MC Election Update Today January 12: Congress may field CM Charanjit Channi from two segments in Punjab

Congress president Sonia Gandhi set up a 20-member manifesto committee for Punjab Assembly election. (Representative image)

Punjab Polls: Congress may field CM Charanjit Channi from two segments

With Congress’ central election committee is scheduled to meet on January 13, the party high command is mulling to field CM Charanjit Channi from two segments -- Doaba and Malwa.

Channi's home constituency is Chamkaur Sahib. The decision may hold significance as Channi became the first Dalit Sikh CM and Congress wants to cash in on the Dalit vote bank in Doaba and Malwa.

18 UP ministers will desert Yogi’s Cabinet by January 20: OBC leader Om Prakash Rajbhar

OBC leader Om Prakash Rajbhar on Wednesday claimed that one to two ministers would quit the Yogi Adityanath Cabinet daily and this figure would go up to 18 by January 20. Rajbhar made the claim while welcoming the resignation of Uttar Pradesh ministers Swami Prasad Maurya and Dara Singh Chauhan. "I had realised BJP's apathy towards Dalits, backwards and the deprived sections of the society in a short time after joining the government in 2017 but these people waited all these days and, left with no hope, are quitting it now," the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party chief said. Rajbhar has joined hands with the Samajwadi Party for the 2022 assembly elections. "One or two wickets of the BJP Cabinet will fall every day and this figure will reach one-and-a-half dozen by January 20," he said at a programme on a TV channel after the resignation of Forest and Environment Minister Dara Singh Chauhan on Wednesday and that of Maurya a day ago. In the last state assembly polls, Rajbhar was an alliance partner of the BJP and his party had won four seats then. Rajbhar himself was elected from Zahoorabad in Ghazipur district and was made a minister in the Yogi Adityanath government.

BJP MLA Avtar Singh Bhadana joins Rashtriya Lok Dal

BJP legislator Avtar Singh Bhadana on Wednesday joined the Jayant Chaudhary-led Rashtriya Lok Dal ahead of assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh. Bhadana represented Muzaffarnagar district's Meerapur Assembly segment in the Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha. As a Congress leader, he has been a Lok Sabha MP from Faridabad in Haryana four times. He has been a minister in Haryana in 1988. RLD sources told PTI that Bhadana is likely to be fielded from the Jewar Assembly constituency in Gautam Buddh Nagar district. The Rashtriya Lok Dal is among the parties that have tied up with the Samajwadi Party to fight the upcoming Assembly elections. Jayant Chaudhary on Wednesday took to Twitter to announce the 64-year-old Bhadana's entry into his party and shared their pictures together. The Twitter post was retweeted by Bhadana. The meeting took place in New Delhi, sources said.

Arrest warrant issued against ex-UP Minister Swami Prasad Maurya

A local court on Wednesday issued an arrest warrant against BJP MLA Swami Prasad Maurya, who recently resigned as cabinet minister, in a seven year old case. The case was lodged against Maurya in 2014 for allegedly making objectionable comments against Hindu gods. The MP-MLA court Judge Yogesh Kumar Yadav issued the warrant against him after he did not attend the court hearing on Wednesday. In 2016, an arrest warrant was issued against him in the same case which was stayed by the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court. Issuing the warrant, the Judge fixed January 24 as the next date of hearing.  The court had on January 6 directed Maurya to appear before it on January 12 but he did not appear, lawyer Anil Tiwari said. Maurya, an influential OBC leader, had resigned from the Yogi Adityanath cabinet on Tuesday.

Dara Singh Chauhan joins SP; Akhilesh Yadav welcomes the ex-BJP Minister

Soon after submitting the resignation, Dara Singh Chauhan joined the Samajwadi party. Confirming the same SP Supremo Akhilesh Yadav tweeted, "Hearty welcome and greetings to Shri Dara Singh Chouhan ji, the relentless fighter of the struggle for 'social justice'! The SP and its allies will unite and take the movement of equality and equality to the extreme… Eliminate discrimination! This is our collective resolve! Respect everyone~ space for everyone!"

