5 p.m. in the fifth phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, as per the Election Commission.
The polling was held in 61 Assembly constituencies spread in 12 districts of Uttar Pradesh. The Election Commission said that 53.93 per cent voter turnout figure was an approximate trend as data from some polling stations takes time to reach.
"Give us a chance to form a Congress government in Uttar Pradesh. When congress government is formed, you will see for yourself that you have taken the right decision," says Priyanka Gandhi.
Along with the candidate, his brother and supporters have also been booked.
The PM said that BJP workers distributed ration, masks and medicines from house to house.
Uttar Pradesh was not number one in any of these under Akhilesh babu's government, he added.
For the majority of the visitors, especially the ones from outside Uttar Pradesh who throng the sprawling Gorakhnath Temple complex in the heart of Gorakhpur, the hometown of the northern state’s Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the place may appearto be like any other famous temple with the devotees bowing their heads before Baba Gorakhnath, the founder of the `Nath’ sect of Hinduism, and taking rounds of the ‘Divya Jyoti’ (eternal flame).
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He said he was "influenced by PM Narendra Modi's developmental works at ground level"
The Union Home Minister said that Rs 37,000 crore has been transferred to the bank accounts of farmers so far. "Farmers will not have to pay electricity bill for the next five years, if BJP comes to power in UP," he added.
"This medical college could have been constructed before, but these 'Pariwardis' never prioritized you," said PM, while speaking at Deoria
"This election is between 'Rashtravadis and Parivarwadis'. Remember how you had to take your vehicles to Gorakhpur in medical emergencies because the then government didn't pay any heed to people's medical needs here. Many innocent kids died due to brain fever," PM Modi said in Deoria, UP.
Union Minister for Heavy Industries, Mahendra Nath Pandey has launched a scathing attack on Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav and his father Mulayam Singh Yadav, saying that the previous SP governments gave open support to terrorists.
"After becoming MP from Azamgarh, Akhilesh Yadav has visited his constituency only twice. He has not even spent money from his MPLAD fund. He considers Azamgarh like a princely state. Both Akhilesh Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav played partisan politics with the development of Purvanchal. The BJP has built the Purvanchal Expressway and has undertaken many development projects here. In 2017 Assembly elections, the BJP won only one seat in Azamgarh but this time it is going to win four to five seats here," he said.
"If you form our government, I would like to tell you that one free gas cylinder will be made available to you on Holi and Diwali,"Defence Minister andBJP leader Rajnath Singh in Bairiya, Ballia.
Incidents of violence continued in poll bound Manipur with a Janata Dal (United) candidate was shot at late on Saturday night by unknown armed persons, police said on Sunday.
Police said that Wahengbam Rojit Singh, the JD(U) candidate contesting from AKshetrigao Assembly constituency, was shot at by two bike borne armed miscreants when he along with his party men was returning home after his poll related activities.
Singh, with bullet wounds, immediately shifted to a private hospital. The security forces have launched a search operation in the Imphal East district to nab the unknown perpetrators.
The glorified 'parivarvadis' kept our army completely dependent on foreign countries for decades andruined India's defence industry. Now a very big defence corridor is being built in Uttar Pradesh itself:PM Modi in Basti
Kabir ji had said long ago for the glorified 'parivarvadis',"Don't persecute the weak." The curse of the poor shook them in 2014, slammed them in 2017 andcleaned them up in 2019. Now in 2022, they have to save their own seats: PM Modi in Basti
India will be strong only when the states of the country are strong, when Uttar Pradesh is strong. But the 'parivarvadis' have only one formula — money should be in the family'ssafe, the law should be in their pockets and the public should at their feet:PM Modi in Basti
'Parivarvadi' people are against the BJP's people-driven policies, which is why you have to keep them out of power. Vote BJP, Nishad Party and Apna Dal: PM Modi in Basti
"Itar Wale Mitraaccumulated the money in their lockers, focused on 'Sabka Saath Par Sir Saifai Ka Vikas'. If the SP government had been in power during Covid-19, vaccines would have been sold in markets.No poor would have received it. BJP ensured no one was deprived of it,"UP CM Yogi Adityanath said during a rally in Gorakhpur.
The convoy of Samajwadi Party candidate Gulshan Yadav was attacked by some miscreants near Paharpur in Pratapgarh on Monday.
Yadav escaped unhurt but his car was damaged in the attack. He later blamed Raghuraj Pratap Singh a.k.a. Raja Bhaiyya for the attack.Raja Bhaiyya however denied having anything to do with the alleged attack.
"Why would I do something like this and spoil the elections? This has been done to get sympathy," he said. Gulshan Yadav has been mounting a vociferous attack on Raja Bhaiyya who has been winning the Kunda assembly seat since 1993.
Derided by the BJP as a mascot of the criminal-and-mafia raj during Akhilesh Yadav's previous rule in Uttar Pradesh, jailed don-politician Mukhtar Ansari is out of the poll fray this time and his son is instead contesting as the opposition alliance candidate in his Mau seat.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other BJP leaders have been taking Mukhtar Ansari's name to attack the Samajwadi Party on the issue of law and order and how the Yogi Adityanath government ran bulldozers on his properties.
Mukhtar Ansari's 30-year-old son Abbas Ansari has been fielded in the election by the SP's ally Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) of Om Prakash Rajbhar as the coalition nominee in the seat, where voting will take place in the seventh and last phase on March 7.
UPDATE |8.02 per centvoterturnout recorded in Uttar Pradesh phase 5 polls till 9 am
Polling has begun for the fifth phase of elections in Uttar Pradesh with the stakes running higher for all major parties.
The fifth phase will cover 61 Assembly constituencies from 12 districts.
The districts going to the polls in this phase include Amethi, Raebareli, Sultanpur, Chitrakoot, Pratapgarh, Kaushambi, Prayagraj, Barabanki, Ayodhya, Bahraich, Shravasti, and Gonda.
In 2017, BJP had won 47 Assembly seats while its ally Apna Dal won three in this region. The Samajwadi Party (SP) got five, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) got three, Congress two and one independent candidate also won.
JUST IN | BJP leader and former CM Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank left for Delhi after the party's national president JP Nadda called him there.
"People of Rampur Khas will create history again. Main issues raised by Congress — of farmers, youth, women security andinflation —are the issues with which we went to public. People of UP will place their trust in Congress,"Aradhana Misra, Congress candidate from Rampur Khas, UP told ANI.
Uttar Pradesh Deputy CM KP Maurya said that the people of Sirathu will help the lotus bloom in the state and "make the son of Sirathu win with a big margin of votes".
"BJP government has been working for the welfare of the 24 crore people of Uttar Pradesh. That is why people have made up their mind," he told ANI.
"On March 10, with the blessings of people, Akhilesh Yadav's cycle, which is flying high in the sky of arrogance, will fall in the Bay of Bengal. His bicycle had flown to Saifai first and now it will go to the Bay of Bengal," he added.
Polling to decide the fate of 692 candidates in the fray for 61 assembly seats across 12 districts of Uttar Pradesh will take place in thefifthphaseof the state assembly elections on Sunday.
Campaigning for thefifthphaseended on Friday evening, and all necessary arrangements have been completed, state Chief Election Officer Ajay Kumar Shukla said here on Saturday.
Polling will start at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm, he said.