Even as the Bharatiya Janata Party made a spectacular show in the Bihar assembly elections with almost all of its 101 candidates registering massive wins, 12 of the nominees missed the bus.
The National Democratic Alliance was set to sweep the Bihar assembly polls, surging ahead in over 200 of 243 seats on Friday with the Bharatiya Janata Party emerging as single largest party with about 90 per cent strike rate, reaffirming the popularity and campaign clout of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was the face of the ruling alliance through the poll battle in the highly sensitive political state.
A 1978 batch IAS officer, Ranjan, who assumed office this evening, said he would try to ensure clean administration.
Against the Samajwadi Party's decision to field actor Jaya Bachchan and retired IAS officer Alok Ranjan as its candidates for the Rajya Sabha polls, Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) leader and party MLA Pallavi Patel on Wednesday said she will not cast her vote.
Four Samajwadi Party MLAs who cross-voted for the Bharatiya Janata Party in the February 27 Rajya Sabha elections have been allocated Y-category security, a senior government official said on Sunday.
An eighth BJP candidate on Thursday filed his nomination for the Rajya Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, setting the stage for a contest with the Samajwadi Party on February 27.
Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak said on Tuesday night that all the eight candidates of the Bharatiya Janata Party have won in the Rajya Sabha elections from the state.
A senior SP leader requesting anonymity said that the party chief had called a meeting to brief the MLAs about the voting process of the Rajya Sabha elections.
Action will be taken against such MLAs, he said.
Akhilesh Yadav said those who are looking for "profit" in the situation will leave.
Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, BJP chief J P Nadda and new party entrant Ashok Chavan and Union ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw and L Murugan were among the 41 candidates elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha on Tuesday while Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh will witness polling on February 27.
In the past five years, UP's Opposition remained passive and defensive against the BJP, a trend that does not augur well for the impending battle.
Maurya resigned as the party's national general secretary on February 13, accusing the leadership of discriminating against him and not defending him over his controversial statements on the Ramcharitmanas and the Ayodhya temple consecration ceremony.
The Congress on Tuesday suffered a major upset in Himachal Pradesh at the hands of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Rajya Sabha elections which were marred by cross-voting in all the three states though it won three seats in Karnataka while the saffron party pocketed an extra seat in Uttar Pradesh.
The outcome of the polls to the Rajya Sabha is likely to have an impact in the politically crucial state just ahead of the general elections in the country.
The Opposition INDIA bloc on Friday finalised a 14-member coordination-cum-election strategy committee comprising members of various parties, and it will function as the alliance's highest decision-making body and start work on seat-sharing immediately, sources said.
'They know that if they do not tie up with the Congress, then the minorities will move to the Congress.'
'Nobody is speaking up for Muslims today.' 'Secular parties too have calmed down because they feel this will hurt the Hindu vote (bank).' 'In this scenario, where does a Muslim go?'
Their home is, not surprisingly, teeming with visitors who are received by the proud father and Azma Khatun, the mother of the 22-year-old.
Nikunj Saraf, Vice President Choice Wealth, answers your queries.
District Collector Alok Ranjan Ghosh said that the Sector Officer Awadesh Singh's driver had expressed his desire to vote. According to a primary reply by the officer, he had taken the EVM machine and VVPAT into a private hotel. A formal reply by the Sector Officer is awaited.
The MEP has been raised from $225 a tonne in May to $495 a tonne in October. Despite this, domestic onion prices have risen sharply. They are currently available at Rs 24 -28 per kg at the retail level, compared with Rs 8-10 a kg in May.
The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd has decided to actively trade in imported edible oils after failing to procure sufficient quantity of mustard seeds from the domestic market due to high price.
Internet, which for years now has helped link people through e-mails, chat rooms and matrimonial services, will now enable those with similar tastes to come together and share their gourmet preference.
Concerned over skyrocketing prices of onion due to supply scare in the market, government on Monday decided to import onions from China and Pakistan to tide over the crisis.
Bharatiya Janata Party national spokesperson and former Union minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, who got elected to the Bihar legislative council last month, was on Tuesday sworn in as a member of the Nitish Kumar cabinet.
The government has swung into action to curb onion exports and check the rise in prices in the domestic market by effecting an 8 per cent hike in its minimum export price.
For the first time, Akhilesh is leading the SP almost single-handed into a major election, but he is not the only one running the show Shikha Shalini reports.
Why does a rape victim in Bihar want to kill herself?
Power crisis has deepened in Uttar Pradesh with closure of one more unit of Anpara thermal power project due to a technical snag, prompting Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan to ask officials to find a solution to meet electricity shortage in the state.
Amidst rise in cases of crime against women, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday directed that martial arts training for girls should be introduced in schools and colleges so that they can learn self-defence.
Facing flak over the law and order situation in the state, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday held a meeting with top officials and said the kind of work expected from the administration and police in the district was "not being done".
The UP government turned down the Centre's offer to send a water-train to the state's drought-hit Bundelkhand region.
Rain and thunderstorm wrecked havoc in several parts of Uttar Pradesh leaving at least 21 dead
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday launched a unique pension scheme for the poor called the 'Samajwadi Pension' that aims to cover as many as 40 lakh people not covered under the existing 'Old Age', 'Widow' or 'Disabled' pension schemes.
Yogi Adityanath has turned Lucknow's VVIP guest house into his seat of power.
India on Sunday signed three agreements with the US for developing smart cities in Ajmer, Allahabad and Visakhapatnam, with the government saying that the agreements would make significant contribution to building such cities in the country.
Ten bogies of a Jammu-bound train derailed in Kaushambi on Monday, killing three persons including a woman on the spot and injuring nine and affecting train traffic on Allahabad-Kanpur route.
In another major shakeup of the state's bureaucracy in four days, the Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday transferred 36 Indian Administrative Services officers including district magistrates after a review of the law and order situation by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.
Under attack over the rape and murder of two Dalit cousin sisters, the Akhilesh Yadav government on Saturday suspended Badaun superintendent of police and decided to take action against the then district magistrate and undertook a massive rejig involving 66 Indian Administrative Service officials and 42 Indian Police Service officers.
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