Rahul Gandhi, speaking at a rally in Sangrur, Punjab, linked the 2022 killing of singer Sidhu Moosewala to rising gangster violence in the state. He also criticised the AAP government's record on policing and drugs.
He recalled meeting Moosewala, who had joined Congress, and said the singer's security had been cut the day before he was killed in Mansa in May 2022. Police have pinned the murder on the Lawrence Bishnoi gang and named Canada-based Goldy Brar as a central planner.
Gandhi questioned AAP's pledge to wipe out drugs and accused Home Minister Amit Shah of backing jailed gangsters.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah will take a wide-ranging trip across Uttar Pradesh starting in late November, ahead of the state's Assembly polls. A BJP source says he will go to all six party regions to lift workers' spirits.
The first leg will cover two of those regions in November, and the party is planning for Shah to stay overnight in each of the six. He will also sit down with senior figures from each area to map out strategy.
District-level meetings and public rallies should follow.
Waris Punjab De, led by jailed MP Amritpal Singh, has inducted Amarjit Singh Amba Sursingh, a kabaddi player who has competed internationally. It has also offered a spot to a relative of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota if they want to contest Punjab's 2027 polls.
The party says the move shows growing support across different sections of society, and it has ruled out any alliance, saying it will contest alone.
Decisions on candidates and electoral strategy are expected soon.
Uttar Pradesh's chief electoral officer, Navdeep Rinwa, has asked senior officers from 23 enforcement agencies to coordinate closely and keep a tight watch on money, alcohol and narcotics ahead of the 2027 assembly polls.
Each assembly seat will get nine flying squads and nine static surveillance teams. The Election Commission is also flagging constituencies that need extra scrutiny, using seizure data from the 2022 assembly and 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Seizures will be logged on a shared web portal so every agency can act on them quickly.
The draft voter list for all 117 Punjab Assembly seats is out under the 2027 Special Summary Revision. Requests to add names or fix entries can be filed until December 11, and the final list is due on January 4, 2027.
Voters can check their entries on the CEO Punjab website or the ECI's Voters' Service Portal. Anyone who turns 18 by January 1, 2027 can apply to enrol, and assistance desks are open at district election offices.
Forms 6 to 8 cover new enrolment, overseas voters, deletions and corrections or address changes. Questions can go to the Voter Helpline on 1950.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has claimed that 1.27 crore names were removed from the state's electoral rolls. AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi, speaking at a press conference in Lucknow alongside ASP (Kanshi Ram) chief Chandrashekhar Azad, has asked the Election Commission to publish the list of deleted names and explain how the figure was reached.
Owaisi also pointed to Election Commission data that he said shows 2.89 crore deletions overall, including 46 lakh marked deceased, 25 lakh duplicates, 1.3 crore shifted and 87.19 lakh absent.
