Assembly Elections 2022: 5 states will vote over seven phases starting February 10. (File)
Bhagwant Mann is Aam Aadmi Party (AAP's) chief ministerial candidate for Punjab, Arvind Kejriwal announced today after an unusual televote in which people were asked to phone in their choice.
Bhagwant Mann received more than 93 per cent of the votes received through phone and WhatsApp, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal told reporters.
Mr Kejriwal had last week released a phone number and asked the people of Punjab to tell them who they want to see as AAP's candidate for the top job. At the same press conference, he had said that the party was keen to give the responsibility to two-time MP Bhagwant Mann, but he himself suggested the idea of asking for people's choice.
Assembly elections in Punjab will be held on February 20, the Election Commission said Monday. The date has been changed from February 14 after political parties requested the Election Commission to factor in Guru Ravidas Jayanti celebrations.
Meanwhile, NCP and Shiv Sena leaders will meet in Goa today to discuss a pre-poll alliance between the two parties in the coastal state for the next month's assembly elections, the Sharad Pawar-led outfit said on Monday.
The two Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies in Maharashtra are contemplating an alliance in Goa after the Congress declined to have seat adjustments with them for the February 14 polls to the 40-member assembly.
Here are the Live updates on Assembly Election 2022:
A video shared by the Congress party on its Twitter handle has triggered speculation as to who will be the Chief Ministerial face of the party in the upcoming Punjab assembly elections. In what is being seen as a snub to state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, who has aggressively tried to position himself as the CM face, the grand old party has posted a 36-second video clip with actor-philanthropist Sonu Sood saying that "the real CM" would be one who is forced to sit in the chair and does not have to aggressively advertise their own capability.
In the video, Mr Sood is seen saying "a person who is forced into the job is the real CM, he shouldn't have to project himself as the candidate. Like a backbencher being chosen and told that you deserve this, that person can change the country," he said, followed by a montage of Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi's visuals with dramatic background music pitching him as the man for the CM's job.
Eight candidates from across parties, including a sitting minister, filed their nomination papers on Monday for four assembly constituencies in the district, a senior government official here said.
"Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister Laxmi Narain Chaudhary and former minister Tejpal Singh, who had contested earlier against each other, filed their nomination papers from Chhata assembly constituency," Navneet Singh Chahal District Magistrate Mathura said.
Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi's nephew and several others were raided today by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with illegal sand mining, just weeks before state elections.
Mr Channi's nephew Bhupinder Singh Honey's home and 10 other places in Punjab were searched early this morning.
The Enforcement Directorate has filed a case of money laundering and is investigating several people with political links, officials said.
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