A look at the top Assembly election developments:

  1. Aam Aadmi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said the party’s chief ministerial candidate for the Punjab Assembly polls will be announced at 12 pm on Tuesday, reported ANI. Last week, the party had announced a phone number on which voters could call or send messages to name a person of their choice as the chief ministerial candidate.
  2. Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi’s younger brother, Manohar Singh, has declared that he will contest as an independent candidate from the Bassi Pathana constituency after he was denied a ticket by the Congress, reported NDTV. Singh was not given a ticket apparently because of the party’s “one family, one ticket” rule.  
  3. The Election Commission is holding a meeting to discuss the demands by various political parties to defer the February 14 Assembly polls in Punjab in view of the celebrations of the birth anniversary of poet Ravidas, reported PTI. Lakhs of devotees visit Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh to celebrate the day on February 16, and parties, including the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party, feel that they would not be able to cast their votes because of this.
  4. Former Goa MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco on Sunday quit the Trinamool Congress a month after switching over from the Congress and just weeks ahead of the Assembly elections, reported NDTV. Soon after he quit, Congress leader Micheal Lobo asked Lourenco to return to the Congress.
  5. Uttarakhand minister Harak Singh Rawat was removed from the state Cabinet, and his primary membership of the Bharatiya Janata Party was revoked for six years ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections. Party spokesperson Shadab Shams said that the move sends a strong message that the BJP does not tolerate indiscipline and does not bow to pressure of any kind.
  6. Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut urged all political parties, except the Bharatiya Janata Party, in Goa to support Utpal Parrikar, the son of former Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, if he will contest the Panaji seat as an independent candidate. Utpal Parrikar is reportedly upset over speculation that the BJP was planning to field former minister Atanasio Monserrate from Panaji, the seat held by Manohar Parrikar for 25 years, according to NDTV. 
  7. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav tweeted a video of a BJP MLA holding a roadshow in violation of Election Commission guidelines after the poll panel issued a notice to his party workers for violating Covid-19 safety protocols. Yadav said that while there was a complete ban on programmes of the Samajwadi Party and its vehicles were fined, the BJP candidate from Amroha was openly mocking the model code of conduct and the coronavirus guidelines by holding the roadshow.
  8. Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said his party will support the Samajwadi Party in order to defeat the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the Uttar Pradesh elections, reported India Today.
  9. The Election Commission has issued a notice to BJP MLA Nand Kishor Gurjar after he allegedly invoked religious hatred during his campaign for the upcoming Assembly elections, reported India Today. Gurjar has been asked to reply by Wednesday and explain why he used a controversial slogan.
  10. Congress leader P Chidambaram claimed that contest in Goa is only between the Congress and the BJP. Chidambaram said his assessment that the Aam Aadmi Party will only fracture non-BJP vote has been confirmed by party’s convenor Arvind Kejriwal.