Almost 1.70 Crore voters will get a chance to decide their own future.  The districts that will go to polls in the first phase of polls are Sitapur, Barabanki, Faizabad, Kanpur Dehat, Bahraich, Shrawasti, Balrampur, Gonda, Siddharthnagar and Basti.

The Uttar Pradesh elections are going to be a litmus test for a lot of parties. Congress has to show that all those corruption and scam cases against their ministers makes no difference to their poll outcome. BJP has to prove they are gaining ground and emerging as a winner in buildup to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. SP and BSP have to prove they still are a force to reckon with in the largest state of India.

Recent opinion polls have all predicted that UP is looking forward to a hung verdict with a probability of SP forming Govt with the support of Congress. Though SP and Congress are now in war of words against each other, it is quite obvious that the two will unite as soon as an opportunity to form the Govt comes. Same goes with BSP and BJP. In case of BSP emerging with majority seats, BJP is sure to make an alliance with them and form the Govt.

Meanwhile, Election Commission has banned all Opinion Polls regarding first phase of UP elections till 5PM on Wednesday. Exit Polls have been banned till all the phases of UP elections are over on 3rd March.

State elections are scheduled in Uttar Pradesh in 7 phases starting from 8th Feb and ending on 3rd Mar with election results on 6th March. But, already Opinion Polls by major News networks are creating a flutter. Star News opinion poll in Dec suggested 120 seats for BSP and 135 for SP, but in Feb, it suggests only 101 seats for BSP and 135 seats for SP. BSP’s loss is shown as gain for Congress which is shown as emerging as third strongest force in the state with 79 seats. Congress ally RLD will get 20 seats, putting Congress tally to 99 in UP. BJP is said to lose ground and end 4th with a paltry 61 seats.

If Star News predictions are to be believed, it is quite certain that BSP or SP will have to form the Govt with Congress support. Even now, BSP and SP lend an outside support to Congress Govt at the Center. In return of this favour, either of them could end up tying knots with Congress in Uttar Pradesh on one pretext or another. The elections in India are not run on development principles. The major motive of elections and political parties is to form their own Govt at all cost. So, if Congress is now blaming SP and BSP alike for the fate of UP, after elections all will be forgotten and soon they will become allies and form the Govt.

BJP might be wondering what has hit it that it keeps performing badly in the state. The problem lies not in its policies but in its organization and its leadership. Congress policies, its corruption, scams and rising prices have wrecked havoc on the common man but BJP has not been able to utilize this fact. BJP once lost the elections just because of increase in onion prices, but now every single essential commodity is getting costlier day by day and new scams are coming out showcasing UPA ministers as kingpins, but BJP has become so weak in its organization that they are not able to project themselves as an alternative to Congress. BJP brought Uma Bharti to counter Rahul gandhi but she is hardly seen on any news channel, while Rahul is all over the media. When will BJP learn to project itself?

Whatever happens after the Uttar Pradesh elections, it is quite obvious that not much will change. If BSP goes, SP will come. Congress will join hands with anyone just to be a part of the Govt. For next 5 years, the Govt will run its course or maybe if Congress sees that it is gaining ground in next 2-3 years, it will make elections happen again. Meanwhile, life for all of us will keep going the same way.

The 3 people who died in the Bongaigaon-Guwahati Chilarai Passenger train accident included the driver and helper of the earth-cutting vehicle which was stranded on the tracks at the crossing in Gossainghati between Azara and Mirza. Injured people have been rushed to the Mirza Public Health Center while the critically injured have been send to Gauhati Medical College Hospital and MMC Civil Hospital in Guwahati.

On the eve of A Raja completing his first year in jail, Supreme Court scrapped all licenses issued by A Raja for allocating the 2G spectrum. Another major ruling that was expected today was the decision of Supreme Court against P Chidambaram’s involvement in the 2G scam. But, Supreme Court refrained from commenting anything on this and told the CBI trial court to decide if they wanted to pursue a case against then Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s for his alleged involvement in the 2G scam.

It should be pointed here that A Raja himself has alleged the involvement of Chidambaram in 2G scam. in a statement in Court, A Raja even said that PM as well as Chidambaram were fully aware of the on goings in the 2G scam case. Congress came out as usual defending its leaders saying that the verdict was not an indictment of PM or Union Minister Chidambaram.

Supreme Court in its verdict today not just called the allocation as illegal but also said it was arbitrary and totally unconstitutional. It said that the “national asset” was gifted away by the telecom minister and officers of DoT at throw away prices. The Court has directed Telecom regulator TRAI to re-auction the 2G spectrum within 4 months and issue guidelines for the same within 2 months.

Anna’s team member Prashant Bhushan and Janata Party president Subramaniam Swamy have been consistently pursuing the case against A Raja and all alleged members in 2G scam. It is partly due to their constant vigilance that ministers like A Raja are now in jail.

