The Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Lok Dal and some smaller parties will contest the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls together, and an announcement in this regard would be made soon, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said on Tuesday.
In his maiden foray in the state election, Yadav won from the Karhal assembly seat by a margin of 67,504 votes.
The gross expenses made by the party, including by the central headquarters and the state unit between the announcement and completion of the elections, stood at nearly Rs 71.73 crore, while the gross receipts during this period were to the tune of Rs 35.83 crore.
'I hope he will continue to be what he is. And doing so, he won't be much different from those whose example he is being given right now,' says Utkarsh Mishra.
After resorting to quirky measures like debarring party spokespersons from news channel debates, the opposition parties are now overhauling their organisational set-ups and purging respective executives, committees and wings to weed out non-performers and deadwood. Virendra Singh Rawat reports.
The pressure on Delhi mellowed Lucknow's ruling dispensation's initial enthusiasm to try and draw electoral mileage from the developments in Afghanistan.
'After meeting the prime minister and Amit Shah, Yogi has come out with his position secure till the assembly election.'
'Even if the government does not implement an all-India NRC before 2024, it will be part of the party's long-term project.'
A 27-year-old burqa-clad woman, who is an instant talaq victim, is campaigning for the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls to make the Muslim women realise the "good work" being done by the saffron party in the state. Nida Khan believes that unlike other parties, the BJP does not see Muslims as a vote bank only but considers them as equals.
Thousands of mourners jostled and some clambered on trees to capture the moment on their phones as former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's cortege left the Bharatiya Janata Party's headquarters for Rashtriya Smriti Sthal.
Ahead of the Union Cabinet expansion on Wednesday, several Union Ministers, including Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, Education Minister Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar resigned from their posts.
Fifty-six months on, the government's record in implementing these schemes and projects has been mixed, report Arup Roychoudhury and Indivjal Dhasmana.
The chief minister will arrive in Agra on Friday night and visit the calamity-hit areas on Saturday morning, Principal Secretary Information Avanish Awasthi said.
Twenty-four people, most of them attending a funeral, were killed and 17 others injured when the roof of a shelter at a cremation ground in Uttar Pradesh's Muradnagar collapsed on Sunday, police said.
According to Inspector General of Police K P Singh, Mahant Giri's body was found hanging from the ceiling by his disciples. A purported suicide note of seven-eight pages was also found at the site in which the seer had written that he was mentally disturbed and was ending his life.
The Congress may stand a better chance in the assembly polls if it followed the 'Himachal model', suggests N Sathiya Moorthy.
Shah asserted that the BJP will once again form the government in Uttar Pradesh with a comfortable majority.
'Only the prime minister can take the initiative in reaching out to his opponents. The fact that he has been reluctant to do so, leaving it to the Arun Jaitleys and Venkaiah Naidus to hold out the olive branch, has given the Opposition the chance of pointing to his aloofness,' says Amulya Ganguli.
The sole intention of the opposition parties is to create roadblocks on the path of development, the prime minister said, as he termed their action "anti national".
"Let them show whatever they have got. We are winning with a majority," Akhilesh Yadav said, dismissing predictions to the contrary on some TV channels.
'It's like the BJP is mocking people: Do what you want, we'll still win.'
'People are questioning these highways and expressways in UP because ultimately, they want to get bread and butter first.'
The chief minister stressed on more hygiene in the areas where cows were kept and gave a direction to ensure availability of green fodder to them.
'If the BJP doesn't want to accept the will of the people, then we will show them what a majority means.'
A large number of Koreans trace their ancestry to this legendary princess, who is known as Queen Heo Hwang-ok.
Given Modi's penchant for springing a surprise, the BJP nominee for next President could be anyone. The only thing certain is that it will be an RSS person, reports R Rajagopalan.
"Didi has already said in Delhi that if Akhilesh Yadav needs our help, we are ready to extend help. The gesture of senior SP leader Jaya Bachchan seeking votes for the TMC during the West Bengal Assembly elections will be reciprocated in Uttar Pradesh," said Laliteshpati Tripathi, who recently joined the TMC.
'Getting Brijbhushan to rake up Thackeray's anti-north Indian stand is the BJP's way of cutting Raj Thackeray to size.' 'Could just one MP have stopped Raj Thackeray's Ayodhya tour?'
'There are around 400 Lok Sabha constituencies where Dalits and Muslims combined constitute 30% of the electorate.' 'Also, 90% to 95% of Dalits and Muslims go out and vote.' 'So, if they are come together, they become significant electorally.'
Parliamentarians and legislators across the country voted on Monday to elect India's 15th president, choosing between opposition pick Yashwant Sinha and National Democratic Alliance nominee Droupadi Murmu who is favoured to win the battle to the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
BKS and BMS leaders have told the BJP leadership that it is staring at a build-up of anti-government propaganda in the run-up to polls in five states.
Modi was addressing a public rally after laying the foundation stone of a factory to manufacture advanced AK-203 rifles in Amethi, represented by the Congress president in Lok Sabha.
The nationwide ban comes into force at 6 am Tuesday, the poll panel said.
Bharti also targeted Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, saying by choosing to contest elections from Amethi and Wayanad, he has accepted defeat.