Another minister in UP cabinet Dara Singh Chauhan resigns, second to quit in two days 

Ahead of the upcoming state Assembly elections, Cabinet minister Dara Singh Chauhan on January 12 resigned from his post. Chauhan is the second minister to exit the state government after senior minister Swami Prasad Maurya quit the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and left his post on Tuesday. "BJP formed govt with the support of Dalits, backward communities...but didn't serve them well, which is why I resigned... Next step would be to hold discussions with my society people and then take a call for future course of action," said BJP leader Dara Singh Chauhan on resignation

‘I was suffocated within the party’, says Shahjahanpur BJP MLA Roshan Lal Varma who quit

MLA Roshan Lal Varma, who quit BJP alongwith his supporters, on Wednesday said he had been feeling suffocated for the past five years as his work was being obstructed. He said hurdles were being created in all the works he was doing for the welfare of the poor and the backwards. Elected from Tilhar assembly seat in the district, Verma who had left BJP on Tuesday said that he will join Samajwadi Party. There was dictatorship in the BJP as there is no one from the district up to the state level who would listen to what we had to say.  On the contrary Samajwadi Party is a party of poor workers, minorities and backwards, Varma told PTI. Varma said he will contest the coming election from Tilhar seat and the SP will form the next government.

Congress leader Imran Masood and Masood Akhtar decide to join Samajwadi Party

Congress leaders Imran Masood and Masood Akhtar have decided to join the Samajwadi Party (SP) a month ahead of the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

AAP to announce CM candidate for Punjab polls next week: Kejriwal

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will announce the name of its chief ministerial candidate for Punjab Assembly elections next week, said Delhi Chief Minister and party convenor Arvind Kejriwal.

People of Punjab will choose their CM, not the Congress high command: Sidhu

People elect MLAs and in Punjab they will choose their chief minister as well, not the Congress high command, the party's state unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu has asserted. Sidhu has made the sharp retort amid speculation that the former cricketer is himself eyeing the top post if the Congress wins next month's assembly polls.

Ex-BJP minister Michael Lobo joins Congress ahead of Goa polls

Lobo has joined Congress a day after resigning from the Goa cabinet and quitting the saffron party. Lobo, along with wife Delilah, who is seeking a ticket from the Siolim constituency in the next month's assembly elections, joined Congress in the presence of the party's Goa in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao and leader of opposition Digambar Kamat.

Sonia Gandhi forms campaign, manifesto panels for Punjab polls

The Congress has formed a manifesto committee headed by MP Partap Singh Bajwa and a Sunil Jakhar-led campaign panel for the February 14 Punjab assembly polls. Congress president Sonia Gandhi set up a 20-member manifesto committee with Bajwa as the chairman, Manpreet Badal as co-chairman and MP Amar Singh as convenor. Punjab deputy chief minister OP Soni, Rana Gurjeet, Jaiveer Shergill, JS Dhaliwal, Anil Vij, KK Agarwal, Manju Bansal, Vijay Kalra and Surjit Swaich are among those included on the manifesto panel.

Amit Shah, Yogi Adityanath in BJP meeting over Uttar Pradesh polls

Home minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath attended a key BJP meeting in Delhi yesterday as the party shortlists its probable candidates for the initial phases of the state assembly polls before its Central Election Committee meets to finalise the names. Deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya and Uttar Pradesh BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh also attended the meeting besides several other leaders with national president JP Nadda, who has contracted coronavirus, attending it virtually.

BSP chief Mayawati will not contest UP polls: Party leader

Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati will not contest upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, party general secretary SC Misra has said. He has also said that he will also not contest the state elections, which will be held in seven phases starting February 10.

Over 33,000 litres of liquor seized after poll code imposed: UP chief electoral officer

Authorities in Uttar Pradesh have seized over 33,000 litres of liquor worth over Rs 82 lakh after the imposition of the model code of conduct for the upcoming assembly polls, chief electoral officer Ajay Kumar Shukla has said. The model code is a set of guidelines, issued by the Election Commission, for political parties, candidates, government and the party in power during elections concerning speeches, announcements, election manifestos and general conduct.

TMC launches housing rights campaign ahead of Goa polls

The Trinamool Congress has launched its 'Mhaje Ghar, Maalki Hakk' campaign in poll-bound Goa, aimed at giving housing rights to people living in the coastal state before 1976. Mohua Moitra and other leaders of the Mamata Banerjee-led party launched the scheme, whose title means 'my home, my right' in Panaji.