Assembly Elections 2022: EC extends rally ban; Congress fields 53 Uttarakhand candidates

Ahead of the upcoming Goa elections, Trinamool Congress (TMC) Porvorim candidate Sandeep Vazarkar was arrested by police in an old cheque bounce case. The arrested was made by Porvorim police after the court in Dehradun issued an arrest warrant against the former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader

My stand on Panaji is a principle stand. I said yesterday that if the party fields an honest candidate with integrity & no criminal records for Panaji then I'm ready to withdraw (as an independent candidate): Utpal Parrikar, son of late ex-Goa CM Manohar Parrikar

In fighting continues in Punjab. Congress Chief Election Committee meeting called for the selection of candidates for Punjab elections remained inconclusive due to the difference of opinion between PCC chief Navjot Singh Sidhu and Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, sources said.

Congress has formed a sub-committee to discuss the party candidates for the remaining 31 seats. The committee consists of Congress General Secretary organisation KC Venugopal, senior leader Ambika Soni and chairman of Congress Screening Committee of Punjab Ajay Maken, ANI sources said.

Congress released a list of 40 candidates for the upcoming 2022 Manipur elections. Former Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh to contest from Thoubal.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday extended the ban on physical rallies and roadshows till January 31, 2022. 

 Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) chief Shivpal Yadav will contest Uttar Pradesh assembly elections from Jaswant  Nagar. He would fight polls on Samajwadi Party's symbol.

Aam Aadmi Party CM candidate in Punjab Bhagwant Mann visits Shri Ram Tirath Mandir and Golden Temple in Amritsar.

"No chance for a third party. The parties that existed earlier have disappeared gradually. UKD too, which has a history of struggle, has been pushed by people into the bag of history. So, no question about a new party. It's not Delhi," said Congress leader and former CM Harish Rawat on Aam Aadmi Party.

BJP Raebareli Sadar candidate Aditi Singh on Saturday said that there is no weightage in Congress and there is a severe leadership crisis in the party. "Congress does not have time to look back at the state for 5 years, they only come here before elections. People in UP are ready to welcome BJP to power again," she said.

Raebareli Sadar MLA Aditi Singh, who recently quit Congress to join BJP will contest from Raebareli seat in the upcoming Assembly elections.

"I was a member of BJP for years but the party took me for granted. I have prepared to disassociate myself from the party & have decided to contest independently. I will come out with this declaration in a couple of days," said former Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar on resigning from BJP.

Hours after she declared herself as Congress' Chief Ministerial candidate for the UP elections, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra backtracked on this comment. Speaking to the media, the Congress general secretary contended that she was "irritated" after being asked the same question multiple times. Maintaining that it is not necessary that Congress will not announce a CM face for the UP polls, she asserted that her party can consider an alliance with any other party barring BJP after the declaration of the election results.

Read Full Story.

BJP is set to face another setback as former Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar has decided to quit the party today, sources confirmed to Republic TV. A three-time MLA from Mandrem, Parsekar was sworn in as the CM on November 8, 2014, after Manohar Parrikar was inducted into the Union Cabinet. However, he suffered a shock defeat in the 2017 Assembly polls losing to Congress' Dayanand Sopte by a margin of 7,119 votes. 

Subsequently, Sopte switched allegiance to BJP and was re-elected from Mandram. As per sources, Parsekar who is the head of BJP's manifesto committee for the Goa elections was miffed after the party again fielded Sopte from the Mandrem constituency. Sources indicated that he will file his nomination from the Mandrem seat as an Independent candidate. 

Addressing a press conference in Lucknow, SP supremo Akhilesh Yadav issued a slew of promises like - 22 lakh IT jobs, free laptop distributions, training institutes in Purvanchal, etc. He remarked, "I vow to continue the socialist principles when voted to power. In the coming days, our government will bring 22 lakh jobs in the I-T sector. Remember, we got HCL to invest in UP. BJP talks about one district, one product but they haven't allocated any budget for it. The laptops distributed by SP are still in use in rural areas". 

