Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], March 10 (ANI): The Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is leading from the Karhal Assembly seat in the Azamgarh district followed by Bharatiya Janata Party and Bahujan Samaj Party on second and third place respectively, according to the early trends of the counting of votes for Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections on Thursday.

Lucknow Feb 22 PTI The Sarojininagar assembly constituency in Lucknow is set for a close contest between the BJP and the Samajwadi Party which has emerged as a strong challenger to the ruling party amid an apparent anti-incumbency waveThe Sarojininagar assembly constituency located in south Lucknow has a mix of urban and rural voters and over 50 village panchayats fall under itWhile the urban voters usually align with the BJP the rural voters are reluctant in showing their support to any specific partyOur village is located hardly a kilometre away from housing society developed by the Lucknow Development Authority LDA yet the approach road to our village is in shambles We have written to the BJP MLA on several occasion but nothing was done The BJP MLA didnt even come to meet us after winning The villagers will keep this in mind when they vote this time said Deepak Verma a resident of Barauna village in the constituencyBeside the rural voters have also expressed anger with the ruling party over the issue of stray cattle and rising inflationA local vegetable farmer of the area Ramesh Pal complained I like Narendra Modi and Yogi Adityanath but they have done nothing to resolve the issue of stray cattle which destroy our cropsWe have to guard our fields all night from stray cattle The prices of every day items have also gone up in the last couple of years making it difficult to accommodate the expenses of the family in limited earnings he saidSensing the anti-incumbency wave the BJP denied ticket to sitting MLA Swati Singh and announced the name of former Enforcement Directorate director Rajeshwar Singh from the seatSingh in his election campaign has promised development the infrastructure in the constituency The challenger Samajwadi Party has pitted former minster Abhishek Mishra who is known to be the trusted lieutenant of party president Akhilesh YadavMishra a former minister in his campaign has alleged that the BJP has failed to take up development in the regionThe BSP has announced the name of Jalees Khan while the Congress is betting on Rudra Daman Singh to win this seatSarojininagar has over 55 Lakh voters of which almost half are rural voters The seat includes substantial Muslim Dalit Chhatriya Brahmin and other backward castes votesAround 15 lakh voters are young who will play a pivotal role in deciding the winner on the seatHistorically Sarojininagar has never been the home turf of BJP despite falling under urban areaThe party won the seat for the first time in 2017 under a strong Modi wave in the stateBefore that Sarojininagar seat has been held thrice by Samajwadi Party 1993 1996 2012 and twice by Bahujan Samaj Party 2002 2007 while the Congress candidate managed to win once in 1991In 2017 BJP candidate Swati Singh secured over one lakh votes The SP candidate stood second with just over 74000 votes followed closely by the BSP candidate who secured 71000 votesAccording to locals Congress candidate Rudra Daman Singh can be the game changer from SarojininagarSingh got 21000 votes when he fought independently in the 2017 election and 41000 votes in 2012 election He also holds influence on the rural votes of the constituencyA sway of rural voters towards Congress can make the election difficult for BJP and favour Samajwadi Party candidate PTI CDN ABN TDS TDS

Noida Feb 18 PTI Had it not been for the farmers stir ahead of elections in multiple states the Centre would not have taken back the contentious farm laws Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said on Friday as she accused the BJP of working only for its corporate friendsAddressing partys virtual rally for Uttar Pradesh the Congress general secretary hit out at the BJP as well as Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party for indulging in politics of caste and communalism instead of development issuesShe said farmers are faced with multiple issues like high power bills shortage of fertilizers inadequate price of crops or stray animals ruining farms but the BJP-led government failed to address thoseShe said Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently claimed that thousands of people in Uttar Pradesh have become lakhpati but when she travelled around villages and districts she found more people have got pushed into povertyThe BJPs politics is only for its big corporate friends Their policies politics and media are all working for their friends Vadra alleged during the Congress Pratigya Virtual MaharallyYou must have seen how they tried to bring those farm laws Had the farmers not protested for one year and if elections were not scheduled at the end of that protest I can say this with surety that there would have been no change she saidModi ji would not have come in front of you all with fake teas and apologized for those laws had it not been for the elections she allegedFarmers from Uttar Pradesh Punjab Haryana etc protested for over a year but there was no one listened to them while the farmers kept saying the laws were not in their favour she saidBut the BJP government maintained the laws were pro-farmer In reality the laws were a conspiracy to hand over the benefits of farmers hardwork to the corporate You all protested and that is why the conspiracy stopped the Congress leader claimedThe farmers protest took place from November 