SP to contest five Gujarat seats, supports Cong in rest: Akhilesh
LUCKNOW: The Samajwadi Party will contest five of the 182 assembly seats in Gujarat and support the Congress in the rest, SP president Akhilesh Yadav said on Monday.
He said the party did not want a split in the anti-bjp votes and hence would contest only the seats where it has got strong organisational base.
"In Gujarat, we will be contesting five seats where our organisation is strong. We are not going to weaken the fight there (against the BJP). In the rest of the seats, the party will support Congress," he told reporters here.
The Congress and the Samajwadi Party had struck an alliance in Uttar Pradesh for the assembly elections earlier this year. The Congress had contested 105 of the 403 seats while the Samajwadi Party battled it out in 298 seats.
Asked if he would campaign in Gujarat, the SP chief said, "I will campaign where our candidates are in the fray. If any other party approaches me, I can campaign for it."
Asked about the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to religious places, Yadav downplayed it, saying, "I have also visited all religious places during my school tours. During Diwali, I also prayed with my family."
When asked about the allegations of Narendra Patel, an activist of Hardik Patelled Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti, that he was offered Rs 1 crore for joining the BJP, Yadav took a swipe at the saf- fron party, saying it was the "most honest" party. "How can it do so?"
He also "advised" the mediapersons not to run the story, "otherwise your channel will be closed".
On the raging Taj Mahal controversy, he said it was the identity of the country and the "Prime Minister had himself said in his speech that there was a need to attract tourism in the country".
"Had our government got NGT (National Green Tribunal) permission, we would have done more beautification work around the Taj," said Yadav, who was the chief minister of the state between 2012 and 2017. NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear this month end a plea by the Congress party seeking directions to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to frame guidelines for counting of votes through VVPAT machines in the upcoming Gujarat Assembly poll and other elections.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud sought the assistance of Attorney General K K Venugopal in the matter which is to be heard on October 30.
Prakash Joshi, secretary of All India Congress Committee, has moved the top court seeking a direction to the EC to install CCTV cameras inside the polling booth to watch the "mobility of persons inside".
During the hearing, senior lawyers Kapil Sibal and Vivek Tankha, appearing for him, told the bench that this matter was required to be heard expeditiously as dates for the Gujarat Assembly elections were expected to be declared soon.
"Let a copy of the petition be served to the central agency so that we can have assistance of Attorney General," the bench said. The petition said the poll panel should be directed not to post any official, who is facing any inquiry or disciplinary proceedings, in key positions in the districts on contract basis or on extension of time from services.
The plea said they had made representations to the EC in raising these issues but no decision was taken by it.
It has also sought the apex court's direction to the poll panel not to disturb the voters' list without notice to the voters as well as the concerned political parties.
"Issue direction to install CCTV cameras inside the polling booth to watch the mobility of persons inside the polling booth and such videograph has to be displayed along with the number of votes poll, outside the polling booth on a display board," the plea said.
The plea has said the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee had initially given a representation to the state election commission on September 21 expressing concern specifically regarding the comparison of electronic results with the paper trail results.
It said thereafter, another representation was filed on September 22 raising several issues, including framing of rules and guidelines for counting of votes through the Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines.
The plea said the party had suggested to the poll panel to increase the visibility time of VVPAT paper trail from 7 to 13 seconds and hold random checks of the VVPAT machines.