PM Modi's jibe at Rahul Gandhi over 'coconut juice' remark

UP Elections 2017 - Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday took a jibe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his "coconut juice" and "potato factory" remarks.

"There is a Congress leader, and I want to pray for his long life...He recently went to Manipur to address an election rally. There he told farmers that he would extract juice from coconuts and send it to London. In fact, a coconut possesses water (and not juice) and it is grown in Kerala," he said addressing a rally in Maharajganj, UP.

"It is like setting up a potato factory," Modi said referring to Rahul Gandhi's earlier remarks that he wants to set up potato factories in Uttar Pradesh.

"Such a talented and far-sighted leader he is," Modi said, and asked Rahul as to what he exactly he wanted to do for UP.

Addressing a poll rally in Manipur on Tuesday, the Congress leader had reportedly said, "I would also want when someone drinks coconut juice in London and sees Made in Manipur written on it."

Rahul Gandhi had earlier told farmers in Uttar Pradesh that "You all are demanding a potato factory in your area, but you should understand I am an opposition leader, I can put pressure on the government, but cannot take the decision. I cannot open a potato factory for farmers".(Read More)

150 seats in UP, AIADMK support crucial for Modi govt to win prez polls

UP POLLS 2017 - Currently, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has nearly 3.80 lakh votes in the presidential electoral college. To reach the halfway mark of 5.49 lakh votes, the party needs another 1.7 lakh votes. The over 1 lakh votes of its alliance partners, both at the Centre and in states, reduces this gap to around 70,000 votes. This is where the Uttar Pradesh assembly, with its 403 seats and a total value 83,824 votes to the presidential electoral college, is important.

The President of India is elected by the members of an electoral college that comprises the elected members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and elected members of all legislative assemblies, including Delhi and Puducherry. Nominated members, whether of Parliament or legislative assemblies, are not included.

Value of vote for each of the members of the electoral college is decided based on the population census of 1971. Therefore, value of votes differs from state to state. The value of the vote of a legislator from Uttar Pradesh, the state with the largest population, is the highest at 208, while Sikkim’s is the lowest at 7.

The Modi government would hope to meet this shortfall of 70,000 votes by winning as many seats as possible in Uttar Pradesh. It would also need to compensate from UP the likely losses that the BJP and ally Shiromani Akali Dal could suffer in Punjab. A good showing in Uttar Pradesh would also deflate the Opposition and help Modi government strategists persuade fence sitters among the regional parties to vote for the ruling coalition's candidate.(READ MORE)

Assembly Elections 2017: Why BSP's prospects in Uttar Pradesh look dim

UP ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS 2017 - The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), led by Mayawati, has been put across largely as a “poacher” and a “vote cutter” in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, dimming the party’s standing as an alternative to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP)-Congress combine sought after by politically significant and big social groupings. Mayawati, known by the moniker “Behenji”, continues to inspire respect among sections of the Dalits and instills  a degree of confidence among those Muslims who recognised her potential to be a more effective challenger to the BJP than the SP-Congress in places.

However, BSP—the first party to get a majority of its own in 2007 after a long spell of messy coalitions—is unlikely to repeat that feat because the magic figure of 207 Mayawati had attained then was catalysed by a rainbow social alliance that had space for almost every major social grouping. In the ongoing polls, Mayawati has forfeited the backward caste votes, especially those of the most backward castes, and the upper caste votes to the BJP.

The BSP is not the first choice of most Muslims because they were skeptical of Mayawati’s past tendency to do business with the BJP and install herself as the chief minister if an electoral verdict was unclear. Tanveer Akhtar, a small farmer of Isauli in the Sultanpur district who supplemented his earnings by driving a hired car, said, “Mayawati remains suspect for us although she recently clarified she would rather sit out in the Opposition than go with the BJP. We can’t take her words on face value because she craves for power above everything else.”(READ MORE)

UP elections 2017: Over 40% turnout till 2 PM in phase-IV

UP Polls 2017 - Over 40 per cent of 1.84 crore voters exercised their franchise till midday today in the fourth phase of polling in eastern Uttar Pradesh.

"Polling is underway at a brisk pace in 53 assembly constituencies spread over 12 districts, including the backward Bundelkhand region," the CEO office said here.

The pace of voting was slow in the first few hours but picked up as the day advanced.

The exercise was by and large peaceful in view of tight security arrangements.