Addressing a press briefing, BSP supremo Mayawati said, "Today, I'm announcing the list of 51 candidates out of 55 seats for the second phase of UP elections. This time we've given the slogan 'Har Polling Booth Ko Jeetana hai, BSP Ko Satta Mein Lana Hai'. I hope party workers will work hard and will form BSP govt like of 2007."

Here is the candidate list:

Making an official announcement, SP's Ram Gopal Yadav declared that party chief Akhilesh Yadav contesting from Karhal. Falling under the Mainpuri Lok Sabha constituency which is considered Mulayam Singh Yadav's turf, Karhal has been won by SP since 1993 barring 2002 when BJP's Sobaran Singh Yadav emerged victorious. The latter joined SP subsequently and has been the winning candidate of the Akhilesh Yadav-led party since 2007. 

As per sources, Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra and his team agreed to extend the ban on rallies, roadshows and large public gatherings by a week. This comes after the Union Health Ministry told the commission that the cases of COVID-19 are increasing in the five electoral states. At present, the review meeting is still underway.

Reacting to Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi backtracking on her being the party's CM face in the UP election, Minister Sidharth Nath Singh opined, "Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said yesterday that I am the face of the Chief Minister in Uttar Pradesh like Congress and today I have turned away from that point. So it is clear that their slogan 'I am a girl, can fight' is hollow. Prove your slogan first."

The Election Commission of India will meet at 12.30 pm to decide whether the ban imposed by it on physical rallies and roadshows to prevent the spread of coronavirus should continue. While announcing the election dates, it had banned physical rallies, road and bike shows, and similar campaigning events till January 15. While it extended these restrictions until January 22, it allowed political parties to hold indoor meetings of a maximum of 300 people or 50 percent of the capacity of the hall or the prescribed limit set by the respective state disaster management authoritiy.

In a U-turn, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra backtracked on her claim that she is the CM face of her party in the UP elections.

In an important development on Friday, Congress veteran Pratapsingh Rane confirmed that he will contest the upcoming Goa elections from the Poriem seat. This comes amid speculation that he might not fight the polls after his son and BJP Minister Vishwajit Rane asked him to "retire gracefully". Winning every successive election from 1972, Pratapsingh Rane became Congress' first Chief Minister in Goa in 1980 and served in the top post five more times thereafter. Thus, he will take on his daughter-in-law Divya who was given a ticket by BJP from the same constituency.

Taking to Twitter, UP Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya remarked, "Not releasing the list of candidates of the Samajwadi alliance is a trick of Shri Akhilesh Yadav Ji, There are more names of rioters, criminals, corrupt, which are being hidden from the public. Akhilesh Ji, don't fool the public. Lotus flower is blooming in 2022. BJP government will be formed with a thumping majority". 

Launching a fierce attack on the Punjab CM, Amarinder Singh claimed that Charanjit Singh Channi fell on his feet to seek his intervention in the #MeToo complaint. This controversy had come to the fore in October 2018 when Channi was the Technical Education Minister in the Amarinder Singh-led government. The former Punjab CM lamented that he had helped "resolve" the issue when Channi was accused of sending indecent messages to a senior woman IAS officer, In a big claim, the Punjab Lok Congress leader asserted that the current CM pledged loyalty to him for life in lieu of addressing the complaint against him.

Speaking exclusively to Republic TV, Swami Prasad Maurya's daughter Sanghmitra Maurya revealed that she will continue working for BJP. Her father was a minister in the Yogi Adityanath-led government but switched over to Samajwadi Party ahead of the Uttar Pradesh elections. Reiterating her commitment towards BJP's ideology, she contended that there was no issue in family members working for different parties. She was elected from Badaun in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. 

In an intriguing development ahead of the Uttarakhand polls, ex-BJP Minister Harak Singh Rawat penned an apology letter after joining the Congress party on Friday. Maintaining that he was convinced to join BJP owing to its commitment to reduce inflation, provide jobs to youth and Rs.15 lakh in every person's bank account, Harak Singh Rawat contended that these promises were not fulfilled. Maintaining that leaving Congress was the "biggest mistake" of his political career, he tendered an apology to the leaders of the Sonia Gandhi-led party and the people of the state. Without disclosing whether he will contest the Assembly polls, he promised to work for the formation of the Congress government. 

