Assembly elections 2022 updates: Congress may announce Punjab CM candidate on Feb 6

"We want all regional parties to come together and defeat the BJP in 2024. We want everybody to come together and fight against the BJP and defeat it. Our motto is the BJP has to be defeated. If we can defeat CPI(M) in West Bengal, we can also defeat BJP nationally," Banerjee said.The Congress had helped the BJP to win the polls in Meghalaya and Chandigarh, she alleged.

Members of the Sikh community who attended 'Amavas' festival at the Kaudiyala Ghat Gurdwara near Tikonia said the October 3 killings have caused them great despair, which will negatively reflect in the election outcome for the BJP. However, except for the Sikhs in Tikonia, there appears to be no resentment against Mishra among other sections. Most of them said the October 3 incidents was "unfortunate" and it was the minister's “bad luck”. There are about 15,000 Sikh voters in the Nighasan Assembly constituency which is dominated by Muslim voters, who number around 80,000. There are 28,000 Mauryas and about 22,000 Kurmis.

For the BJP, the Nighasan Assembly constituency that houses the Tikonia area is expected to be a mixed bag in the upcoming state elections. Following the killing of eight people, including four Sikh farmers, in the October 3 incident over the contentious farm laws, the Sikh community has allegedly warned its members to not associate themselves with campaigning for the saffron party while another section of the people said the BJP has gained an upper hand as the incident has boosted Union minister Ajay Mishra Teni's sympathizers.

New entrant to the Congress and popular JNU alumnus Kanhaiya Kumar was taken in for a surprise on his way to the UP Congress office in Lucknow on Tuesday when a youth threw some liquid on him. While Congressmen alleged that the youth had poured acid on Kanhaiya’s face, police said it appeared to be ink.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday mounted a searing attack on the Samajwadi Party by labelling those wearing ‘red caps’ as a “threat to society”.Addressing voters at Siwalkhas and Kithore assembly constituencies in Meerut, and at Modinagar in Ghaziabad, Yogi said: “Red cap means riots, robbery and stealing of farmers’ equipment. ”