A look at the latest developments on Assembly elections from the five states:

  1. Voters in Uttar Pradesh will advocate for leaders who talk about farmers’ welfare, said farmer leader Rakesh Tikait said on Friday, PTI reported. He added that division on religious lines will not benefit any candidate. Tikait claimed that farmers of Uttar Pradesh were getting less value for their produce and were instead obliged to pay exorbitant electricity bills. “The [election] issues are farmers, unemployed youth and inflation for the middle class,” he said. “But efforts are being made to polarise Hindu-Muslim voters through regular statements on Jinnah and Pakistan.”
  2. Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu on Saturday challenged Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia to renounce his candidature from Majitha constituency in Punjab and only contest from Amritsar East, ANI reported. Majithia has filed his nominations from two constituencies. Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal on Thursday had said Majithia will “dismantle Sidhu’s arrogance” in the upcoming state elections.
  3. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will campaign in Goa on February 2, ANI reported. He will hold a virtual rally in incumbent Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant’s Sanquelim constituency.
  4. Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Jayant Chaudhary said that the current dispensation in Uttar Pradesh is misusing its power, NDTV reported. “There is massive misuse being done by the government,” he said. “Teachers are being made to attend rallies and being sent by the bus-loads. Jawans have told me, too, that they have been made to vote under the supervision of their seniors. This is going to happen again.” Rashtriya Lok Dal has aligned with the Samajwadi Party for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.
  5. Aam Aadmi Party National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday announced that there will be no new tax and no hikes in the existing taxes in Punjab if he forms the government, the Hindustan Times reported. He also promised to ensure cleanliness across Ludhiana, Bathinda, Amritsar and Jalandhar – cities that he claimed were unkempt.