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

After thrashing the Congress in neighbouring Amethi, the BJP is working flat out for a win across the assembly segments in Rae Bareli -- the only citadel left of the Gandhi family in Uttar Pradesh.

More than 81 lakh voters of Uttarakhand will decide the fate of 632 candidates when it goes to polls on February 14. After the withdrawal of 95 candidates on the last day for withdrawal of nominations on Monday there are a total of 632 left in the fray, the Election Commission said on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday urged all MPs to make the Budget session of Parliament fruitful by holding discussions with an “open mind” and making sure that the ongoing assembly elections do not affect the session, which is very important as it draws a blueprint for the entire year. Addressing the media just before the start of the session, PM Modi said that it is true that because of frequent elections, sessions and discussions get affected but elections have their own place and will keep happening, and hoped that there are discussions that are free, thoughtful, full of human sensitivities, and with good intent.

Allowing physical campaign to begin across the five poll-bound states from Tuesday in view of the flattening curve of Covid infections, the Election Commission on Monday allowed in-person public meetings in open spaces subject to a cap of 1,000 participants, up from 500 earlier, while also raising the attendance ceiling for indoor meetings to 500 persons from 300. The relaxations will apply un iformly to all the seven phases of polling.

Many rebels from both Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress withdrew their nomination on Monday as party veterans managed to persuade them to withdraw in support of the party's official candidates ahead of Uttarakhand polls, said sources. As per Joint Chief Electoral Officer Pratap Singh Shah, around 95 candidates from 70 assembly seats withdrew their names on the last date for withdrawal of nomination which was Monday.

In a blistering attack on the Samajwadi Party, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday said that it never gave respect to Gokul Singh Jat, who courageously challenged the tyranny of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb and refused to accept his misdeeds. Addressing a ‘Prabhaavi Matdaata Samwad’ in Agra, Yogi said unlike the SP, the BJP knew how to respect those who made sacrifices for the nation.

Former Punjab chief minister and Punjab Lok Congress supremo Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday filed his nominations from Patiala Urban seat for the February 20 assembly elections in Punjab. He said he was confident of a victory as he had an alliance with the people of the area for last three centuries and was sure to form the government with allied parties.