Lucknow:

After the Lucknow Police served notice to Uttar Pradesh Congress President Ajay Rai, asking him to postpone his Sambhal visit, the party leader said that he would go to Sambhal “peacefully.”

“They have issued me a notice and have asked me that my visit will cause chaos. Certainly, we also don’t want chaos but peace to prevail. The atrocity and injustice that was done there by the police and the govt, I want my leadership to know this. They (police) gave me notice but I will go there peacefully,” Mr Rai told ANI.

Earlier in the morning, Uttar Pradesh Police issued a notice to Mr Rai asking them not to visit violence-hit Sambhal.

In the notice given to Ajay Rai, he has been informed that “keeping in mind the peace and communal sensitivity in Sambhal district, he should cooperate in the public interest and postpone his proposed program so that the order passed by the District Magistrate of Sambhal district, Section 163 BNSS is not violated.”

“Due to this no outsider/social organization/public representative will enter the boundary of Sambhal district without the permission of the competent officer. Going to Sambhal district with the delegation of Congress Party on 02.12.2024 is not appropriate from the point of view of peace and order,” the notice further read.

A Congress delegation led by the party’s Uttar Pradesh chief is scheduled to visit Sambhal where a stone-pelting incident took place on November 24.

Amid massive security, a three-member judicial committee conducted an inspection near the Shahi Masjid area in Sambhal on Sunday.

The committee members visited the areas and spoke to the residents as well as officials regarding the incident. The panel was accompanied by security personnel as they visited the violence-hit area.

Moradabad Divisional Commissioner Aunjaneya Kumar Singh said that the situation in Sambhal is currently peaceful and the authorities are constantly monitoring the same.

Tensions in Sambhal have been high since November 19, when a local court ordered a survey of the mosque. Clashes between protestors and police over the court-ordered survey of the Jama Masjid resulted in four deaths.

Lucknow:

Reacting to the row over using ‘nameplates’ on food shops on the Kanwar route in UP and Uttarakhand, UP Congress state president Ajay Rai said that if Chirag Paswan and Jayant Chaudhary are against this decision, then they should withdraw their support from the government.

Ajay Rai said, “If Chirag Paswan and Jayant Chaudhary are really against this decision, then they should withdraw their support from the government. This decision is definitely wrong. This is to create a division in society. Generally, the poor and downtrodden are involved in such activities. The government is unable to control inflation, unemployment, and paper leaks. They will badly face defeat in 2027.”

He further asked that the same Ganga River water is used to anoint Lord Vishwanath and is also used by Muslims for ‘Wuzu’, will a nameplate be used in such a situation?

Earlier, opposing Uttar Pradesh’s government’s directive for food shops to display their owners’ names along the Kanwar Yatra route, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) and Rashtriya Lok Dal Chief Jayant Chaudhary said on Sunday that it doesn’t appear to be a well-thought-out and well-reasoned decision.

Echoing similar views as Janata Dal (United), the RLD chief is also averse to the decision of identifying people and pointing them.

Notably, Jayant Chaudhary is a part of the Modi-led National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre and his party, RLD, holds important significance in western Uttar Pradesh.

Jayant told news agency ANI, “It doesn’t appear to be well thought out and well-reasoned decision. Any decision shouldn’t cause harm to the sense of well-being of the community and harmony in the community. All those who go on Kanwar yatra and people who serve them, all are same. This tradition has been there from starting and no one saw who was serving them. This thing of identifying people and pointing out them, I couldn’t get that.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The affidavit of Comedian Shyam Rangeela, who had filed a nomination to contest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat was rejected by the Election Commission on Wednesday. In a video message, Mr Rangeela claimed that out of the 55 candidates vying for the seat, the forms of 36 nominees met rejection, while the affidavits of 15 candidates, including PM Modi and Congress pick Ajay Rai, sailed through the scrutiny process.

Mr Rangeela has alleged a series of hurdles in the nomination process, claiming he was barred from submitting his papers on time. His accusations extended to the District Magistrate’s office, where he alleged being unfairly singled out and denied assistance during the filing process. 

“Today, the District Magistrate told me that there was some issue with my documents and that I did not take the oath. They did not let the lawyers go in with me and called me alone. My friend was beaten up. Modiji may act and cry, but I don’t want to cry here,” Mr Rangeela said.