2020 till December 2021 over withdrawal of three contentious farm laws and demand for legal guarantee for minimum support price MSP of cropsModi had in November announced rolling back the three farm lawsVadra meanwhile also slammed the BJP-led Centre for selling PSUs which she said were the largest creator of jobs in the country and more than the jobs generated by a few corporateDuring the virtual rally attended by Congress workers from across the state Vadra lashed out at the BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government over issues of women safety and unemployment in the stateWhether BJP SP or BSP they all are playing the same game When they come for your votes they talk about sectarian and religious issues They do not talk about generating job opportunities women safety women empowerment safety of Dalits or checking inflation she saidThe elections to the 403 assembly seats are being held in seven phases this time The polls for the first two phases were held on February 10 and 14Results will be announced on March 7 PTI KIS ZMN

New Delhi Jan 25 PTI Alleging that polarisation suits both the BJP and the SP to consolidate their vote bases in Uttar Pradesh Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday said the ruling party may end up being the largest beneficiary of this divisive rhetoric and therefore people need to be given a choice of another kind of politics that doesnt divide society on religious or caste linesCiting that farm laws and the Lakhimpur Kheri incident caused immense pain to farmers she also said the governments indifference and hostile approach towards the farmers will play an important part in determining the outcome of the assembly polls in Uttar Pradeshs western beltIn an exclusive interview to PTI Priyanka Gandhi said her party will take a call on whether to forge a post-poll alliance once the election results are out and if and when such a situation should ariseWith her party going to the polls with a focus on women and announcing that it will give 40 per cent of tickets to them she said women are 50 per cent of the population and if they consolidate into a political and electoral force by recognising their own value and strength in political terms they can change the politics of our nationAsked about the key issues in Uttar Pradesh polls and whether the farm bills and the Lakhimpur Kheri incident will have an impact she said different political parties are highlighting different issues some of these are divisive and intended to polarise the debate along religious or caste linesIt is a reality of politics in UP that elections are fought and often won in this manner but I firmly believe that this has to change Elections must be fought on issues of development -- employment job creation health services education -- these should be central to our discussion and debate she assertedThe Congress in Uttar Pradesh is working on a positive and progressive agenda Priyanka Gandhi said adding that we have refused to engage in a negative discourseAs far as the farm bills and the Lakhimpur Kheri incident are concerned they have been a source of immense pain to farmers across the state but especially in western Uttar Pradesh she saidI do believe that the governments indifference its hostile and autocratic approach towards the farmers who were protesting and those who lost their lives will play an important part in determining the outcome of the elections in the western belt Priyanka Gandhi saidThe Centre repealed the three farm laws last year after a nearly year-long protest by farmers including from western UP who had camped at the borders of Delhi demanding their repeal Also eight persons including four farmers were killed during a farmers protest on October 3 in Lakhimpur KheriOn divisive rhetoric and how her party plans to counter polarisation Priyanka Gandhi said she feels that at some level whether it is the polarising force of the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP or the Samajwadi Party SP it serves the same purpose -- it suits both these parties as it consolidates their vote basesUltimately I feel the largest beneficiary of this polarisation may end up being the BJP In order to stop the BJP actually you need a party that changes the discourse rather than positing another pole for polarising it further she said in an apparent swipe at the SPThe answer to this kind of politics lies in refocusing the agenda on development she addedHer remarks come days after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath stated that the assembly polls in the state will be about 80 per cent vs 20 per cent evoking a sharp response from the Opposition that accused him of attempting to polarise the electorate Muslims constitute around 20 per cent of the states populationBJP leaders have been accused of raising issues such as the Ram Temple and Kashi Vishwanath temple to polarise voters The saffron party in turn has hit out at the Akhilesh Yadav-led party SP of invoking Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Pakistan to vitiate the discoursePriyanka Gandhi said people are suffering and they have to be made to connect this suffering to the lack of governanceEvent management is not the same as effective governance People have to be made to understand that and demand good governance Despite the crores it spends on advertising itself as one of the leading state governments in India the truth is that the BJP government in UP does not know how to govern she allegedFundamentally it has allowed the structures that sustain governance and development to be taken over by mafias and destroyed It has done virtually nothing to build infrastructure to improve education and healthcare to provide jobs