An adverse outcome against the BJP in UP can well be taken into its stride by the ruling combine at the Centre, argues Virendra Kapoor.
With the Centre blinking on the issue of formation of Telangana, Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh on Thursday decided to revive his demand for Harit Pradesh to be carved out of Uttar Pradesh after the Parliament session.
The winter session of Lok Sabha began on a stormy note on Thursday with members of Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal creating uproar over the demand for hike in sugarcane prices leading to adjournment of the House. As soon as the obituary references were over, SP Chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and RLD President Ajit Singh led their party members into the well of the House on the issue.
With an eye to make the Rashtriya Lok Dal happy the Union Cabinet in a crucial meeting decided to rename the Lucknow airport as Chaudhary Charan Singh Airport. This was disclosed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram while briefing media-persons on the developments that took place in Thursday's meeting.
The curtain came down on rumbustious electioneering over the last two months when assembly polls were also held in four other states - Goa, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Manipur.
But the Congress said its leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will attend the event.
According to the Election Commission's website at 5.45 pm on Tuesday, the NOTA votes ranged as high as 2.1 per cent in Chhattisgarh to 0.5 per cent in Mizoram.
A CBI team on Tuesday met the family members of the 19-year old Dalit victim in the gangrape and murder case in Bulgarhi village in Hathras and examined the crime scene, officials said.
The 70-year-old leader attended a meeting of the floor leaders of NDA allies in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha in the Parliament chamber of Opposition leader Lal Krishna Advani on Thursday.
Angry protesters allegedly forced the two vehicles to stop and set them on fire.
As the first step, senior BJP Vice President and Convenor for the Lok Sabha polls, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, convened an hour long meeting with Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh, who is officially with the United National Progressive Alliance. RLD members have been sulking against a non-starter alliance stuck with Bahujan Samaj Party of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati.
While the last Lok Sabha elections saw Rahul Gandhi making his electoral debut, this time his cousin Varun Gandhi and several other 'Yuvrajs' appear ready to join the race with political stalwarts involved in hectic lobbying to ensure tickets for their wards.
The case pertained to obstructing a public servant from performing his duty during a protest three years ago.
Amid protests against acquisition of farmers' land, work on the Reliance power plant at Dadri in Uttar Pradesh will start from Thursday.
Successive elections have demonstrated that the BJP campaign switches towards polarisation when it is faced with palpable discontent among the electorate, notes Utkarsh Mishra.
The poll results will depend much on whether the caste and community coalition worked out by Akhilesh can withstand the onslaught of the Hindutva forces who have increased their efforts to polarise the electorate on communal lines.
Ajit Singh-led Rashtriya Lok Dal on Monday joined the NDA fold and announced that the "formidable alliance" would work towards a change in government in the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh.
Lecturer Kavita Rani had alleged in letters before her disappearance on October 24 that she had received threats from various people including Babulal.
He, however, expressed confidence that a series of state-specific alliances, where like-minded parties would come together on an anti-BJP platform, was likely for the 2019 general election.
Asserting that the people of Kairana were no longer living in fear, Shah said a satisfactory law and order situation is the primary condition for development and the Yogi Adityanath government has ensured this in Uttar Pradesh.
A magnificent Krishna Janambhoomi temple in Mathura was a recurrent theme for the ruling BJP in the run-up to the assembly polls, reports Nitin Kumar.
SP leader Akhilesh Yadav reacted quickly to the allegation, tweeting that the red caps are a 'red alert' for the Bharatiya Janata Party itself as they will oust that party from power.
"No such alliance has been formed, but the possibilities are always there," All India Congress Committee general secretary Ashok Gehlot told PTI.
The Left continued to reach out to other parties in its bid to topple the UPA Government with CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan meeting RLD chief Ajit Singh in New Delhi on Thursday.
Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, who chaired a meeting of the Cabinet, met Governor T V Rajeshwar and conveyed to him its recommendation for convening a joint sitting of the State Legislature.
"The Congress has failed despite ruling for so many years," she said.
Congress jolted by SP move in Uttar Pradesh.
41 constituencies spread over five districts-- Gopalganj, Siwan, Saran, Nalanda and Patna would go to polls in the last phase of polling on November 19.
There was no official word on the number of MLAs who attended the meeting at Gehlot's home, but party leaders claimed 106 legislators were there.
'...if elections were to be held today.' 'The problem is Akhilesh is not very aggressive.' 'Had he started his campaign aggressively six months ago, the picture in UP would have been very different.'
The five ministers in UP government are: Kokab Hamid, Anuradha Chaudhary, Babu Lal, Thakur Tejpal Singh and Swami Omvesh.
The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Congress and RLD members were up on their feet as soon as the governor rose to read his address and began shouting anti-government slogans.
However, the withdrawal of support would not make any difference to the state government. The Congress has only 15 members in the UP state assembly out of 403, while RLD has 15.
Polling for 16 Rajya Sabha seats in four states will be held on Friday amid allegations of attempts at horse-trading by rival parties which have corralled their MLAs in hotels and scenic resorts, prompting the Election Commission to appoint special observers and order videography of the entire exercise.
"Our government is prepared to prove its majority on the floor of the house if so warranted," Yadav said addressing a press conference in Lucknow.
The RLD Chief Ajit Singh, who announced his resignations at a press conference, said the alliance with Yadav-led SP and the government is over.
Actor-turned-politician Jaya Prada on Thursday said she wants to join the Bharatiya Janata Party as she is impressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership.
Swami Prasad Maurya's resignation has forced the BJP to focus again on its outreach among OBCs.
The ruling Samajwadi Party-Rashtriya Lok Dal combine swept the Zilla Panchayat chairmen polls, elections for which were held Saturday, winning 50 of the 65 seats.
Despite Babbar being the local parliamentarian, he has failed to set Yamuna on fire and leaders from Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party as also the Baharatiya Janata Party dubbed the party of the suspended SP leader as an 'also-ran.'
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