Inter district and inter state borders have been sealed and patrolling by security forces has been intensified in poll-bound areas. Most of the sensitive polling centres are being manned by the personnel of Central Paramilitary Forces.

680 candidates are in the fray in this phase which covers Rae Bareli, Pratapgarh, Kaushambi, Allahabad, Jalaun, Jhansi, Lalitpur, Mahoba, Banda, Hamirpur, Chitrakoot and Fatehpur districts.

The BSP has fielded its nominees in all seats, while BJP's nominees are in 48 constituencies. The BJP has left 6 seats for its ally Apna Dal. The SP nominees are in contest in 30 segments and its ally, the Congress, is in contest from 25 constituencies.(Read More)

UP polls 2017: BSP has an edge and Mayawati is likely to return to power

UP Polls 2017 - Six months prior to the 2017 Assembly elections, the battle for power in Uttar Pradesh was seen as a fight between the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) led by Mayawati and the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), which is presently ruling at the centre. The BJP's chances had dwindled slightly after its state vice president Dayashankar Singh made some inappropriate comments against Mayawati. At that point, the Samajwadi Party, the party currently in power, was widely perceived to be out of the race.

All of a sudden, a series of melodramatic incidents within the SP's ruling family catapulted Akhilesh Yadav from the status of 'half CM' to full chief minister and leader of the party. Earlier, he was often taunted to be subordinate to the SP's big four: his father Mulayam Singh Yadav, uncle Shivpal Yadav, uncle Ram Gopal Yadav and senior leader Azam Khan. The impression formed that since Mulayam was publicly taking the side of his brother Shivpal, party cadres would remain loyal to Shivpal if it came to choosing between him and Akhilesh. However, Akhilesh proved everybody wrong and now is the undisputed claimant to the chief ministership on behalf of the Samajwadi Party, with Shivpal and even Mulayam having been marginalised. The state witnessed a silent coup by a serving ruler who has been able to unshackle himself now.(Read more)

UP elections 2017: Poll promises have not changed in 15 years; here's why

UP Elections 2017 - Pihani, Uttar Pradesh: For 16 years, Kailash Rai (not his real name), 49, has been commuting six hours every working day between his home in the state capital Lucknow and the government degree college where he teaches in Pihani, 135 km to the northwest.

A political-science lecturer, Rai cannot move with his family to Pihani, a cluster of over 100 villages (called a kasba) in Hardoi district, with less than 40,000 families as per Census 2011. When he started working there in 2000, it lacked the basic public facilities–regular power supply, good roads, public transport and good medical services.

Pihani remains an economic backwater. In the ongoing assembly elections, UP’s incumbent and contesting politicians are still promising the basic facilities they did 16 years ago: Electricity, buses and jobs, along with laptops and free data for poor youth.

A UP kasba: 100% rural, 83% farm workers
A community development block in Hardoi district, north-west of Lucknow, Pihani is an agglomeration of over 100 small villages. This rural administrative division is called a taluk or tehsil in other states. UP has 901 such blocks administered by a block development officer.

A third of Pihani’s population consists of people belonging to scheduled castes and tribes. Its literacy rate is 51%, and less than half its women (41%) are literate. Women in Pihani form about 14% of the workforce, nine percentage points less than the national average of 27% as IndiaSpend reported in April 2016.(Read More)

UP polls 2017: SP-Cong alliance pins hope on note ban anger to fight BJP

Campaigning comes to an end for the third phase of Uttar Pradesh assembly elections 2017 today evening. As many as 69 seats across central UP’s Lucknow, Kanpur, Sitapur, Mainpuri, Etawah and adjoining districts will vote on Sunday. Samajwadi Party and Congress workers in the region are nervous. They fear a Hindu consolidation for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The BJP believes the third phase will mark a revival of the party after a tepid response in the first two phases.

In the cities and towns of central UP, there is a positive buzz for Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav but the alliance’s hopes rest more on the mistakes of its rival. The alliance has tried to tap into the anger on the street for Narendra Modi government’s note ban decision, the perceived non-performance of BJP’s Lok Sabha members of Parliament and the infighting in that party’s ranks because of faulty ticket distribution.

But the cadres are also discovering a groundswell of support from the upper castes who wish deliverance from the “Ahir-Muslim” rule of the last five years. The BJP is sure that the patchwork of caste coalition of upper castes and non-Yadav OBCs would help it win majority of the seats in the region.