and reduce the massive hit that small industries and businesses have taken post-Corona Priyanka Gandhi saidStressing that people have to be shown that there is a choice Priyanka Gandhi said another kind of politics is possible and it is more beneficial to them than the politics of division which only benefits certain political partiesOn her party making a strong pitch for women in the polls and basing the campaign on it the Congress general secretary said she believes that women should vote as a separate political entity and this is a beginning in that directionThey are 50 per cent of the population yet they are hugely under-represented in the political space If they consolidate into a political and electoral force by recognising their own value and strength in political terms -- they can change the politics of our nation she saidPolling for the 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly is scheduled to be held in seven phases from February 10 to March 7 and the counting of votes will be taken up on March 10In the 2017 assembly polls the Congress won seven seats while its then alliance partner SP bagged 47 seats in the 403-member assembly in the 2017 assembly polls The BJP had won a thumping mandate with 312 seats and the BSP bagged 19 seats PTI ASK BJ ZMN

New Delhi Jan 25 PTI Alleging that polarisation suits both the BJP and the SP to consolidate their vote bases in Uttar Pradesh Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday said the ruling party may end up being the largest beneficiary of this divisive rhetoric and therefore people need to be given a choice of another kind of politics that doesnt divide society on religious or caste linesCiting that farm laws and the Lakhimpur Kheri incident caused immense pain to farmers she also said the governments indifference and hostile approach towards the farmers will play an important part in determining the outcome of the assembly polls in Uttar Pradeshs western beltIn an exclusive interview to PTI Priyanka Gandhi said her party will take a call on whether to forge a post-poll alliance once the election results are out and if and when such a situation should ariseWith her party going to the polls with a focus on women and announcing that it will give 40 per cent of tickets to them she said women are 50 per cent of the population and if they consolidate into a political and electoral force by recognising their own value and strength in political terms they can change the politics of our nationAsked about the key issues in Uttar Pradesh polls and whether the farm bills and the Lakhimpur Kheri incident will have an impact she said different political parties are highlighting different issues some of these are divisive and intended to polarise the debate along religious or caste linesIt is a reality of politics in UP that elections are fought and often won in this manner but I firmly believe that this has to change Elections must be fought on issues of development -- employment job creation health services education -- these should be central to our discussion and debate she assertedThe Congress in Uttar Pradesh is working on a positive and progressive agenda Priyanka Gandhi said adding that we have refused to engage in a negative discourseAs far as the farm bills and the Lakhimpur Kheri incident are concerned they have been a source of immense pain to farmers across the state but especially in western Uttar Pradesh she saidI do believe that the governments indifference its hostile and autocratic approach towards the farmers who were protesting and those who lost their lives will play an important part in determining the outcome of the elections in the western belt Priyanka Gandhi saidThe Centre repealed the three farm laws last year after a nearly year-long protest by farmers including from western UP who had camped at the borders of Delhi demanding their repeal Also eight persons including four farmers were killed during a farmers protest on October 3 in Lakhimpur KheriOn divisive rhetoric and how her party plans to counter polarisation Priyanka Gandhi said she feels that at some level whether it is the polarising force of the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP or the Samajwadi Party SP it serves the same purpose -- it suits both these parties as it consolidates their vote basesUltimately I feel the largest beneficiary of this polarisation may end up being the BJP In order to stop the BJP actually you need a party that changes the discourse rather than positing another pole for polarising it further she said in an apparent swipe at the SPThe answer to this kind of politics lies in refocusing the agenda on development she addedHer remarks come days after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath stated that the assembly polls in the state will be about 80 per cent vs 20 per cent evoking a sharp response from the Opposition that accused him of attempting to polarise the electorate Muslims constitute around 20 per cent of the states populationBJP leaders have been accused of raising issues such as the Ram Temple and Kashi Vishwanath temple to polarise voters The saffron party in turn has hit out at the Akhilesh Yadav-led party SP of invoking Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Pakistan to vitiate the discoursePriyanka Gandhi said people are suffering and they have to be made to connect this suffering to the lack of governanceEvent management is not the same as effective governance People have to be made to understand that and demand good governance Despite the crores it spends on advertising itself as one of the leading state governments in India the truth is that the BJP government in UP does not know how to govern she allegedFundamentally