"Mamata Banerjee herself reached out to Sonia Gandhi a few weeks ago and said let's leave behind what has happened in the past and look forward to a new beginning in 2022," said TMC national vice-president Pavan K Varma to PTI on party's offer to Congress for an alliance in Goa polls. 

Pavan Kumar added, "Sonia Ji said she will get back after discussing it (Mamata Banerjee's offer for an alliance in Goa Assembly polls) with her party leadership. But to date, there's been no response." 

Former BJP MLA Isidore Fernandes to contest the upcoming Goa Assembly election as an Independent candidate from Canacona constituency. This is after BJP denied a ticket to Fernandes from the constituency. 

Amid increasing cases of COVID-19, the Election Commission will reconsider its order to ban rallies, roadshows, pad yatras, cycle rallies, vehicle rallies. On Saturday, January 22, the Election Commission will issue an order in this regard.

BJP President JP Nadda instructed all the leaders present in the meeting in Uttar Pradesh's Goa to work firmly at the booth. Due to the absence of big rallies and roadshows due to Corona, only hard work will win the election at the booth, JP Nadda said, adding "Only by working on the mantra of winning the booth, the election will be won." 

JP Nadda advised all the workers to have a door-to-door dialogue with the people of Dalit settlements and backward classes. District President, Shakti Kendra Pramukh, and Booth President all together asked to mobilize full force in the elections.
 

"I am fighting for Panaji...not for any post. I cannot negotiate with the party. I was given many options from various sources, but I always had only 2 options .. either BJP or independent. It is of very high risk and difficult choice but I feel fight independent," Utpal said. 

AAP releases fifth list of three candidates for upcoming Goa Assembly Elections

BJP leader and strong candidate from Narendra Nagar Om Gopal Rawat is going to join Congress. On Friday, he met Harish Rawat in Delhi, along with Congress State President Ganesh Godiyal. 

Republic has learnt that there is tension between alliance partners RLD & SP over the Mathura seat in Uttar Pradesh. Both the parties have filed nominations for the seat, sources say. 

Swami Prasad Maurya's MP daughter Sanghamitra Maurya denies jumping ships from BJP. "I want to make it clear that I will work in BJP. There is no political discussion inside the house. In our case, there are only two parties, people of four different parties also live together in a house," she said. 

Two Congress leaders in Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh have resigned from the party, reportedly unhappy over the selection of candidates for the assembly election.

Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases between February 10 and March 7, and the results will be announced on March 10.

Ahead of the polls, Bulandshahr district president and state Congress committee member Sheopal Singh and district general secretary Rahul Valmiki resigned from the party.

Sheopal Singh was reportedly seeking the party ticket from the Anoopshahr assembly constituency, but the Congress fielded Chaudhary Gajendra Singh, a two-term BSP MLA.

Gajendra Singh had joined the Rashtriya Lok Dal last month but switched over to the Congress recently after being denied ticket by the Jayant.

After waiting for the last 5 days, Harak Singh Rawat joined Congress. His daughter-in-law Anukreethy Gosai also joined the party ahead of the Uttarakhand assembly election. 

With less than a month to go for the Assembly Elections in Uttar Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday released its slogan- 'Soch Imaandar Kaam Damdaar, UP Phir Maange BJP Sarkar'.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday released the third list for Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections 2022. 

Goa forward Party Siolim MLA Vinod Paliencar resigns as MLA and is likely to contest as an Independent Candidate from Siolim Constituency

The Congress-AAP faceoff took a new turn ahead of the Punjab election after CM Charanjit Singh Channi announced that he will file a defamation case against Arvind Kejriwal after the latter called him "dishonest". Taking to Twitter earlier in the day, the Delhi CM claimed, "Our survey is showing that Channi Ji is losing from Chamkaur Sahib. People are shocked to see ED officers counting bundles of such thick notes on TV". Taking umbrage at Kejriwal repeatedly linking him to the ED raids on his nephew Bhupinder Singh Honey, Channi opined that the AAP supremo has a habit of levelling allegations and tendering an apology later.