1. Hindu consolidation

2. Note ban

3. Non-performance of BJP MPs, poor candidate selection

4. Chinks in SP-Congress alliance

5. Anti-incumbency and law and order

6. Split in Muslim votes

Read More

Priyanka Gandhi wants to avoid people's questions, says Smriti Irani

UP elections 2017 - Union Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Smriti Irani on Wednesday attacked Priyanka Gandhi saying the Congress leader is not campaigning in Amethi as she cannot face people's questions.

The Union textiles minister addressed rallies and press conference here, where she did not give direct reply when asked if she would be the party's chief ministerial candidate if it comes to power.

Every BJP worker wants that the party forms the next government in Uttar Pradesh, she said on the question of chief ministerial candidate.

She said that despite losing the Lok Sabha poll from Amethi in 2014 to Rahul Gandhi she has been working for the people of the constituency.

But, Priyanka Gandhi has not gone to campaign in Amethi because of the "unfulfilled" promises, she said.

"Priyanka wants to avoid people's questions," she said.

Asked if Samajwadi Party-Congress (SP-Congress) alliance has in any way affected the prospects of BJP in the state, she said Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav went with Congress because he was not confident of a victory alone.(Read More)

UP poll: No love lost between political rivals on Valentine's Day

UP elections 2017 - Even as the Valentine's Day falls today, there is apparently no love lost between the top leaders of major political parties as they crisscross poll bound Uttar Pradesh addressing public meetings and unleashing vitriolic attack on opponents.

The canvassing for the second phase of polling in 67 assembly constituencies across 11 largely western UP districts had come to an end on Monday evening with voting scheduled for Wednesday. The districts going to polls on February 15 include Saharanpur, Bijnore, Moradabad, Rampur, Sambhal, Bareilly, Amroha, Pilibhit, Kheri, Shahjahanpur and Badaun.

The politicking for the phase II polling nonetheless witnessed top mascots of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Samajwadi Party (SP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Congress upping the ante to corner their opponents with a view to consolidating their core vote banks.

Senior political leaders who addressed rallies on Monday across UP, included Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP President Amit Shah, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, BSP President Mayawati, SP President and UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav.

While, Modi and Rahul addressed well attended public meetings in Kheri, Mayawati and Akhilesh were the star campaigners and speakers at election rallies in Etawah and Badaun districts respectively.(Read More)

UP polls 2017: More women losing deposits, fewer winning elections

UP elections 2017 - Poor, populous Uttar Pradesh (UP) was the first Indian state to have a female chief minister–Sucheta Kriplani from 1963 to 1967–but this pioneering effort has not improved prospects for women in elections.

As voter turnout has risen, more competitors have stood against women candidates, fewer women have won and a growing number have lost their deposits, according to an IndiaSpend and Swaniti Initiative analysis of electoral data of the last three state elections in UP since 2002.


The only exception was for the seats reserved for scheduled caste (SC) candidates. The proportion of women winning SC seats was more than double that of those winning general seats.

All this happened over a period when women in India’s most populous state became healthier and better educated, reinforcing the point that there is no correlation between these indicators and better political representation of women.
States with the worst sex ratios have more women members of legislative assemblies (MLAs), as IndiaSpend reported in September 2015.

Roughly over the same period of our study, female literacy in UP grew from 42.2% in 2001 to 59.3% in 2011, and the sex ratio improved from 898 to 908, according to census data compiled by the NITI Aayog. (Read More)

PM Modi's letter defending note ban gets delivered in every UP household

Election 2017- Prime Minister Narendra Modi has written a letter addressing voters in Uttar Pradesh saying that his government's surprise demonetisation measure was necessary to root out corruption and prevent terrorism, reported The Economic Times on Tuesday.

According to the report, over 1,600 motorcycle-borne activists have been tasked with the duty of delivering the prime minister's letter to 2,75,000 households every day.

