Assembly Elections wrap, March 1: Alliance churning in Bengal; Priyanka assaults BJP on CAA in Assam; and extra

With Assembly elections not far away in a number of states, Monday was a politically charged day, with heavyweight leaders campaigning and holding conferences to finalise pre-poll pacts.
While Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi campaigned for Congress in Assam and Tamil Nadu respectively, RJD chief Tejashwi Yadav met TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal. In Kerala,  BJP tried to succeed in out to the Christian group.
Here are all of the vital poll-related updates it is advisable know at present.
BJP leaders lack braveness to speak about CAA in Assam: Priyanka Gandhi
Congress chief Priyanka Gandhi on Monday mentioned that BJP leaders speak about implementing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) all through the nation however lack the braveness to speak about it in Assam.
“The BJP makes tall promises before elections but during the next five years, they do nothing to fulfill them. People have realised this,” the Congress chief instructed reporters after addressing a gathering of occasion staff.
BJP leaders transfer across the nation speaking about implementing the CAA however are silent about it after they come to Assam, mentioned Gandhi, who additionally supplied prayers on the Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati and took part in a dance with tea tribes in Lakhimpur.

कामाख्ये वरदे देवि नीलपर्वतवासिनि।त्वं देवि जगतां मातर्योनिमुद्रे नमोऽस्तु तेII
অসম আৰু অসমীয়াৰ কুশল কামনা কৰি মা কামাখ্যাৰ শ্রীচৰণত সেৱা আগবঢ়ালো
आज मां कामाख्या के दर्शन का सौभाग्य मिला। मां कामाख्या से समस्त देशवासियों के कल्याण के लिए प्रार्थना की। pic.twitter.com/jkWgu7JpLs
— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) March 1, 2021
“They lack the courage to mention it in the state and people of Assam should never allow them to even talk about it, let alone implement it,” she mentioned. Gandhi additionally launched a statewide “unemployment protest” from Lakhimpur.
Assam witnessed widespread protests in opposition to the CAA in 2019, with 5 folks dropping their lives in the course of the agitation. Those opposing the CAA within the state say the Act will convey in additional infiltrators and alter the demographic steadiness of Assam.
Gandhi additionally mentioned that the grand alliance of Congress and 6 different events will type the federal government in Assam.
Tejashwi meets Mamata, asks folks from Bihar dwelling in Bengal to vote for TMC
Tejashwi Yadav meets Mamata Banerjee at Nabanna on Monday (ANI Photo)
Amid hypothesis of a tie-up between RJD and TMC forward of the West Bengal Assembly polls, Tejashwi Yadav met Mamata Banerjee at Nabanna, the state secretariat, on Monday.
Tejashwi appealed to the folks from Bihar domiciled in West Bengal to vote for the ruling TMC. Emerging from a gathering with Banerjee on the state secretariat, Yadav mentioned that the primary precedence of his occasion was to cease the BJP’s progress in West Bengal.
He, nonetheless, averted giving a simple reply to questions by journalists about whether or not the RJD will contest the elections in alliance with the TMC, saying the upcoming polls can be a struggle for saving “ideals and values”. “Our party’s stand is to provide full support to Mamataji,” he mentioned.
Banerjee, on her half, mentioned she and jailed RJD chief Lalu Prasad share “mutual respect”. “When we are fighting, it is brother Tejashwi who is also fighting. We are together,” Banerjee mentioned.

Meanwhile, senior Congress chief Anand Sharma slammed the occasion for forming an alliance with Indian Secular Front (ISF) forward of the polls.
Sharma mentioned that the tie-up between Congress and ISF was “against the core ideology of the party and Gandhian and Nehruvian secularism, which forms the soul of the party” and the occasion can’t be “selective in fighting communalists but must do so in all its manifestations, irrespective of religion and colour”.

Congress’ alliance with events like ISF and different such forces militates in opposition to the core ideology of the occasion and Gandhian and Nehruvian secularism, which varieties the soul of the occasion. These points should be accredited by the CWC.
— Anand Sharma (@AnandSharmaINC) March 1, 2021
Moreover, fashionable Bengali actor Srabanti Chatterjee joined BJP on Monday.

Bengali actor Srabanti Chatterjee joins Bharatiya Janata Party in Kolkata pic.twitter.com/tEE7OgqBDL
— ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2021
BJP reaches out to the Christian group in Kerala
BJP on Monday reached out to the minority Christian group in poll-bound Kerala on Monday, with senior occasion chief and Karnata Deputy Chief Minister CN Ashwath Narayan assembly a senior Catholic priest, searching for to “gain the confidence” of the group.
Besides Narayan, BJP state chief Ok Surendran, who’s main the occasion’s “Vijay Yatra”, additionally met Syro-Malabar Church head Cardinal George Alencherry individually on Monday morning on the Bishops Council headquarters, sources mentioned.
Narayan mentioned he met the Cardinal because the occasion wished to kind out the communication hole with the Church.
“Lot of communication gap which we want to sort out and ensure that we gain the confidence of the Christian community,” he mentioned.
The BJP’s transfer to succeed in out to Christians forward of the essential polls comes because the group has vital affect in numerous constituencies, significantly central Kerala.
The assembly additionally got here shut on the heels of some high Catholic clergymen assembly Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi in January.
Meanwhile, the LDF and the UDF are anticipated to finalise seat-sharing preparations amongst their respective companions by the tip of the week.
TN ought to present the way in which in retaining BJP out: Rahul Gandhi
Rahul Gandhi in Tamil Nadu on Monday (Twitter: @INCIndia)
Rahul Gandhi Monday held a number of occasions in Tamil Nadu. At a public deal with in Nagercoil, Gandhi mentioned historical past has proven no person can rule Tamil Nadu aside from the Tamil folks.
“This election will show the same thing — that only a person who truly represents the Tamil people can be a Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu,” he mentioned.
DMK in Tamil Nadu has signed a seat-sharing pact with the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (MMK) for the April 6 Assembly election, allocating them three and two seats, respectively.
The DMK is near clinching the take care of Vaiko’s Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) and talks are on with Thol Thirumavalavan-led VCK.
A VCK chief mentioned his occasion had conveyed its desired variety of seats to the DMK leaders in the course of the seat-sharing talks.
MDMK deputy basic secretary Mallai C Sathya, who led a four-member staff for the talks with the DMK leaders at Anna Arivalayam, the DMK headquarters, mentioned “our party leader (Vaiko) and DMK president (M K Stalin) will finalise the deal tomorrow, hopefully.”
Announcing that three seats have been finalised for his occasion, on the finish of two-day deliberations which concluded on Monday, IUML nationwide president M Kader Mohideen mentioned his occasion had sought 5 seats. “We agreed and signed the deal for three seats after the DMK said they are not in a position to allocate more seats as many allies have to be accommodated,” Mohideen instructed reporters.
[With inputs from PTI]