Even without Shah's TN visit and the rest, the increasing bonhomie between the BJP and the AIADMK factions in the state have become more visible than ever in the post-Jaya era, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Former Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh on Tuesday ruled out the possibility of an alliance with any political party for the formation of government in Uttar Pradesh. "There is no question of going with any party in Uttar Pradesh to form an alliance," said Singh. "All the senior leaders of the party have been saying so. We will not give or take support in Uttar Pradesh," Singh said.
Even as Uttar Pradesh prepares for the first phase of polling on Wednesday, nine star campaigners of the Bhartiya Janata Party, led by its president Nitin Gadkari, mounted carpet bombing in a campaign blitz in the state.
The BJP is protesting the removal of a statue of Jan Sangh leader Deen Dayal Upadhyaya and demolition of a square in Rampur town of Uttar Pradesh.
Mulayam's last rites will be performed with full state honours in Saifai near Etawah in Uttar Pradesh
Bharatiya Janata Party president J P Nadda on Thursday met leaders of the party's allies in Uttar Pradesh -- Anupriya Patel of the Apna Dal-S and Sanjay Nishad of the Nishad party -- at his residence in New Delhi as part of its government formation exercise.
He has done so at instruction of the party high command.
Gandhi, who was here to attend the BJP's national executive, was conspicuous by his absence at the meeting of Lok Sabha MPs, which was attended by PM Modi among others.
Due to protests against the farm laws, BJP leaders could not enter villages in western UP, he said, adding the farmers can also gherao them in the future.
Known for delivering time-bound results, Sharma earned Modi's confidence as his secretary during his tenure as the Gujarat chief minister by successfully handling the Vibrant Gujarat campaign to get investments to the state.
After facing a ban in Jayalalithaa's Tamil Nadu, Kamal Haasan's ambitious film Vishwaroopam may face a similar fate in Uttar Pradesh. "Before it is allowed to be screened, we will take a look at Vishwaroopam to find out what is objectionable in the film", Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav told media personnel in Allahabad Thursday.
The BJP on Wednesday came out in support of farmers' leader Mahendra Singh Tikait making a strong plea for withdrawal of cases against him. Party chief Rajnath Singh attacked the Mayawati government for "harassing" Tikait, who was arrested earlier in the day for his alleged castiest remarks against the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister.
'Sharma was sent to Lucknow for a purpose, but he has merely been adjusted in the party hierarchy because the chief minister refused to induct him into his government. He was secretary in the Central government and was holding a much higher office than the state ruling party's vice-president' Virendra Singh Rawat reports.
He said that the Congress should also specify its stand on the Ram Sethu issue.
Uttar Pradesh BJP president Ramapati Ram Tripathi, who announced the list of the state party office bearers late on Monday night, appointed six vice-presidents, four general secretaries and six secretaries.
The party has demanded immediate dismissal of the state government.
'I was feeling so suffocated under Yogiji's rule.'
Amid reports that most its senior leaders are staying away from assembly poll campaigning in Uttar Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday cleared the air on the issue saying its top brass will "camp" in the state for a month beginning next week.
Political parties were bracing for the assembly election results on Thursday in the crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and politically volatile Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur, sending out feelers for possible post-poll tie-ups.
'If there is any possibility, then the BJP has to accept our conditions. There should be caste census in the country, the report of the social justice committee should be implemented, the CM should be from backward caste and also the poor must be provided a uniform, mandatory and free education as well as free medical treatment.'
The BJP will contest on 73 seats out of the 80 in Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha elections as per the seat-sharing agreement reached between the saffron party and the Ajit Singh-led RLD.
The ceremony on Friday will be attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and chief ministers of Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states.
BJP's national general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh and Uttar Pradesh in-charge Radha Mohan Singh on Monday held meetings with the top state leaders and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh office-bearers here to review the party's programmes in the politically crucial state where assembly polls are due next year.
Consolidating its position, the Bharatiya Janata Party wrested high-profile Rampur and Azamgarh Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh from the Samajwadi Party and won three assembly seats, including that of Chief Minister Manik Saha, in Tripura in by-election results announced on Sunday.
A photograph of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat sitting with Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav has set tongues wagging in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, with the Congress taunting that the S in SP means the Sangh.
S P Singh Baghel and B L Verma who made it to the Union council of ministers on Wednesday are two prominent Other Backward Classes leaders from Uttar Pradesh.
Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Legislative Assembly Sangeet Som, against whom an arrest warrant has been issued in connection with the Muzaffarnagar riots, on Wednesday said he was ready for an arrest and demanded an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the entire issue.
Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday accused the Congress and Samajwadi Party of playing vote bank politics in Uttar Pradesh due to their "desperate" situation in the coming assembly polls there.
For the post of deputy chief minister, the names of Swatantra Dev Singh, Baby Rani Maurya, Brijesh Pathak and Keshav Prasad Maurya are in talks.
From invoking the 'Saptarishi' (Ursa Major) constellation, seven basic notes of Indian classical music to 'saat phere' (seven circumambulations) -- parties give different reasons and logic to claim that they will emerge victorious in the polls.
'Raj Thackeray is not coming to Ayodhya to seek Ram's blessings.' 'He is coming to seek political gain in the name of Ram.'
Ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday launched a specially made 'Samajwadi perfume,' hoping to spread the 'scent of socialism' in the state.
'Raj Thackeray's political outfit will soon fold up in Maharashtra.'
Given the vital role played by cyberspace in new-age electioneering, the UP police have constituted a digital monitoring cell to curb objectionable and defamatory social media posts on the eve of the elections.
With their high-decibel campaigns so far, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Samajwadi Party may appear to be locked in a direct fight in Uttar Pradesh.
The newly appointed Uttar Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party president Surya Pratap Shahi visited the disputed site in Ayodhya on Friday and vowed to construct a Ram temple there, saying it was something related to the faith of crores of Hindus.
Prominent Bhartiya Janata Party leaders on Friday came out openly against their party leadership's decision to induct tainted and ousted Bahujan Samaj Party minister Babu Singh Kushwaha into the party fold.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday wondered why it took so long for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to respond to the barbaric beheading of an Indian soldier along the Line of Control and asked if his reaction was out of "conviction or compulsion". The opposition party said it was able to make the government understand the mood of the nation by seeking tough measures against Pakistan in the wake of the barbaric incident.
Keshav Prasad Maurya's election from Sirathu in Kaushambi will be among the keenly watched contests in UP. If he and the BJP win, will he be luckier this time?