it has allowed the structures that sustain governance and development to be taken over by mafias and destroyed It has done virtually nothing to build infrastructure to improve education and healthcare to provide jobs and reduce the massive hit that small industries and businesses have taken post-Corona Priyanka Gandhi saidStressing that people have to be shown that there is a choice Priyanka Gandhi said another kind of politics is possible and it is more beneficial to them than the politics of division which only benefits certain political partiesOn her party making a strong pitch for women in the polls and basing the campaign on it the Congress general secretary said she believes that women should vote as a separate political entity and this is a beginning in that directionThey are 50 per cent of the population yet they are hugely under-represented in the political space If they consolidate into a political and electoral force by recognising their own value and strength in political terms -- they can change the politics of our nation she saidPolling for the 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly is scheduled to be held in seven phases from February 10 to March 7 and the counting of votes will be taken up on March 10 PTI ASK BJ ZMN

New Delhi Feb 25 PTI In an exclusive interview to PTI Congress general secretary in-charge Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday talked about Uttar Pradesh assembly polls including polarising rhetoric her partys resolve to keep the focus on development issues women as a separate political entity and impact of farm laws and the Lakhimpur Kheri incident on the polls Here is the full transcription of the interview with Priyanka Gandhi-- Q What are the key issues on which Uttar Pradesh assembly polls will be fought Will the farm laws movement and the Lakhimpur Kheri incident be key factors in the polls A Different political parties are highlighting different issues some of these are divisive and intended to polarise the debate along religious or caste lines It is a reality of politics in UP that elections are fought and often won in this manner but I firmly believe that this has to change Elections must be fought on issues of development -- employment job creation health services education -- these should be central to our discussion and debate The Congress party in UP is working on a positive and progressive agenda We have refused to engage in a negative discourseAs far as the farm bills and the Lakhimpur Kheri incident are concerned they have been a source of immense pain to farmers across the state but especially in Western UP I do believe that the governments indifference its hostile and autocratic approach towards the farmers who were protesting and those who lost their lives will play an important part in determining the outcome of the elections in the Western belt Q UP has seen politics where caste and religious equations have played a role but Congress has opted for a new kind of politics it has also even given a ticket to the mother of the Unnao rape victim Do you think women will vote as a separate political entity and support the Congress this time A I believe that women should vote as a separate political entity and this is a beginning in that direction They are 50 per cent of the population yet they are hugely under-represented in the political space If they consolidate into a political and electoral force by recognising their own value and strength in political terms -- they can change the politics of our nation It is about time they asserted their rights and demanded to be given their fair space in the political arenaThe purpose of giving the Unnao rape victims mother a ticket to fight the election is to convey a very direct message The person who destroyed her family could do so and get away with it because he was an MLA he had political power we are enabling her to take that very same power become an MLA and use her power to rebuild her life and help othersThe same goes for others like her who have genuinely struggled for the rights of their community whether it is Poonam Pandey the asha bahu who was thrashed by the Yogi government just for demanding to be heard or Ramraj Gond who led the struggle of the people of Umbha after the heinous massacre that took place with the collusion of the government and police in their village Political power rightfully belongs to them not to the mafias and criminals whom the government protects We are offering them the opportunity to claim it and use it to do good Q The third wave of Covid wave is on How big an issue will be the handling of Covid by the Yogi Adityanath government in the last two years A The Yogi governments handling especially of the second wave of Covid was disastrous It failed on every count -- it failed to protect people it failed to provide them with health facilities it failed to provide oxygen medication and hospital beds Even worse was the fact that while failing to do all of this it acted as an aggressor towards the public and those providing health services Whether it was the asha bahus who risked their lives to help others or doctors nurses and health care professionals instead of incentivising and supporting them the government created an atmosphere of fear The governments efforts were focussed on covering up the truth rather than saving lives This compounded the problem because people could not even appeal for help while enduring the most terrifying and tragic circumstances Having said that I cannot say how deeply this will affect the upcoming elections -- people tend to put tragedies behind them and move forward However I feel that a government must be held accountable for its actions When so many