Have an open mind on forging alliance for Uttar Pradesh polls: Priyanka Gandhi
Lucknow: Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday said her party is "open-minded" about forging an alliance with other political parties for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.
Asked whether the Congress will go it alone on all the 403 assembly seats in the state or align with some political party, the party general secretary told reporters in an informal meeting here, "It is too early to say."
On whether she is ruling out an alliance or not, she said, "I do not rule out (alliance). We are absolutely not closed-minded. We are having an open mind."
"Our aim is to defeat the BJP," she said, adding that other political parties should also be "open-minded".
She added that the organisation is also her area of focus, and a lot of work have been done on it, and in a silent manner.
"I have an open mind, but my priority is my party," she said.
To a question on the party becoming active in her presence and tending to become inactive as soon as she leaves the state, the Congress leader said, "When I come (here), there is the media focus and you pay attention. But when I am not here, you do not give any attention. But our work is going on."
"We have done the maximum work during the COVID-19 pandemic. You can see that we are the ones who have raised issues. Congress is no longer confined to garlanding photographs. Our party has been out of power for 30-32 years, and it has become weak. However, full efforts have been made, and a lot of energy has come (into the party)," she added.
Priyanka Gandhi also said that plans are afoot to revamp the Congress Seva Dal in the state.
She also slammed the BJP over its statement that she was a "political tourist".
Stating that she is not a "political tourist", the Congress general secretary said that the BJP's propaganda is to show her and her brother Rahul Gandhi as non-serious politicians.
Later, Priyanka Gandhi interacted with senior party leaders of the state, including UP Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu, co-incharge of Uttar Pradesh Dheeraj Gurjar, UP Congress spokesperson Ashok Singh and Naseemuddin Siddiqui, a Congress leader said.
Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh are due in early next year.
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BJP worker’s 16-year-old son allegedly casts eight votes in Uttar Pradesh’s Farrukhabad; Video viral
Lucknow (Farrukhabad): A viral video has surfaced showing a 16-year-old son of a BJP worker allegedly casting eight votes to the saffron party during the ongoing general elections in Uttar Pradesh. The video has sparked controversy, and the opposition has urged for prompt action from the Election Commission of India, reports scroll.in.
The video shared by the Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav on micro-blogging site ‘X’, showed the youngster recording himself while casting multiple times in a series of instances. The incident reportedly took place in Khiri Pamaran village, which falls under the Aliganj Assembly constituency within the Farrukhabad parliamentary seat. Mukesh Rajput, the sitting MP, is the BJP candidate in this constituency. Polling in Farrukhabad occurred on May 13 during the fourth phase of the general election.
In the viral video, the youngster is seen casting eight votes in total, all for the BJP, one by one with different clippings.
The youngster in the video has been identified as Rajan Singh Thakur, confirmed his father, Anil Singh Thakur to the Scroll.in. Anil Singh Thakur is the gram pradhan (village head) of Khiri Pamaran and a member of the BJP.
Anil defending his son told the Scroll that the ‘Video misrepresented his son,’ and claimed that the voting was done when the machine was being tested in some instances and other clipping of him voting on behalf of mentally and physically disabled voters was merged and made into a video.
Despite the Anil's caims, the video has drawn significant criticism. Subhash Chandra Prajapati, the additional district magistrate of Farrukhabad, confirmed to the Scroll that the administration will file a case soon. He mentioned that the returning officer is investigating the matter following a directive from the chief electoral officer in Lucknow.
The opposition has been vocal in its criticism, with Akhilesh Yadav demanding action from the Election Commission. In his social media post, Yadav accused the BJP of undermining the electoral process and described the party's booth committee as a "loot committee." The Congress party also called on the Election Commission to take action, in a ‘X’ post the party wrote, “Dear Election Commission…are you watching..a boy is voting 8-8 times ... .at least wake up now.”
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, took to ‘X’ to express, “Fearing and seeing their defeat, the BJP is attempting to undermine democracy by pressuring government machinery to deny the mandate. The Congress expects all officers performing election duties to remember their constitutional responsibilities despite any pressure from those in power. Otherwise, once the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc government is formed, actions will be taken to ensure that anyone will think ten times before violating their 'Oath to the Constitution'."
Following the video's circulation, Naval Kishor Shakya, the Samajwadi Party candidate in Farrukhabad, filed a complaint with the district election officer. Shakya's complaint alleges that Rajan Singh Thakur cast votes after snatching voter information slips from other voters and that he was assisted by Dinesh Thakur, the local police station's station house officer. Shakya has called for re-polling at the affected polling center.
In a related incident earlier in May, Gujarat Police arrested two BJP workers for allegedly casting bogus votes and live-streaming the act on social media in the Dahod constituency. The Election Commission conducted re-polling at the affected booth following the incident.
The opposition INDIA bloc, including the Congress and the Samajwadi Party, has repeatedly accused the Election Commission of failing to take prompt action against election model code of conduct violations.
अपनी हार सामने देख कर भाजपा जनादेश को झुठलाने के लिए सरकारी तंत्र पर दबाव बना कर लोकतंत्र को लूटना चाहती है।
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 19, 2024
कांग्रेस चुनावी ड्यूटी कर रहे सभी अधिकारियों से यह अपेक्षा करती है कि वो सत्ता के दबाव के सामने अपनी संवैधानिक ज़िम्मेदारी न भूलें।
वरना INDIA की सरकार बनते ही ऐसी… https://t.co/fk4wXL8QZy