Speaking to the media in his constituency Chamkaur Sahib on Friday, the Punjab CM remarked, "I want to say one thing. There is a limit to everything. There is decency in politics. You should not cross a certain line. He has crossed the line several times before. And he has apologised on many occasions. He has tried to level false allegations against (Nitin) Gadkari Sahab. First, he levels big allegations and then, escapes by apologising. It is on record that you apologised to Gadkari, (Arun) Jaitley and Bikram Majithia."

BJP leader Sanjeev Yadav who hopes to fight polls from Karhal, Mainpuri, said," I will defeat Akhilesh Yadav and make him lose face here. All Yadavs here are with me".

Goa Pradesh Congress Committee Secretary Mahadev Desai along with his supporters to join TMC today. Desai is joining TMC as Congress denied Desai for Canacona constituency

While launching Congress' 'Youth manifesto' for UP, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday, declared herself as 'CM face' for Congress. When asked about the grand old party's CM face, Vadra said, " Do you see any other face?" 

The resentment in the BJP camp over ticket distribution escalated as two more MLAs- Isidore Fernandes and Deepak Pauskar resigned from the party. While Fernandes was the Deputy Speaker of the Goa Assembly, Pauskar was serving as the Minister for Public Works Department, Handicrafts. Textile and Coir and Goa Gazetteer in the Pramod Sawant-led Ministry. As per sources, Fernandes and Pauskar are likely to contest as Independent candidates from Canacona and Sanvordem respectively as BJP fielded Ramesh Tawadkar and Ganesh Gaonkar in these constituencies.

"I will hold a press conference today to announce my decision for Goa Assembly polls2022," said Utpal Parrikar to ANI.

"Blessing to Aparna is a blessing from Mulayam to all BJP workers. Mulayam is known to speak his mind.  Giving blessing to her means ultimately he is blessing BJP," said UP Law minister Brajesh Pathak.

Setting the rumour mills abuzz ahead of the Uttar Pradesh election, Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav gave his blessings to his daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav who joined BJP. This was the first meeting between them after she arrived in Lucknow on Friday. She has accused SP of fielding her in BJP strongholds, thus not letting her win.

Mulayam Singh Yadav's tacit endorsement of Aparna Yadav is being perceived as a fallout of the lingering rift in the Yadav family. After being ousted as the president of his party by his own son Akhilesh in January 2017, the former UP CM has kept a low profile and avoided full-fledged campaigning. However, he made a rare appearance at the Samajwadi Party headquarters on January 10 where he boosted the morale of workers and exuded confidence in the victory of the party in the upcoming UP polls.

Amid the likelihood of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav contesting the UP election from Karhal, Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya chided him for choosing a "safe seat". Falling under the Mainpuri Lok Sabha constituency which is considered Mulayam Singh Yadav's turf, Karhal has been won by SP since 1993 barring 2002 when BJP's Sobaran Singh Yadav emerged victorious. The latter joined SP subsequently and has been the winning candidate of the Akhilesh Yadav-led party since 2007. 

Taking to Twitter, Maurya contended that the SP chief would have opted to fight from an urban seat had his government focused on development. Moreover, he predicted that BJP will sweep all seats in the Mainpuri district including Karhal. A 4-time Lok Sabha MP, Yadav will contest an Assembly election for the first time. While BSP supremo Mayawati has decided against fighting the polls, BJP has fielded UP CM Yogi Adityanath from Gorakhpur Urban - a BJP 'safe seat'.

Ahead of the high stakes Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, the Islamic cleric and Ittehad-e-Millat Council Chief Tauqeer Raza Khan has extended his support to the Congress. However, his daughter-in-law, Nida Khan has sung praises for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government. Incidentally, she has stated that women have been safe under PM Modi's rule and has also levelled allegations against her own father-in-law Tauqeer Raza.