The move comes at a time when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) might not be fairing as well in Uttar Pradesh as the party had initially thought. As reported earlier, there is a noticeable defensiveness among BJP voters and supporters this time around regarding the note ban and every time the questions related to the issue crop up. Further, the BJP’s local offices, which in 2014 brimmed with people prematurely celebrating Narendra Modi’s victory before counting, have been muted. (Read more)

A young party official of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh provenance in Rampur, who had his nose to the grindstone when the Lok Sabha polls were underway, told Business Standard that he “lost interest” this time. “I have nothing to say to our voters when they pose uncomfortable questions on demonetisation. I am packing my bags and taking a vacation in my village,” he said. The official’s main worry was that demonetisation had begun to "chip away" at Prime Minister Modi’s image. "Modiji has invested much personal and political capital in it but people ask me, does he not understand our hardships? Why did he make us suffer?" he added. (Read More)

Brand Akhilesh Yadav and the American style of campaigning

UP Elections 2017 - The 2014 general elections represent a watershed in the Indian electoral history in many ways. For one, it changed forever how campaigns are conducted in the country. The Lok Sabha poll campaign saw the then Gujarat chief minister, Narendra Modi, creating a parallel campaign machinery outside of the party to take his word to the people. His campaign to become the Prime Minister had, in fact, kicked off even before the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) named him its Prime Ministerial candidate.

Citizens for Accountable Governance (led by political strategist Prashant Kishor) helped Modi run a political campaign that could have given any MNC giant a run for its money. Through his 360-degree campaign, Modi reached out to disparate voters using their own communication mediums. What made it stand out was the campaign’s focus on modern technology – social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp were used extensively and effectively to create a cult following for Modi and turn the election into an almost Presidential campaign. The result: Narendra Modi seemed to be the only candidate around.

Lessons from this campaign have been learnt by other political parties as well – some more than the others. Later, similar ways were used in Delhi by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and in Bihar by Nitish Kumar, who built an unlikely alliance with his long-time bête noire Lalu Prasad, took his own message of good governance to the people, and returned to power with a landslide victory.(Read More)

UP Assembly polls 2017: Akhilesh to address rallies in Sambhal, Amroha

Elections 2017 - Kick starting the campaigning for the second phase of Uttar Pradesh elections, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav will on Sunday address two election rallies in Sambhal and Amroha.

With the second phase of the state elections just three days away, political parties are busy campaigning to gain majority.

Akhilesh and Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday jointly launched the Samajwadi Party (SP)-Congress alliance's Common Minimum Programme.


During the launch, Akhilesh attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that their alliance has shaken the latter's confidence.

Akhilesh further slammed the prime minister saying that he only knows to do 'Mann Ki Baat' but not 'Kaam ki baat'.
"Several times people say 'Mann ki baat' but not 'Kaam ki baat'," said Akhilesh.

The second phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections will be held on February 15.

The first phase of the elections, which was held on Saturday, saw a voter turnout of 63 per cent.(Read More)

UP polls 2017: Maya's fortunes hinge on winning reserved seats from SP, BJP

UP elections 2017 - In many ways, Uttar Pradesh  2017 is not just a survival game for the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) but also a matter of pride for party matriarch Mayawati. An indicator of whether Mayawati will become the next chief minister (CM) of UP depends on whether she can win in most of the 55 new reserved constituencies created after the delimitation exercise in the state in 2008. Before delimitation in 2008, UP had 89 reserved constituencies. Now there are 85. Furthermore, in the 30 constituencies that continued to be reserved post 2008, Mayawati would have to make big strides to reclaim the ground she ceded to the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

That may be hard, but not impossible. The BSP has not been able to recover from the effects of the 2008 delimitation exercise that not just reduced the number of reserved constituencies by four, but also made the new ones less concentrated with Dalits who form the party’s core voter base.

In 2012 assembly elections, in the 55 new reserved constituencies, the BSP managed to win just 11. Mayawati’s biggest challenge will be to uproot the SP from these new reserved constituencies. To do so, she may have to win most of 30 seats which the SP won in 2012 in the newly-created reserved assembly constituencies. What makes her job harder is that before she could make a mark on these newly-reserved constituencies, the BJP had already made rapid inroads into them.(Read More)

Modi ka Gaon: Censor board 'spikes' feature film on PM, here's the trailer

The censor board has refused to clear a feature film based on Prime Minister Narendra Modi development agenda. One of the grounds cited is the ongoing assembly elections in five states.

The producer of the medium-budget film, "Modi ka Gaon", Suresh Jha, who has co-directed it with Tushar A. Goel, is crying foul and charged the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) with discriminating against a movie due for release on Friday.

"Censor board officials informed us they found the film objectionable on three main counts. There is no way I can release it tomorrow (Friday). So I am considering moving the court," Jha told IANS.

"They have stipulated conditions which are so difficult to comply with that I might as well forget about releasing the film.

"The golden solution: 'Get a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and Election Commission... I think this must be the first time the PMO or EC are expected to preview a film and clear it before the CBFC certifies it," Jha said.(Read More)

To Watch The Trailer click here

Note ban splits BJP's trader vote bank in western UP

UP elections 2017 - Manoj Kucchal, a hardware vendor in Bijnor’s commercial hub, Sadar Bazar, looked harassed as he summoned his chartered accountant for the morning session he has been holding since the taxman knocked on his doors.

The taxman started sending him alerts after vetting Kucchal’s bank accounts to check how much cash was put in it after November 8, the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi demonetised high-value currency notes.


“The I-T (income tax) department has served 10 messages on my mobile in the past 10 days. If I do not answer these within 10 days, I will have to pay a penalty of Rs 10,000 per notice. The thing that amuses me is the number of times I have used the figure 10,” said Kucchal, who heads the Bijnor district traders’ association.

At Saharanpur, 110 km away, Vivek Minocha, who helms the city’s traders’ forum, is feeling harassed. “The I-T guys are demanding proof for every rupee we put in (to a bank account). The PM himself said once not to probe deposits of up to Rs 2.5 lakh by housewives. The women in my joint family have made deposits. It seems the I-T sleuths will not heed his advice. What do I do?” asked Minocha.(Read More)

Rahul draws achievements from UPA-II in UP manifesto

Elections 2017 - Rahul Gandhi drew achievements from the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA)-II government to present his vision for development of poll-bound Uttar Pradesh (UP).

The Congress poll manifesto, released in Lucknow on Wednesday, highlighted the key welfare schemes and laws passed during the UPA-I and-II like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act  (MGNREGA), National Food Security Bill, Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, and a law to protect women.

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and party vice-president Rahul were the key figures behind these flagship schemes.  Rahul also mentioned his broader vision for the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance as the grand old party’s poll manifesto made promises on behalf of both the parties. In contrast, in SP’s poll manifesto, released on January 22 by Akhilesh Yadav, Congress did not get any mention. On the lines of UPA flagship rural job scheme MGNREGA, the party promised to enact a state law, guaranteeing at least 150 days of employment for the poor.

Noting that the strongest law for women protection was passed by the UPA-II government, the party said it will work to ensure this law is implemented against anyone found guilty of atrocities and crimes against women in the state.(Read More)

Rahul Gandhi to hold four election rallies in Uttar Pradesh today

UP Elections 2017 - Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi will hold four election rallies in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras, Bulandshahr, Hapur and Ghaziabad on Wednesday.

Speaking at a rally in Meerut, Gandhi yesterday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should know that the people in Uttar Pradesh are united and cannot be divided.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi mocks Uttarakhand tragedy, insults freedom struggle but has no answers to questions on demonetisation," Gandhi said.

He also charged the Prime Minister of spreading hate and anger among people.

The Prime Minister visited Meerut to spread hate and anger. A message should be sent from the youth of Uttar Pradesh that the state stands together and it cannot be broken. We will win in Uttar Pradesh and complete the promise which the Prime Minister cannot fulfil that employment could be generated from within Uttar Pradesh. The Samajwadi Party workers and Congress workers should stand together," he added.(Read More)

UP polls 2017: Survey shows BJP leads, but 40% voters still undecided

Elections 2017 for the Uttar Pradesh state assembly, India’s largest state with more voters–138 million–than the population of the north American country of Mexico, start on February 11, 2017, but 40% of its voters said they still don’t know which political party they will vote for, according to a new survey conducted by by FourthLion Technologies, a data analytics and public opinion polling firm, for IndiaSpend.

The firm conducted 2,513 telephone interviews in Hindi of registered voters in Uttar Pradesh, and said their sample is representative of UP’s urban and rural voters as well as socioeconomic, age, gender and caste make-up. The survey was conducted between January 24 and January 31, 2017.

The first article on the survey analysed issues that voters said were important to them.

Overall, 28% of those surveyed said they would vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the party that heads the central government, if the polls were held immediately, while 18% of those surveyed would vote for the Samajwadi Party (SP) that currently leads the state, 4% would vote for the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) led by Mayawati, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh between 2007 and 2012, while 1% would vote for the Indian National Congress (INC).(Read more)