Assembly Elections 2022 Highlights | Goa reports 79% voting in Assembly polls

AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Monday appealed to the people of Punjab to vote his party to power in the February 20 state assembly polls.

He was campaigning in favour of an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate in Phagwara. Addressing a gathering, Kejriwal appealed to the people to form an "honest" AAP government for the bright future of the state.

Campaigning for AAP candidate Joginder Singh Mann, the party's national convenor said that every vote cast for Maan would go to the chief ministerial candidate Bhagwant Mann. While campaigning in assembly constituencies of Sham Chaurasi and Hoshiarpur, the Delhi chief minister cited poll surveys and said that his party will win 65 seats in the state.

Assembly Elections 2022 LIVE Updates | According to the poll panel, special 'divyang dolis' were deployed in Uttarakhand with the help of volunteers from the National Cadet Corps (NCC) for assisting people with disabilities (PwD) and senior citizens to polling stations. In the three states, over 2.19 lakh PwD voters and 4.67 lakh people above 80 years of age were registered to vote across 165 assembly constituencies.

The BJP on Monday urged the Election Commission to ban Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu from campaigning in the ongoing assembly polls and register a criminal case against him and his party, alleging that he was promoting hatred and division in the society with his comments. A BJP delegation, including Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, met the EC with a memorandum and claimed that Sidhu had insulted Brahmins with a "derogatory" reference with an aim to divide Punjabis.

People in Uttarakhand have created history by voting in huge numbers. I hope that the new government will work for a golden future of Uttarakhand: Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami in Khatima

Goa on Monday registered a very high voter turnout of 78.94 percent in polling for the 40 Assembly seats which passed off peacefully with no untoward incident reported from any part of the state which witnessed a multi-cornered contest, officials said. The electoral fate of 301 candidates was locked in EVMs which will be opened on March 10 for counting.

Addressing a press conference here, Chief Electoral Officer Kunal said the highest voting was registered in the Sankhalim constituency in North Goa at 89.61 percent, while the lowest voter turnout was 70.20 percent at Benaulim in South Goa. He said the overall voting percentage was 78.94 percent.

“Start-up culture has started in Manipur. We do politics for nation-building,” Defence Minister and BJP leader Rajnath Singh said in Imphal.

“Congress neglected the northeast region. No incident of 'Bandh' took place in the last three years. No innocent persons were killed in encounters: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in Imphal ahead of the Manipur Assembly elections

Congress president Sonia Gandhi does not figure among the party's star campaigners for the sixth phase of assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh on March 3. Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and chief ministers of Congress-ruled states of Rajasthan, Punjab, and Chhattisgarh are among those named by the party as its star campaigners in Uttar Pradesh.

Sonia Gandhi has not so far campaigned in this election season even though she figures among the star campaigners of the party in some states. She was not among the star campaigners for the assembly phase that includes constituencies falling under her Lok Sabha seat of Rae Bareli.

The Samajwadi Party on Monday alleged that tablets were distributed to students at a college here in violation of the model code of conduct for elections. Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Gajendra Kumar, however, said the tablets were distributed after permission from the Election Commission (EC).

The tablet distribution took place in the PSM College this morning in which over 100 students were given tablets, the party claimed. When the SP leaders came to know about it, they reached the college and protested.

Goa recorded 75.29% voter turnout and Uttarakhand 59.37% till 5 pm, shows Election Commission data. Uttar Pradesh witnessed 60.44% voting in the second phase of Assembly elections

Goa recorded a 60.18 percent voter turnout till 3 pm on Monday as polling is underway for the 40 Assembly seats in the coastal state where a multi-party contest is playing out while the ruling BJP is seeking a third straight term.

As per the Election Commission of India's data, 60.18 percent of voters cast their vote by 3 PM with the Sankhalim Assembly constituency in North Goa recording the maximum 70 percent turnout. Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant is seeking another term as MLA from the Sankhalim segment.

An average voter turnout of 51.93 percent was recorded till 3 PM on Monday in Uttar Pradesh as polling for the second phase of the assembly election picked up pace after a slow start. Additional Chief Election Officer Brahma Dev Ram Tiwari said polling in the state has been peaceful so far. Voting kicked off in 55 assembly seats spread across nine districts at 7 AM. The first two hours saw few voters at polling booths owing to fog and cold conditions. But as the day progressed, more and more voters stepped out of their homes to exercise their franchise.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday cautioned people against going for any "experiment" in the Punjab assembly polls, saying that maintaining peace was most important for the state and only his party was capable of it. Addressing a poll rally here, Gandhi asserted that his party understands Punjab very well and can take the state forward. The Congress leader also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over unemployment, saying he does not talk about it and black money in his election speeches.