"When our fight had started for the Triple Talaq, I used to feel that if my husband went out and came back, will we still be married. Because Triple talaq was used to hang over every girl like a sword. But when the fight started against it, it was the BJP government that supported us. They gave protection to women and assured that Triple talaq won't happen," said Nida Khan.

Elections are set to commence in 5 states - Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Manipur and Punjab. The ruling BJP in Uttar Pradesh under CM Yogi Adityanath faces a resurging Akhilesh Yadav, in Uttarakhand it faces a strong Congress under ex-CM Harish Rawat, in Goa, Pramod Sawant faces a tricorner fight with Congress, TMC and AAP in the fray and Manipur CM Biren Singh faces a beleaguered Congress. However, in Punjab, it is the ruling Congress, which is now heavily embroiled in infighting, faces a rising AAP, Akali Dal-BSP and an unlikely combination of BJP-Amarinder Singh, apart from the farm union political leaders. Results for all elections will be declared on March 10.

Dates for Elections are as follows:

Uttar Pradesh: 7 phase election for 403 seats

• Issue of notification: January 14, January 21, January 25, January 27, February 1, February 4, February 10
• Last date of filing nomination: January 21, January 28, February 3, February 8, February 11, February 17
• Polling dates: February 10, February 14, February 20, February 23, February 27, March 3, March 7

Punjab: 1 phase election for 117 seats

• Issue of notification: January 21
• Last date of filing nomination: January 28
• Polling date: February 20

Uttarakhand: 1 phase election for 70 seats

• Issue of notification: January 21
• Last date of filing nomination: January 28
• Polling date: February 14

Goa: 1 phase election for 40 seats

• Issue of notification: January 21
• Last date of filing nomination: January 28
• Polling date: February 14

Manipur: 2 phase election for 60 seats

• Issue of notification: February 1, February 4
• Last date of filing nomination: February 8, February 11
• Polling dates: February 27, March 3

Results for all elections will be declared on March 10

Uttar Pradesh:

Republic P-MARQ Opinion poll predicts that the Bharatiya Janata Party (and allies) is likely to emerge as the single largest party once against in Uttar Pradesh with 252-272 seats in the 2022 Assembly polls. However, the saffron will suffer a major seat loss as Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party and its allies may win 111-131 seats. The Bahujan Samaj Party's seat share is likely to reduce further as the Republic P-MARQ Opinion Poll suggests only 8-16 seats for Mayawati's party. On the other hand, Congress may get 3-9 seats.

Uttarakhand:

Republic P-MARQ Opinion poll predicts that BJP is likely to retain power with the party projected to win 36-42 seats in the 70-member Assembly. On the other hand, Congress is likely to see major gains. The grand old party is projected to win 25-31 seats, while debutant AAP can win 0-2 seats. The other parties and independents are likely to win 1-3 seats.

Punjab:

Republic P-MARQ Opinion poll predicts that Punjab may witness a hung assembly as Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party might win 50-56 seats, just short of the majority mark. The ruling Congress is predicted to win 42-48 seats while Shiromani Akali Dal can get 1-17 seats. BJP, who is fighting polls in alliance with Captain Amarinder Singh's Punjab Lok Congress and SAD (Sanyukt), can win 1-3 seats.

Goa: 

Republic P-MARQ Opinion poll predicts the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to win 16-20 in the 40-member House. On the other hand, Indian National Congress, which was the single largest party in the 2017 assembly elections, is likely to get 9-13. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) which went black in the last polls might win 4-8 seats. Debutant Trinamool Congress can get 1-5 seats. The majority mark is 21.

Manipur: 

Republic P-MARQ Opinion poll predicts that BJP is likely to stay ahead in the race as the poll shows the saffron party bagging the most 31-37 seats out of 60 seats followed by the Indian National Congress winning 13-19 seats. The National People’s Party (NPP) and the Naga People’s Front (NPF) remain behind INC with 2-9 and 1-5 seats respectively.

BJP has fielded Yogi incumbent CM Adityanath from Gorakhpur Urban seat - his home constituency. Gorakhpur is the hometown of Adityanath and he had been the MP from Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat since 1998 until he became the chief minister in 2017. Facing him,  Azad Samaj Party (ASP) founder and Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad announced that he will contest against Adityanath for the Gorakhpur Urban constituency.

