Assembly elections highlights:

The Election Commission on Monday announced that the single-phase assembly polls in Punjab will now be held on February 20 instead of February 14. Several political parties had urged the EC to postpone the polls in view of Ravidas Jayanti on February 16.

With the BJP deciding to field UP CM Yogi Adityanath from his home turf Gorakhpur (Urban) assembly seat in the February polls, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday sought to woo the sitting BJP MLA Radha Mohan Agarwal, offering him his party ticket for the seat.

Here are the highlights

#Akhilesh offers SP ticket to BJP's Gorakhpur Urban MLA, BJP slams him

With the BJP deciding to field UP CM Yogi Adityanath from his home turf Gorakhpur (Urban) assembly seat in the February polls, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday sought to woo the sitting BJP MLA Radha Mohan Agarwal, offering him his party ticket for the seat. Asked about BJP's Gorakhpur (Urban) MLA Agarwal, the Samajwadi Party chief told reporters here, "If you (reporters) can establish contact with him and speak to him, the ticket will be announced and he will get the ticket.

#Political parties welcome EC's decision to postpone Punjab polls

Political parties in Punjab on Monday welcomed the Election Commission's decision to postpone the state Assembly polls to February 20 in view of Guru Ravidas Jayanti, saying it will enable his followers to visit UP's Varanasi for festivities.

#Here is the complete polls schedule

Assembly elections in five states - #UttarPradesh, #Punjab, #Goa, #Uttarakhand & #Manipur, will be held in 7 phases from Feb 10.

Results of all the five states will be declared on March 10. Here is the complete #pollschedule#elections #India #2022 pic.twitter.com/GX1Uc6i0am— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18News) January 17, 2022

#As Uttar Pradesh gears up for the big fight in February and March, here's a snapshot of the state and how it stacks up on some key parameters. Take a look here

#We welcome ECI's decision to postpone the Punjab Assembly election. He (Ferozepur Rural candidate Ashu Banger, who quits Aam Aadmi Party) will be joining the Congress party: Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu

#We have announced to contest 100 seats for the upcoming UP Assembly elections; more candidates for other phases will be announced. We've made arrangements to conduct virtual rallies, as per the Election Commission's guidelines: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi in Hyderabad

#Election Commission postpones Punjab assembly elections from February 14 to February 20. Check details

Uttar Pradesh: A look at the poll-bound state and it's overall condition

As Uttar Pradesh gears up for the big fight in February and March, here's a snapshot of the state and how it stacks up on some key parameters. Keep reading

Supreme Court to hear on Wednesday, Jan 19 the plea of Maharashtra Govt asking the apex court to recall its Dec 15th 2021 order where it had directed State Election Commission to de-notify the 27% seats reserved for OBC & re-issue them under general category for local body polls. pic.twitter.com/d5XJVdYOce

— ANI (@ANI) January 17, 2022

Goa polls: Joining 'outsider' TMC was mistake, says Lourenco; hints at returning to Congress camp

Weeks after he walked out of the Congress fold, joined the Trinamool Congress and quit it a day before without assigning any reason, former Goa Congress working president Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco on Monday hinted at rejoining his parent party. He has apologised to his supporters and well wishers for committing the "mistake" of joining the Mamata Banerjee-led party ahead of the next month's Assembly polls. Addressing a press conference in Panaji on Monday, Lourenco said he had to face severe backlash after deciding to join the TMC, which he said had promised a "new dawn".

EC to discuss Punjab parties' demand to postpone assembly polls in view of Ravidas Jayanti

The Election Commission is meeting on Monday morning to discuss demands by various political parties to defer the February 14 assembly polls in Punjab in view of Guru Ravidas Jayanti. Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi had urged the EC to defer the polls by six days in view of the Jayanti.

Manipur Congress vice-president quits post ahead of assembly polls

Manipur Congress vicepresident Kh Ratankumar Singh on Sunday resigned from the party post ahead of the assembly election, a senior leader of the party said. According to the resignation letter, he quit the post but did not resign from the primary membership of the party, said the leader who does not want to be quoted.

Punjab polls: 15 lakh people respond to AAP's 'Janta Chunegi Apna CM' drive

Around 15 lakh people have so far responded to the AAP's "Janta Chunegi Apna CM" drive, in which the party has asked people to name their choice for its chief ministerial face for the February 14 Punjab Assembly polls. "In the 72 hours since the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has released the phone number 7074870748 to know the opinion of the people of Punjab as regards who should be the party's chief ministerial face for the upcoming election, around 15 lakh people have voiced their views," party MLA Harpal Singh Cheema said.

(Edited by : Anshul)

First Published:Jan 17, 2022 1:13 PM IST