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Assembly Elections 2022 Highlights - February 20 | The third phase of polling for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections spread across 16 districts started at 7 am and continued till 6 pm. For Punjab Assembly election, polling started at 8 am and continued till 6 pm. Campaigning for the third phase of the state ended on February 18, with senior leaders of the parties making a final effort to woo voters. As many as 627 candidates were in the fray in this phase, in which over 2.15 crore people were eligible to vote. In Uttar Pradesh, elections are being held in seven phases, the third of which are being held today. The fates of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, contesting from Karhal and his challenger & BJP candidate Union minister SP Singh Baghel were sealed today. The multi-cornered Punjab Assembly polls was also held on February 20 with over 2.14 crore voters being eligible decide the fate of 1,304 candidates, including 93 women, on 117 seats. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. Punjab is currently ruled by the Congress and the BJP is in power in Uttar Pradesh.
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Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, while speaking to reporters earlier today, expressed confidence of wresting the seats that went to polls today in central UP, also referred to as the Yadav bastion. In 2017, the BJP had made massive inroads in the region.
In Punjab, Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi claimed that the Congresswas confident of winning the state elections with a two-third majority.
"If instead of Congress, AAP comes to power (in Punjab), there will be no change, as they have political leaders who get rejected from all sides. They're neither revolutionary nor is he (Arvind Kejriwal) a Bhagat Singh disciple,"Punjab CM andCongress leader Charanjit Singh Channi said.
"Congress party's19,000 workers went to jail in last one-and-a-halfyears, for you (public). Congress will waive off farmers' loans as inChhattisgarh., bringelectricity bills to half andempower women.We gave tickets to 40 percentwomen, and it doesn't matter if they win orlose. At least they're fighting,"PriyankaGandhiVadrasaid in Raebareli.
A provisional voter turnout of 60.4 percent was recorded in Uttar Pradesh, the Election Commission said. The final numbers may slightly vary.
Citing the decline in COVID-19 cases, the Election Commission Sunday restored the number of star campaigners a party can field for campaigning in the ongoing polls in five states.Now,recognisednational and state parties can field a maximum of 40 star campaigners. Other parties which are registered but notrecognisedcan now have 20 star campaigners.
The Commission had in October 2020 reduced the number of star campaigners forrecognisednational and state parties from 40 to 30, as large gatherings were witnessed during campaigning in Bihar assembly elections andbypollsin several states amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Forunrecognisedregistered political parties, the maximum number of star campaigners was brought down to 15 from 20. … the numbers of both active and new COVID-19 cases are receding and the restrictions put in place both by the central government and state governments to check the spread of pandemic are being lifted gradually…The Election Commission after due deliberation has decided to restore the maximum limit on the number of star campaigners…," it said in a letter to political parties.Read full report.
Attacking Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that the CM-candidate is "insecure" about his seat and had to plead to his father, whom he had "humiliated" to capture the party, to save him from defeat in the constituency. "You can gauge the direction of wind... The seat, which these people were considering as the safest, is also getting out of their reach," Modi said in an apparent reference to the Karhal seat from where Yadav is contesting in the family-stronghold of Mainpuri.
Ahead of polling in the third phase, SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav had campaigned for his son Akhilesh Yadav on the seat though he has maintained a low profile during this election. The Karhal seat with a majority of Muslim and Yadav voters is considered safe for the Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav as the communities have over the years favoured the SP in the caste-dominated politics of Uttar Pradesh. (PTI)
In Uttar Pradesh, where the third phase of assembly elections is underway in 59 constituencies, a voter turnout of 57.44 percent was recorded till 5 pm, as per the data shared by the EC. The final numbers are expected to rise as the voting will continue till 6 pm.
Avoter turnout of 63.44 percent was recorded in Punjab till 5 pm, as per the data shared by the Election Commission. The final numbers are expected to go up as the polling will conclude at 6 pm. The state had, in the 2017 assembly polls, recorded an overall turnout of 77.2 percent.
"The court has sentenced Ahmedabad blast terrorists. I am raising the matter in front of the country. There are some political parties that support such terrorists. These people also put the country at stake for their selfishness for the chair,"Prime MinisterNarendraModisaid, while addressing a rally in Uttar Pradesh'sHardoi.