lives are lost and people go through so much suffering it should not be brushed under the carpet It is up to us as a people to demand accountability from those in power This is a fundamental aspect of democracy Q How big an issue would be polarisation We have already seen divisive rhetoric in the polls How do you plan to counter that A I feel that at some level whether it is the polarizing force of the BJP or the Samajwadi Party it serves the same purpose -- it suits both these parties as it consolidates their vote bases Ultimately I feel the largest beneficiary of this polarisation may end up being the BJP In order to stop the BJP actually you need a party that changes the discourse rather than positing another pole for polarising it further The answer to this kind of politics lies in refocusing the agenda on developmentPeople are suffering -- they have to be made to connect this suffering to the lack of governance Event management is not the same as effective governance People have to be made to understand that and demand good governance Despite the crores it spends on advertising itself as one of the leading state governments in India the truth is that the BJP government in UP does not know how to govern Fundamentally it has allowed the structures that sustain governance and development to be taken over by mafias and destroyed It has done virtually nothing to build infrastructure to improve education and healthcare to provide jobs and reduce the massive hit that small industries and businesses have taken post CoronaPeople have to be shown that there is a choice Another kind of politics is possible and it is more beneficial to them than the politics of division which only benefits certain political parties Q You have announced that Congress will contest all 403 seats Will Congress be open to a post-poll alliance to keep out the BJP from coming back to power A We will take a call on this once the election results are out and if and when such a situation should arise I feel it would be premature to comment on it at this point Q With big rallies banned the elections would largely be fought through social media and in the digital space Does this give the Bjp an advantage and is the Congress prepared to meet the challenge A Yes it certainly does give the BJP a certain advantage we are all aware that they have the most resource rich and elaborate social media machinery I believe the Samajwadi Party has made an appeal to the EC in this regard already But why should we be daunted by this If we use it intelligently we can meet the challenge too On our part we have already switched focus to our door-to-door campaign and amplified it We have also converted all our womens townhalls and other events into online events On the ground we are doing small chaupals using videos and other tools to spread our message Our organisation is enthused and has been working relentlessly while adhering to all the Covid protocols Q UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has been fielded from Gorakhpur by the BJP Your comments A Looks to me like his leadership is attempting to cut him to size Its an open secret that they have been wanting to do so for sometime Their internal pushes and pulls are beginning to reveal themselves in public now I suppose in an autocratic system like theirs there can only be one supreme leader PTI ASK ZMN

Kannauj (Uttar Pradesh) [India], December 31 (ANI): Following income tax raids at the premises of Samajwadi Party's MLC Pushpraj Jain on Friday, party chief Akhilesh Yadav said that BJP is trying to tarnish his party's name to rectify their own mistakes as they raided their "own Jain" earlier.

New Delhi [India], November 9 (ANI): Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Tuesday slammed Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for his "Talibani mindset" remark, and accused him of "creating conflict in the name of religion".

Lucknow Oct 18 PTI Polling for the post of deputy speaker in the Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly was underway on Monday with BJP-backed SP rebel MLA Nitin Agarwal and the Akhilesh Yadav-led partys official candidate Narendra Verma in the frayThe Bahujan Samaj Party BSP which has 16 MLAs in the House staged a walkout before the voting process began while the Congress with its seven legislators has decided to boycott the pollsThe Congress has accused the ruling BJP of attempting to divert attention from the various problems plaguing Uttar Pradesh by going in for the election for the post of deputy speakerVoting began around 1145 am and will continue till 3 pm Results will be formally announced after thatAgarwal who was elected as a legislator on a Samajwadi Party SP ticket but then cozied up to the ruling BJP is all set to be the deputy speaker of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly with the support of the saffron partyA miffed SP which has fielded Verma as its official candidate for the contest had on Sunday hit out at the BJP accusing it of trying to sabotage democracy and asserted that the post should traditionally go to the opposition partyAgarwals victory is just a matter of time given the overwhelming majority the BJP enjoys in the HouseAt present the saffron party has 304 MLAs in the 403-member UP legislative assembly while the Samajwadi Party has 49BJP-ally Apna Dal Sonelal has nine MLAsAfter the polling Uttar Pradesh will get its first deputy speaker of the legislative assembly after a gap of over 14 yearsAs per tradition an MLA from the principal opposition party is made the deputy speaker of the assembly The last deputy speaker of the UP legislative assembly was the BJPs Rajesh Agarwal who was elected unopposed in 2004 PTI NAV SAB SNS IJT