Speaking at a virtual rally in Manipur, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party is running several unifying initiatives such as ‘Go to Hills, Go to Village’ to defeat separatist propaganda.
“For us, Manipur and Northeast is the centre of India’s unity,” the PM said. He also hit out at the Congress party, saying that it has not worked for the development of Manipur and encouraged separatism.
Meanwhile, in an interview with The Indian Express, senior BJP leader and Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, expressed confidence over his party’s win in Uttar Pradesh. Speaking about the job opportunities, Shah said, “Do not look at the job sector like Communists, who consider only government jobs as employment. This is not correct. There is a difference between jobs and employment. We have improved the employment situation. It’s natural that people talk about jobs. But you have to understand the difference – there are so many startups, we have improved the e-marketing opportunities.”
On Monday, voting for the first phase of assembly polls in Manipur concluded without any major incident. In this phase, voting was held in 1,721 polling stations across 38 Assembly constituencies. The north-eastern state recorded 78.03 per cent voter turnout till 5pm, said poll officials.
Committed to providing jobs if back in power, says Akhilesh Yadav
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said on Monday that his party is committed to providing jobs once it comes to power. He was addressing rallies in Siddharthnagar, Basti and Sant Kabir Nagar, which go to polls in the sixth phase on March 3.
“Have you seen Baba CM’s face recently? You can see he is shaken. He says I wake up at 12 (noon). Since then, we also keep a track of his activities. In the evening, you can see smoke coming out of his residence. Some days back, someone told me that he cannot sleep at night,” he said.
After five phases of polling so far, BJP workers have become “cold”, said the SP leader.
Manipur Congress candidate arrested for alleged poll violence
Manipur Congress candidate Dr Lamtinthang Haokip, who is contesting from the Saitu constituency in Kangpokpi district, was arrested along with one of the party workers on Monday for alleged poll violence.
They were booked under the IPC and the Representation of People’s Act for various offences, including “common intention for assault to public servant from discharging duty”. Earlier, a complaint had been lodged by the presiding officer of New Keithelmanbi Upper Primary School polling station.
Voting was stalled in the polling station at around 10 am after violence broke out. The security personnel had to resort to firing several rounds in the air to disperse the mob.
