The BJP, which romped to power in 2019 on the back of an unequivocal mandate from UP, winning 62 of its 80 seats, was cut to size this time and had to be content with only 33 seats.
From putting up a decent performance in the last Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh winning 10 seats stitching an alliance with arch rival Samajwadi Party, Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party drew a blank in the current general elections, dealing a severe blow to its reputation of representing the voice of Dalits in the state.
Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) partners Samajwadi Party and Congress on Wednesday announced a tie-up for the Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, with UP's main opposition party leaving 17 out of the 80 seats in the state for the ally.
The BJP got the benefit of a split in Muslim votes in some seats of western UP, and its candidates registered wins from Muzaffarnagar, Kairana, Meerut, Bulandshahr, Baghpat and Aligarh Lok Sabha seats.
Majority of these constituencies are in Uttar Pradesh and the party that is on the third slot even as the counting is still underway on several seats is the Bahujan Samaj Party, a party neither with the National Democratic Alliance nor the opposition INDIA bloc.
The BSP has not entered into any alliances and has also been keen to shed the tag of being a 'B-team' of the BJP.
Taking a dig at Pakistan without naming it, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said a country which was a supplier of aatank (terror) is struggling for aata (flour) these days.
The suspense over whether Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will contest the polls from Amethi and Raebareli respectively continued.
SP president Akhilesh Yadav and RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary announced the tie-up on social media for the elections later this year.
'Just today a shopkeeper I went to was saying how bad business is. He must have been a BJP supporter.' 'He finally said, "It's a good thing there's an NDA government, not a BJP government, 'they' had become too big for their boots,".'
While conditions have improved over the last decade in western UP, there are still unfulfilled needs.
The SP president and the RLD chief announced the tie-up on social media for the general elections later this year.
Four more workers, who were hospitalised after a service lift crashed at an under-construction society in Noida Extension, succumbed to their injuries on Saturday, pushing the death toll in the incident to eight, officials said.
The Congress on Friday claimed that a 'silent undercurrent' is brewing across western Uttar Pradesh against the 'failures' of the Modi government, as it flagged issues such as 'neglect' of sugarcane farmers and examination paper leaks.
Sarfaraz Khan's dominating performance against England's spinners in just his debut Test was no fluke.
The notable names in the BJP's first list include Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh from Lucknow, Hema Malini from Mathura, Ajay Mishra Teni from Kheri, Smriti Irani from Amethi, Lallu Singh from Faizabad (Ayodhya) and Mahendra Nath Pandey from Chandauli among others.
Ali also shared the screenshot of a purported hate message in Hindi referring to the derogatory remarks made by Bidhuri.
The share of candidates who were successful among the BJP was 56.5% in 2019. It was 5% for the Congress.
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.
"If you get employment, you will watch Reels for half an hour and work for 12 hours," the Congress leader said.
The incident took place around 8.30 am at the under-construction site of Amrapali Dream Valley Society, the police said, adding that the long-stalled project is being completed by the state-run NBCC.
Star pacer Mohammed Shami has developed an ankle condition, which currently requires medical attention, as the Indian team management will hope that he regains fitness in time for the first Test against South Africa starting from December 26 at Centurion.
According to insiders, their lack of enthusiasm is showing on the ground. There is nothing to suggest that their enthusiasm will return in the final four phases of polling, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
2019 was the Bharatiya Janata Party's breakout year, when it stretched the boundaries of what was thought possible and ended up with 303 seats on its own steam. Now it is forced to play defence, on a pitch queered by too many variables, asserts Prem Panicker.
Anger cannot be an end in itself to Rahul Gandhi's politics -- it must instead catalyse a new political strategy, argues Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
'The Speaker should have asked Ramesh Bidhuri to withdraw his words and apologise.'
The seats held by the non-BJP parties in the state are Bijnor, Amroha, Moradabad, Sambhal, Raebareli, Ghosi, Lalganj, Jaunpur, Ambedkarnagar, Ghazipur, Shravasti, Mainpuri, Saharanpur and Nagina. Of these, Raebareli is held by Sonia Gandhi of the Congress.
'It is an existential crisis. We cannot recover lost ground through social media. We need to forge alliances and reshape our ideological contours.'
The World Cup trophy was not meant to be his, but India's 'Captain Fearless' Rohit Sharma gave everything on the field and so did Mohammed Shami, who set the record for most fifers in the tournament's history.
Ali also said he was hopeful that action would be taken by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla against Bidhuri in line with the traditions of the Lower House and the Constitution.
Amid the row over BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri's derogatory remarks in the Lok Sabha, BSP MP Danish Ali on Monday questioned the "delay" in action against the ruling party leader and alleged that the comments seem to have been sanctioned by the BJP's top leadership to build a narrative around him and his community.
Indian cricket team will not just be looking to win a third ODI global title but also look at saving the '50-over format' which has been battling identity crisis for at least five years now.
They took the centre-stage in the showpiece, showed the world what they are made of and walked away from the global meet with honour and distinction.
'When I was playing regularly, there must have been someone who had to sit out, and I wasn't guilty. So you can't feel low if you are sitting out because the team is winning.'
'Shami always knew that he would be required at some point in time and for that he was always prepared.'
A look at match-ups that could potentially decide the winner of the ICC World Cup final between India and Australia in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
It is very difficult not to respect Mohmmed Shami for his mastery over his craft.
This is what Krishna Rajput did.
Nineteen people have been killed in rain-related incidents in Uttar Pradesh in the past 24 hours, the state relief commissioner's office said Monday evening.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances