Elections 2021 Highlights: Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and the Union Territory of Puducherry will be heading for assembly elections over the next few weeks. Polling will happen in a single phase in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry on April 6. While voters in Assam will cast their ballots in three phases, polling in Bengal will happen across eight phases. Counting of votes in all states will happen on May 2. With days to go before the first votes are cast, the election campaign and canvassing is now gathering steam. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is hoping to retain power in Assam even as it faces ‘Mahajot’, the joint opposition alliance comprising the Congress, AIUDF and other regional parties. In Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress is fighting to keep BJP’s surge at bay. The saffron party has shown a dramatic electoral rise in the state over the last few years. Congress and the Left Front, which are allies in West Bengal, are competing for power in Kerala. The Congress-led UDF and the ruling LDF have been winning alternate elections since the early 1980s. Tamil Nadu’s ruling AIADMK has continued its alliance with the BJP amid a challenge from MK Stalin-led DMK and its alliance partners. However, one of the key things to watch out for in the southern state is how some of the smaller parties – including that of actor Kamal Haasan and TTV Dhinakaran’s AMMK – may impact the poll outcome. With their government having collapsed due to defections weeks before the election, V Narayanasamy-led Congress is battling the BJP-NR Congress alliance in Puducherry.
Assembly Elections 2021 LIVE Updates | Govt to implement all clauses of Bodo accord in 30 months: Amit Shah in Assam
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said all clauses of the Bodo Accord signed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi''s Government last year will be implemented within two-and-a-half years. Addressing an election rally at Udalguri under the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR), Shah said that after the signing of the Accord, it was decided that all insurgents will lay down arms and the centre will ensure all-round development of the region.
"Each promise made by the central and state government in the Bodo Accord will be fulfilled and all clauses implemented within two-and-a-half years. We want peace and development in Bodo areas", he said. Bodo youths instead of "picking up guns must use the computer to compete globally and instead of using hand grenades, should contribute to developing the nation,"Shah said.
PTI
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EC reviews poll preparedness in Assam
"Election Commission of India (ECI) today reviewed poll preparedness for General Elections to Assam Legislative Assembly 2021. Meeting was chaired by Chief Election Commissioner, Sunil Arora,in presence of Election Commissioners Sushil Chandra andRajiv Kumar at Tezpur andGuwahati," the polling body said.
"Chief Election Commissioner Sh Sunil Arora directed all the officials to ensure that elections in the State of Assam are conducted in a peaceful, free and fair and safe manner with high voter turnout," ECI further added.
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Election Commission's flying squad on March 22 searched Makkal Needhi Maiam chief Kamal Haasan's vehicle in Tamil Nadu's Tanjavur district. Haasan was on his way to Trichy for a public meeting.
Assembly Elections 2021 LIVE Updates | Indian economy was weak after demonetisation and GST, it collapsed after COVID: Rahul Gandhi in Kerala
"Due to demonetisation andGST, the Indian economy was damaged. It was already weak andafter COVID it collapsed. Government now doesn't have money so they are forcibly taking money from your pocket to run the government,"Congress Rahul Gandhi said, during an interaction with students in Kochi.
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Gramer Suresh, AIADMK Madurai leader andstate youth coordinator of MGR Organization was expelled from party today for 'anti-party activities', news agency ANI reported.Suresh filed his nomination as an independent candidate as he was not given AIADMK ticket to contest in the upcoming Tamil Nadu assembly polls.
Assembly Elections 2021 LIVE Updates | Congress' Kerala unit vice president K C Rosakutty resigns from party ahead of polls
In yet another blow to the Congress in poll-bound Kerala, AICC member and KPCC Vice- President K C Rosakutty on Monday resigned from the party''s primary membershipand decided to associate with the ruling CPI(M)-led LDF."I have taken this decision after long deliberations. I am fed up with the factional wars in the party and hence decided to resign," Rosakutty said, ending her over 37-year association with the grand old party.
Pointing that the party of late has been sidelining women and it cannot be accepted, she said,adding Bindu Krishna, had to break into tears before the media before she was named the party candidate from Kollam, for the April6 Assembly polls in the state.She also said what happened to Lathika Subhash, who a few days ago had resigned from the party and tonsured her head in protest after being denied a ticket to contest from Ettumanoor in Kottayam district, had pained her. (PTI)
Assembly Elections 2021 LIVE Updates | BJP releases manifesto for Tamil Nadu polls
The Bharatiya Janata Party released the manifesto for the upcoming Tamil Nadu assembly elections 2021. The document was released by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. Here are the key highlights:
- Greater Chennai will be divided into threeCorporations like Delhi.
- Legislative Council will be brought back.
- Indian Citizenship for Sri Lankan Tamils living in the Refugee Camps of India.
Assembly Elections 2021 LIVE Updates | Brother of Trinamool leader sent to ED custody till April 4
A Special Court in Delhi has sent Vikas Mishra, brother of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Vinay Mishra, to judicial custody till April 4, news agencyANIreported.He was recently arrested by the Enforcement Directorate, in connection with the coal mining case.
Assembly Elections 2021 LIVE Updates | For Rahul Gandhi, visiting Assam is 'picnic', says Amit Shah
"Recently, Rahul baba visited Assam. For him, visiting Assam is nothing more than a picnic. When he talks about labourers, I feel like laughing, as Congress didn't do anything for tea garden workers during the time they were in power," Union Home Minister Amit Shah said inUdalguri, Assam.
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"There's BJPandAGP on one side, Congress andBadruddin Ajmal's party on the other. All Congress does is 'latkana', 'atkana' and'bhatkana' while we protect, fight for your rights and help you prosper. You must decide what you want,"BJP chief JP Naddasaid while campaigning in Assam's Behali.
Assembly Elections 2021 LIVE Updates | Identity politics, corruption and nepotism: Key issues in West Bengal polls
The heat in poll-bound Bengal is unprecedented at the moment and can be compared to what we saw during the 2011 assembly election when Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress came to power ending a 34-year Left Front rule.
While West Bengal has always been a state where 'class not caste' and 'development not appeasement' has been the poll plank, the shift in the narrative of the two dominant parties in fray is hard to miss.
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BJP National President JP Nadda in Assam: Gopinath Bordoloi had to wait for Atal ji's government to receive the Bharat Ratna in 1999. In 2019, Bhupen Hazarika received same honour under the Modi government. By doing so, Atal ji and Modi ji paid respect to Assam's culture. Congress didn't pay any heed to them.
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BJP making false poll promise of free ration, will not fulfil it: Mamata BanerjeeWest Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today accused the BJP of making a false promise to supply free ration ahead of the assembly polls in the state and said the saffron party will "never fulfil this".
Addressing a rally in Bankura district, Banerjee described the BJP as a "party of outsiders", and alleged that it is bringing "goondas to create terror" in the state.
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Election Commission: It was brought to our notice that in some places bikes are used by anti-social elements to intimidate voters before polls and/or on polling day. We have decided that bike rallies shall not be allowed at any place 72 hours before the date of polls or on poll day in poll-bound constituencies.
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BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah: We worked for development whereas Congress is forging an alliance with Badruddin Ajmal (AIUDF chief). If they come to power, infiltration in the state will surge. Do you want to stop infiltration? Congress party should be ashamed for coming together with Ajmal. (Input from ANI)Assembly Elections 2021 LIVE Updates |
“We always play by the rulebook. Others don't, they lecture us about many things,” Trinamool Congress MP Mimi Chakraborty told Moneycontrol in an interview.
Chakraborty is confident the TMC will return for a third term with a 200 plus seats in the assembly elections.
Read: The Mimi Chakraborty Interview | ‘There is a job crisis all over India. So why malign only Bengal?’
Assembly Elections 2021 LIVE Updates | BJP National President JP Nadda:
Congress has hurt Assam's culture. It never gave importance to security, which is why problems of Assam kept increasing. Congress hindered Assam's development. During Bodoland protests, many were killed and kidnapped. Infiltration had increased at the border at that time.
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DMK's Udhayanidhi Stalin to ANI: “I don't want to comment on Kamal Haasan (Haasan had said that both AIADMK and DMK are not support-worthy). We don't take him seriously. DMK will win over 200 seats in the upcoming polls. We'll definitely talk about [former CM] J Jayalalithaa's death (in the poll campaign).”AIADMK has approached the Election Commission seeking them to direct the DMK to avoid any reference to Jayalalithaa's death in the poll campaign.
Assembly Elections 2021 LIVE Updates | Tamil Nadu: MK Stalin-led DMK's triumph or third consecutive term for AIADMK?
A total of 6.28 crore voters are eligible to cast their ballots across 234 assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu. A party, or an alliance, needs to win 118 seats to secure a majority in the House.
In the first state polls since J Jayalalithaa and M Karunanidhi’s demise, MK Stalin’s DMK is taking on the AIADMK led by CM Edappadi K Palaniswami and Deputy CM O Panneerselvam. Who will win?
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Kerala: Congress-led UDF promises ‘Ministry of Happiness’ in manifesto
The Congress-led United Democratic Alliance (UDF) has promised to set up a “Ministry of Happiness” in Kerala if it is voted to power in the state.
Congress Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor told news agency ANI: “It is an integrated manifesto. We are open to businesses, there will be Investor Protection Act. Strikes and forced closures will be banned. There will be Ministry of Happiness as well.”
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West Bengal minister and Trinamool Congress leader Firhad Hakim has resigned as the chairman of Kolkata Municipal Corporation following Election Commission's advice, as he is contesting in the assembly polls. (Input from
ANI)Assembly Elections 2021 LIVE Updates |
BJP’s Assam unit chief Ranjeet Kumar Dass to news agency ANI: This (Citizenship Amendment Act) has been passed (by Parliament). There is no question of stepping back. This is an ideological commitment of the BJP. CAA is not going to cause any harm. We will definitely implement it, rules will be formed.Assembly Elections 2021 LIVE Updates |
Senthil Balaji, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) candidate from Karur, has been reportedly booked under six sections of the Indian Penal Code for his alleged remarks against government officials.
"Tell me if any official stops you from mining sand in bullock cart, he won't be there again," Senthil Balaji had reportedly said during the poll campaign.
Assembly Elections 2021 LIVE Updates | Kerala CM and LDF leader Pinarayi Vijayan:
Some prominent Congress leaders are trying to reach the Kerala (Legislative) Assembly with the help of the BJP. They are into vote trading. In the coming days, more details will come out. (Input from news agency
ANI)Assembly Elections 2021 LIVE Updates | How things are stacked in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry
Tamil Nadu’s ruling AIADMK has continued its alliance with the BJP amid a challenge from the MK Stalin-led DMK and its alliance partners in the state. However, one of the key things to watch out for in the southern state is how some of the smaller parties – including that of actor Kamal Haasan and TTV Dhinakaran’s AMMK – perform. With their government having collapsed due to defections weeks before the election, V Narayanasamy-led Congress is battling the BJP-NR Congress alliance in Puducherry.
Assembly Elections 2021 LIVE Updates | How things are stacked in Bengal, Kerala
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress is fighting to keep BJP’s surge at bay in Bengal. The saffron party has shown a dramatic electoral rise in the state over the last few years. Congress and the Left Front, which are allies in West Bengal, are competing for power in Kerala. The Congress-led UDF and the ruling LDF have been clinching power in Thiruvananthapuram every alternate term since the early 1980s.
Assembly Elections 2021 LIVE Updates | How things are stacked in Assam
With days to go before the first votes are cast, the election campaign and canvassing is now gathering steam. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is hoping to retain power in Assam even as it faces a joint opposition alliance called ‘Mahajot’ comprising the Congress, AIUDF and other regional parties.
Hello and welcome to Moneycontrol’s LIVE coverage of the 2021 Legislative Assembly election. Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and the Union Territory of Puducherry will be heading for polling to elect their new assemblies.
Polling will happen in a single phase in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry on April 6. Voting in Assam will happen across three phases and over eight phases in Bengal. Counting of votes in all states will happen on May 2.
Stay tuned to this LIVE blog for the latest updates.
