Owaisi's party to contest UP panchayat polls
Ballia (UP): The All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) is likely to contest the upcoming panchayat polls in Uttar Pradesh under an electoral pact with regional outfit Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP).
The SBSP, headed by former UP minister Om Prakash Rajbhar, is garnering smaller and regional parties under the Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha.
"Candidates belonging to Asaduddin Owaisi's party are likely to be fielded in the panchayat elections as the Morcha's joint candidate," Rajbhar told reporters here on Wednesday.
He said the nine constituents of the Morcha will hold meetings at all the 75 district headquarters of the state on January 17.
"After this, a joint rally of the Morcha will be organised. It will be addressed by Owaisi as well as other leaders of the front," he said.
Uttar Pradesh has a total of 58,758 ''gram panchayats'' and as many panchayat heads.
As per a state government notification, the five-year tenure of 58,660 ''gram panchayats'', barring 88 of Gautam Budh Nagar and 10 of Gonda districts, where gram panchayat elections were held later, ended on December 25.
Asked about the Morcha's stand for the upcoming UP Legislative Council polls, Rajbhar said, "The SBSP will not support the BJP."
The SBSP was part of the BJP-led NDA in the state when Rajbhar was a minister till he parted ways with the saffron party following differences with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
At present, the SBSP has four MLAs in the 403-member UP Legislative Assembly.
Biennial elections to 12 legislative council seats in Uttar Pradesh will be held on January 28.
Making light of Rajbhar, UP minister Sriram Chauhan told reporters later that the BJP will gain if Owaisi contests polls in UP.
"Asaduddin Owaisi has no poll issues and if he contests the elections, then the votes will get divided, thereby benefiting the BJP," he said here.
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LIVE | Election Results of five states 2026
New Delhi: The countdown has begun for the counting of votes for the Assembly elections in five states that have captured the attention of people across the country.
The counting of votes for the Assembly constituencies of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and the Union Territory of Puducherry will begin simultaneously at 8 am, and the fate of candidates in a total of 824 constituencies will be decided shortly.
The counting of postal ballots will take place first, followed by the counting of EVM votes in several rounds.
- Bhupen Borah, who recently left Congress and joined the BJP, is leading in Assam’s Bihpuria constituency
- Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma is leading in Jalukabari constituency
- BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari is leading in West Bengal’s Nandigram constituencyFive-state elections: Postal vote counting begins
- TMC, BJP lead in one seat each in West Bengal
- In Tamil Nadu, DMK leads in 3 constituencies, while TVK leads in 1
- UDF leads in 5 seats in Kerala, BJP in 1, LDF in 1
- BJP leads in 2 seats, AIUDF in 1 in Assam
- AINRC leads in 1 constituency in Puducherry
- TMC leads in 5 seats in West Bengal; Mamata Banerjee’s party maintains initial lead
- Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin leads in Kolathur
- BJP takes early lead in Assam
- Congress-led UDF leads in Kerala
- In Tamil Nadu, TVK chief Vijay leads in the Perambur constituency, lags in Tiruchirappalli South
- BJP leads in 10 seats in Assam
- LDF candidate V.P.P. Mustafa leads in the Thrikkaripur Assembly constituency
- Out of 294 seats in West Bengal, BJP is leading in 14 seats, TMC in 12 seats, Congress in 2 seats
- Out of 234 seats in Tamil Nadu, DMK is leading in 15 seats, AIADMK is leading in 5 seats, TVK is leading in 2 seats
- Out of 126 seats in Assam, BJP is leading in 31 seats, Congress in 4 seats, AIUDF in 2 seats.
- Out of 30 seats in Puducherry, NRC+ is leading in 3 seats, Congress in 2 seats, TVK in 1 seat.
- Congress’ Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury suffers a setback in theBerhampore constituency in West Bengal.