वाराणसी से नहीं लड़ने देंगे ये तय था, अब साफ़ हो गया
दिल ज़रूर टूट गया है, हौंसला नहीं टूटा है ।
आप सबके सहयोग के लिए शुक्रिया ।
मीडिया और शुभचिंतकों से निवेदन है कृपया अभी कॉल ना करें, जो भी सूचना होगी यहाँ देता रहूँगा, शायद अब थोड़ी देर बातचीत करने की इच्छा नहीं है pic.twitter.com/aB6AZqLGqv

— Shyam Rangeela (@ShyamRangeela) May 15, 2024

“27 nominations were submitted yesterday and 32 were rejected today, I feel like laughing at the Election Commission, should I laugh? Or should I cry?” he added.

नॉमिनेशन के पीछे का कारण जो चुनाव आयोग कार्यालय से आपको दिखा रहें है उसकी भी सच्चाई आपके सामने रख रहा हूँ,
लोकतंत्र में उन्हीं को लड़ने का अधिकार है जिन्हें आयोग चुनेगा pic.twitter.com/aBFK6Zejry

— Shyam Rangeela (@ShyamRangeela) May 15, 2024

The response from the official Varanasi District Magistrate’s account attempted to justify the rejection, citing deficiencies in Mr Rangeela’s affidavit and failure to comply with procedural formalities. 

“Your nomination paper was scrutinised in your presence and you were informed about the deficiencies. Your nomination paper has been cancelled because the affidavit submitted by you was incomplete and you did not take the oath/affirmation, a copy of the order of which has also been made available to you,” Varanasi District Magistrate S Rajalingam wrote on X.

आपके नामांकन पत्र की संवीक्षा आपके समक्ष की गयी तथा कमियों से आपको अवगत कराया गया। आपके द्वारा प्रस्तुत शपथ पत्र अपूर्ण होने एवं आप द्वारा शपथ/प्रतिज्ञान न लिये जाने के कारण नामांकन पत्र निरस्त किया गया है, जिसके आदेश की प्रति भी आपको प्राप्त करायी गयी है। @ECISVEEP

— DM VARANASI (@Varanasi_DM) May 15, 2024

Formerly a staunch supporter of PM Modi, Mr Rangeela had said that the circumstances have evolved over the past decade, prompting his decision to contest against the Prime Minister from Varanasi.

“In 2014, I was a follower of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I shared many videos supporting the Prime Minister. Videos were also shared against Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal. Seeing them, one could say that I will vote only for the Bharatiya Janata Party for the next 70 years. But the situation has changed in the last 10 years. I will now contest against the Prime Minister in the Lok Sabha polls as an Independent candidate,” he had announced.

The Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency witnessed a historic clash in 2014 when Mr Modi, then BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, contested against AAP chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Mr Modi’s resounding victory, with a margin exceeding 3 lakh votes, solidified Varanasi’s position as a BJP stronghold, a legacy he aims to extend in the upcoming elections.

Varanasi, comprising five assembly seats, has been a battleground where the BJP and the Congress have locked horns over the years. Since 1957, while the BJP has enjoyed significant success since 1991, winning the seat seven times, the Congress has also wielded influence, securing victory six times. The Varanasi seat has never been won by the Samajwadi Party or the Bahujan Samaj Party.

New Delhi:

With less than a month to go for the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress released its fourth list of 46 candidates on Saturday. Some of the big names on the list are former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijaya Singh, Karti Chidambaram and Danish Ali, who joined the party on Wednesday, but it is also notable for its omissions. 

Congress’ Uttar Pradesh President Ajay Rai will contest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi for the third straight time. Despite naming candidates from Uttar Pradesh for the first time, however, the party has kept the suspense going on the all-important Amethi and Rae Bareli seats. 

The two constituencies have been Congress bastions, barring Rahul Gandhi’s shock defeat to BJP’s Smriti Irani from Amethi in 2019. While Mr Gandhi is likely to contest from Amethi again, in addition to Kerala’s Wayanad, all eyes are on the Rae Bareli seat, from where his sister and Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is expected to make her political debut. 

The seat was vacated by former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who has won it five straight times. Mrs Gandhi is now a member of the Rajya Sabha.