On the other hand, Samajwadi party chief Akhilesh Yadav confirmed that he will contest the upcoming Uttar Pradesh polls. Yadav - who is currently the Azamgarh MP - is most likely to contest from Karhal constituency in Mainpuri. The other likely seats from which he may contest are - Azamgarh's Gopalpur constituency or any constituency in Kannauj or Sambhal.

BJP has announced that it will fight along with allies Nishad Party and  Apna Dal (S) under the leadership of CM Yogi Adityanath. On the other hand, SP has refused to ally with big parties like Congress or BSP, opting to ally with smaller parties like  Mahan Dal, NCP, SBSP, RLD, PSPL and has kept his doors open for AIMIM, AAP. BSP chief Mayawati has already announced that her party will fight polls alone in UP and Uttarakhand, while allying only with Akali Dal in Punjab. Congress has aggressively campaigned under the leadership of Priyanka Gandhi in the state, eyeing its solo return. AIMIM has announced it will contest on 100 seats. Currently, Yogi rules the 403-seat UP assembly with an iron-clad majority of 314 seats.

As polls near, BJP has seen a slew of defections to SP. Sitting ministers - Swami Prasad Maurya, Dara Singh Chaudhary, and MLAs Dharam Singh Saini, Avtar Singh Bhadana joined the Samajwadi party, claiming that BJP was ignoring the OBC community. However, SP too has faced defections as Mulayam Singh Yadav's daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav and his brother-in-law Pramod Gupta joined BJP. Congress MLAs and BSP MLAs too have been seeing an exodus of leaders to SP.

As multiple parties offer 'support' to ex-Goa CM Manohar Parrikar's son Utpal, incumbent CM Pramod Sawant on Thursday, assured that the top BJP leadership is in touch with the miffed BJP leader. Brushing off Arvind Kejriwal's offer to field Parrikar from Panaji, he said Kejriwal is saying such things for political gains. Goa, along with Uttarakhand will go to polls in a single-phase on February 14. Results to be announced on March 10.

"Our central leaders are in touch with Utpal Parrikar. Delhi CM Kejriwal had said different things when Manohar Parrikar was CM and now he is saying different things for political gains. People of Goa understand this & will form BJP govt again," said Sawant.

Congress's Muzaffarnagar district secretary Mehraj, saddened by not getting a ticket in the UP assembly elections, cried bitterly. On Thursday, Congress announced the names of the candidates for all the 6 seats in the district. 

Not seeing the name in the list of candidates, District Congress Committee Secretary Mehraj became disheartened. She cried and said that I have been raising the Congress flag and stick for 13 years. He said that she had also been the state vice-president of Mahila Congress. Mehr Jahan has appealed to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and said If I don't get justice, I will commit suicide.

According to sources, Congress General Secretary in-charge for Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi Vadra along with Rahul Gandhi will launch the manifesto. After women, Congress is all set to woo youngsters in Uttar Pradesh as the party gears up to launch its 'Youth Manifesto' for the upcoming assembly election on Friday in Delhi.

According to sources, Congress General Secretary in-charge for Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi Vadra along with Rahul Gandhi will launch the manifesto in Delhi at AICC headquarters. According to sources, the manifesto, apart from listing out details as to how Congress will try to handle unemployment issues in the state, will also talk about unemployment allowance, including employment guarantee. Randeep Surjewala and KC Venugopal will also be present at the event.

Akhilesh Yadav now looks to position Subhavati Shukla - wife of late Upendra Dutt Shukla, who was BJP’s state vice-president against Yogi Adityanath for Gorakhpur (Urban). Upendra Dutt Shukla died in 2020 at the age of 60 after suffering a cardiac arrest.Shukla had contested three elections from the Kaudiram assembly seat (which was later dissolved in Gorakhpur Rural), and one by-election from Gorakhpur. As his wife Subhavati Shukla and two sons joined the Samajwadi Party on Thursday, Akhilesh Yadav has chosen her as a challenger to Yogi.