'Just as a wave brought the BJP into power; an anti wave will blow them away.'
Jatav youth ask tough questions about surgical strikes, expenditure on statues and organising of the Kumbh festival.
A defamation case has been filed against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Uttar Pradesh's Prabudhnagar district by a Shiv Sena activist for his alleged derogatory remarks against people of the state at a rally.
In a stunning blow to the BJP on Wednesday, the party lost bypolls to all the three Lok Sabha seats it contested, including its bastion Gorakhpur, and Phulpur in Uttar Pradesh, besides Araria in Bihar.
A new crop of politicians is redefining the dynamics of politics in Uttar Pradesh. Neerja Chowdhury analyses the mood change in the poll-bound state.
Congress MLA Pramod Tiwari, who was on Monday seen among those scuffling with youths who tried to show black flags to Rahul Gandhi when his helicopter landed at Phulpur near Allahabad, defended his act saying "I feared for the life of our young leader whose family has been a victim of political violence".
Addressing his last 'Mann ki Baat' of 2019, the prime minister said the youth hate anarchy and disorder and dislike casteism, nepotism and favouritism, remarks that come in the backdrop of recent violent protests in various university campuses over the Citizenship Amendment Act and proposed National Register of Citizens.
The elections in this phase are seen as a big test for the Bharatiya Janata Party
'In Yogi's Raj, Hindu festivals are State festivals.' 'He celebrates them, so does his police force, as he boasted in the assembly on Tuesday.' 'Eid, Christmas -- these can be observed, but expect nothing from the State to facilitate these celebrations,' says Jyoti Punwani.
The CM added the BJP has learnt its "lessons" and exuded confidence it will perform better in future polls.
The Samajwadi Party on Monday sought the disqualification of six of its Members of Parliament who had defied the party whip and voted against the confidence motion last week.The party, which has already expelled the MPs, made the demand for their disqualification in a representation to the Speaker, Lok Sabha sources said.
In the same breath, the RPI-A leader said, "No one can challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi -- neither Congress president Rahul Gandhi, nor SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, nor BSP supremo Mayawati."
'This is possibly a long drawn battle and if the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party are together in this long battle, a new political picture will emerge in the country.' 'In this battle if we have to sacrifice or give up anything, we are ready.' 'We have to remain cautious against the BJP's attempts to break our unity.' 'We want this alliance to stay.'
The new Lok Sabha will have 300 MPs who have been elected for the first time to the Lower House.
Five Honourable MPs must be brought from their jail cells to Parliament, television cameras recording every move. It shall be an unsavoury beginning to the new alliance.
Like Modi, Keshav Prasad Maurya worked at tea stalls. Dinesh Sharma, on the other hand, is a professor at Lucknow university.
Discarded Indian pacer Praveen Kumar has joined Samajwadi Party on Sunday ahead of the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls. Kumar, who has represented India in six Test matches and 68 ODIs, said that he met UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and took the decision to join his party. "I have met CM and decided to join the party. I will do whatever is possible for the party," Kumar told reporters after meeting the CM, who is also state president of SP.
'In Kairana, the grand coalition was able to transfer its votes to a Muslim candidate in supposedly an era of anti-Muslim ambience.' 'Given this perspective, the Kairana result seems more significant than that of Gorakhpur and Phulpur a few months ago,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
Though there was no official word from both the parties, the sources claimed that two Uttar Pradesh-based political outfits will contest 37 Lok Sabha seats each.
The cleric was taken into custody on Sunday night based on reports of suspicious activities in the past.
Janata Dal-Secular's H D Kumaraswamy on Wednesday took the oath of office at a mega-gathering, attended by Congress president Rahul Gandhi, his mother Sonia and strong regional leaders like Mamata Banerjee, Mayawati and Sharad Pawar. The event was planned in such a way that it would serve as a giant display of opposition unity against the Bharatiya Janata Party. Is the BJP watching?
Given the controversy over Uttar Pradesh's population control moves, Hemant Shivsaran/Rediff.com digs deep to find out how many children BJP MLAs in UP have.
In 2018, the BJP's rare successes in north-east India aside, everything that could go wrong, did go wrong for the party.
The Modi govt is continuously indulging in theatrics on issues related to Dalits and backwards and any more drama on the issue will not get them any political mileage, Mayawati said.
However, the BJP is sceptical about the SP-BSP alliance as they believe Mayawati and Akhilesh will "finish off after fighting among themselves."
Within four years of winning a single party majority in the Lok Sabha with 282 seats -- the first time it has happened in 30 years -- the BJP has lost it.
The former UP CM also expressed his gratitude towards Mayawati, who was once his party's bitterest rival in UP.
Bharatiya Janata Party general secretary Amit Shah on Saturday said winds of change were blowing across the country and its effect would be visible even in a Congress stronghold like Amethi.
'NDA allies have realised that if they don't dump the BJP, then people will dump their party in 2019.' 'People's mood is against the BJP'
The party office in Lucknow buzzed with activity as enthusiastic Congress workers gathered outside the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee building, even before she returned from an overnight stay in Jaipur.
The polling for the sixth phase on May 12 covers 6 states and one Union Territory.
Meanwhile, the Congress said that that it is ready to go it alone in Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha election.
'The Congress's policy is it will take benefits from everybody, but when it gets an opportunity, it does not want to share it with others'
Nothing has been done for Dalits in the last four years, Nagina MP Yashwant Singh wrote in a letter to the PM.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath attributed the impressive show by his party to the "alert voters" who he said rejected the 'mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance) of opposition parties.
The other BJP MLA, Shyam Prakash from Gopamau (SC) in Hardoi, posted a satirical poem on Facebook.
With Congress on the verge of a humiliating defeat, a group of party workers on Friday gathered outside the All India Congress Committee headquarters demanding Priyanka Gandhi's entry into active politics to "rescue" the party.
The Bharatiya Janata Party announced a major organisational reshuffle in the party, appointing Hindu hardliner Keshav Maurya and former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa as state party presidents in Uttar Pradesh and Karntaka respectively.
Rahul Gandhi's sister may finally break her self-imposed ban on political life, reports Sheela Bhatt.
The rapprochement could open the door to an anti-saffron alliance for the 2019 general elections, reports Archis Mohan.
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