With just a few days left for the much-awaited assembly elections in the states of Maharashtra and Jharkhand, the poll preparations are going on in full swing in both the states with fresh developments every day setting the stage for the high-stakes electoral battle.
Jharkhand is set to hold the assembly elections in two phases on November 13 and November 20 while elections in Maharashtra will take place on November 20. Vote counting and result announcement will take place for both the states on November 23, as per the schedule shared by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
Addressing his first rally in Maharashtra right ahead of the November 20 assembly elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is a vehicle that has neither wheels nor brakes, and there is a fight there to sit on the driver's seat while adding that only the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance would ensure speedy development of Maharashtra.
“You all know my affinity with Maharashtra,” Modi said.
“We consider people as another form of god, but some people are in politics to loot people,” Modi said, addressing the rally in north Maharashtra’s Dhule district.
Modi said that whenever he has asked for something from the people of Maharashtra, they have given him their blessings wholeheartedly.“I assure you that the pace at which Maharashtra's development has gained in the last two-and-a-half years will not be allowed to stop,” Modi said.
The prime minister said that only the BJP-led Mahayuti government can provide the good governance that Maharashtra needs.
MVA will be wiped out: Amit Shah
In line with PM Modi's sentiment ahead of the assembly polls, addressing a rally at Shirala in Sangli district on Friday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) will be wiped out in Maharashtra in the assembly elections the same way the Congress faced a defeat in Haryana.
Exusing confidence on Mahayuti alliance, Shah said, "These MVA people had purchased crackers worth crores of rupees thinking that they will win Haryana, but in most of the places, they gave their crackers to the BJP workers. In Haryana, the Congress was wiped out. Similarly, the Aghadi will be wiped out in Maharashtra as BJP will form a government," he said.
"If MVA comes to power in Maharashtra by mistake, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray wants to make his son the chief minister, (Sharad) Pawar saheb wants the post for his daughter and there are a dozen leaders in the Congress who have already stitched clothes to become the CM," Shah continued.
Police seize cash worth crores amid model code of conduct
With the model code of conduct in force ahead of the assembly elections, police have seized rupees 2.3 crore cash from 12 persons at Kalbadevi in south Mumbai. Currently, the surveillance teams formed on the instructions of the Election Commission are meticulously checking the movement of potential inducements like cash, liquor, and other items.
Acting on inputs, a team of Lokmanya Tilak Marg police station and poll officials intercepted a group of people on Thursday night. While a search led to the discovery of Rs 2.3 crore, the individuals could neither produce any documents linked to the cash nor explain why they were carrying so much money, an official said.
The cash was later handed over to the Income Tax department for further probe, the official added.
BJP wants to snatch 'Jal, Jungle, Jameen' from tribals: Rahul Gandhi
In a verbal attack on BJP, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday accused the BJP of trying to snatch 'Jal, Jungle, Jameen' (water, forest, land) from tribal people. He termed the Jharkhand polls as a fight of ideology between the INDIA bloc and the BJP-RSS combine.
The Congress leader alleged that the RSS-BJP's mission was to "destroy" the Constitution of the country, while the INDIA bloc "wanted to protect" it.
"PM (Narendra) Modi calls you 'vanvasi' as the BJP believes that land, forest and water belong to the saffron party, RSS and capitalists. The BJP believes in grabbing tribal land under its newly coined word development. It wants to snatch 'Jal, Jungle, Jameen' (water, forest, land) from tribals," Gandhi alleged while addressing a rally in Jharkhand's Simdega.
He also claimed that the Constitution was under "constant attack" and the INDIA bloc was making "all efforts to protect it".
"The Constitution is under constant attack and it needs to be protected. We will remove the cap of 50 per cent reservation at any cost. If we are voted to power in Jharkhand, we will raise reservation of STs to 28 per cent from the present 26 per cent, SCs to 12 per cent from the current 10 per cent and OBCs to 27 per cent from the existing 14 per cent," he claimed.
He also asserted that a caste census is "a must to identify the participation of tribals, Dalits and OBCs" in various institutions and wealth of the country.
AJSU Party releases manifesto, promises Rs 1.21 lakh annually to poor families
BJP ally AJSU Party on Friday released its manifesto for the upcoming Jharkhand assembly polls, promising financial assistance of Rs 1.21 lakh annually to every poor family in the state.
AJSU Party chief Sudesh Mahto, while releasing the manifesto, announced that if its party is voted to power, women would get 33 per cent reservation in government jobs and a commission for their safety.He also promised setting up hostels for working women and said every citizen would get health insurance coverage of Rs 25 lakh.
Under the NDA's seat-sharing agreement, the AJSU Party is contesting 10 seats, JD(U) two, LJP (Ram Vilas) 1, while the BJP has fielded candidates in the remaining 68 constituencies.