Ponty Chadha, 57 year old, is a Uttar Pradesh-based liquor baron and businessman. He has control of the liquor business in Uttar Pradesh. He also diversified his business into shopping malls and residential colonies under the brand name Waves. His Centerstage Mall in Noida is one of the biggest shopping complexes in Uttar Pradesh. He is also involved in sugar mills business in UP. Ponty has been near to not just Mayawati but also to Samajwadi Party. In the past decade, he has grown exceptionally under the blessings of SP and BSP rules.

Today’s raid has been conducted across UP and Delhi at several places and locations of Ponty Chadha. One of the biggest raids is said to be currently ongoing at the Centerstage Mall in Noida where the Income Tax Department has said to find a safe locker in the basement of the mall with 100 Crore Rs in it! Ponty himself has not yet been arrested as he is said to be in Dubai for the past three weeks.

SP and BSP are saying that the whole raid is politically motivated by Congress to showcase them in bad light just days before the Uttar Pradesh elections are to begin. Congress itself has been plagued by similar scam cases and if at all, the current raids just brings SP and BSP to the same level as Congress.

But if you are expecting anything will come out of these raids today, go watch Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron. You will understand how the corrupt always join hands and make merry while the poor suffer for life. Once the elections are over, all parties will forget the scams, the raids, the corruption, everything. All they will remember is that on one pretext or another, they need to form a secular Govt in the state!

In Punjab, there will be a total of 117 constituencies featuring 17433408 electorates across 19724 booths. For Uttarakhand, there would be a total of 70 Vidhansabha seats from 13 districts of Uttarkhand going to polls. Election results 2012 will be declared on 6th March.

Narendra Modi can be BJP’s candidate for the PM’s post in 2014 Lok Sabha elections and he is expected to be directly fighting the PM ambitions of Congress candidate Rahul Gandhi. Besides, Gujarat State elections are due in Dec 2012. In such a scenario, Congress ad praising Narendra Modi is quite inexplicable. The two page advertisement published by Congress on Republic Day showcases the achievements of all Chief Minister’s of Gujarat and their help in developing the state.

Ever since the news came out, Congress ministers have been left defending the ad. Some say that the ad was published in good gesture to showcase a strong and vibrant Gujarat to potential investors and it had nothing to do with Narendra Modi. Others say that the ad does not even praise Narendra Modi. It in fact is sarcastic in nature.

Whatever be the case, the ad has definitely given enough ammunition to BJP in its preparation for Gujarat elections. Besides, this may even help it win some more seats in the current State assembly elections across Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand.

Manipur had a n electorate of over 17.5 lakh and according to the Election Commission the state saw an impressive turnout of 82 per cent voters. Voting started at 7 AM and took place across 2,357 polling booths. 875 booths were recognized by Election Commission as hyper-sensitive and violence did occur in some of these booths. At least 7 people were said to be killed which includes 3 polling officers, one CRPF personnel and a suspected naga militant and a woman.

Militants tried to capture a booth in remote village of Chakpi Karong, but CRPF thwarted the attempt. A small scuffle also broke out in Tipaimukh constituency but no injuries were reported from these places.

Meanwhile, 28th Jan also marked the end of campaigning for Punjab and Uttarakhand which goes to polls on 30th Jan. Uttar Pradesh elections will start form 8th Feb and the Assembly election results will be declared on 6th March 2012.

Monday was the last day to withdraw the candidature from Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. Out of 994 nominations filed for the phase 1, 66 candidates decided to pull their names out of the fray. Election Commission themselves rejected the candidature of 61 candidates because of incorrect forms or other reasons.

The first phase will see the districts and areas of Sitapur, Barabanki, Faizabad, Kanpur Dehat, Bahraich, Shrawasti, Balrampur, Gonda, Siddharthnagar and Basti go to polls. In the 2009 General elections, Congress was favoured mostly and they got the most seats here. So, 2012 polls in these areas are expected to be a close race between Congress and BSP.

Roadies judges are known for their toughness and aggression. They take almost everyone to task, sometimes even physically throwing candidates out of the room if they the candidates tend to cross their boundaries. But in Season 9, things have changed. Raghu and Rajiv are now calm and composed. They are no longer trying to be harsh with the contestants. In three episodes aired till now, they have cried/almost cried twice! Image Raghu-Rajiv crying on National Tv just because they got touched by what the contestant had to say! That’s a first. Rannvijay has continued to portray his cool-dude image and there’s no surprises there.

Roadies Season 8 had it’s own share of surprises and scandals. Remember Suraj, who faked his identity and emotionally blackmailed the judges to be a part of the show. And then when Anchal won the show in 2011, fingers were raised as many believed Suchit and Mohit were far better contenders and Anchal won purely on luck.

Mtv Roadies Season 9 will be held half in India and half in US. Exactly what surprises or how tough the show will be this time are not known, but the changed nature of the judges is a BIG surprise. Maybe, as they say, Silence Before The Storm, this may be an actual tactics by the Judges to be calm and composed now during the auditions and then unleash themselves with full fury during the actual show!

Roadies 9 started airing on Mtv from 7th Jan and every new episode comes on Saturday at 7 PM.