Bollywood actor and suspended Samajwadi Party MP Raj Babbar would formally join the Congress in New Delhi on October 5. Babbar, who had snapped ties with former Prime Minister V P Singh-led Jan Morcha after the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, has invited Congress General Secretary and in-charge of UP Digvijay Singh and UP Congress President Rita Bahuguna Joshi for a public rally in Agra on Sunday. The MP's representative Upendra Singh confirmed the rally on October 5.
The report has been sent to Mulayam Singh Yadav and does not recommend Babbar's expulsion.
Bollywood actor-turned MP Raj Babbar, who fell out with the Samajwadi Party long ago after getting elected on its ticket from Agra, is tipped to be the Congress candidate from North Mumbai in place of actor MP Govinda.
The Samajwadi Party on Tuesday suffered a major setback when it lost the prestigious Firozabad Lok Sabha seat, with party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav's daughter-in-law losing to actor-turned-politician Raj Babbar of the Congress, by a huge margin of over 85,000 votes. Babbar, a former Member of Parliament from Agra who rebelled against the SP and joined the Congress before the Lok Sabha elections in May, secured 3,12,728 votes while Dimple Yadav got 2,27,385 votes.
The people of Uttar Pradesh have always been springing surprises, he said.
Babbar was elected from Agra as its Lok Sabha MP twice -- in 1999 and 2004. However, following delimitation in 2008, the Lok Sabha seat became reserved for the scheduled castes.
The decision was announced by Ghulam Nabi Azad in New Delhi at a press briefing.
Babbar, who had of late launched a vitriolic attack against party General Secretary Amar Singh, was suspended from the parliamentary party on Tuesday.
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.'
After having taken on the government on the phone-tapping controversy, the party now finds itself in a mess.
A series of felicitations, including an invitation from President Pratibha Patil, awaits the Asia Cup winning team.
Referring to the Central Bureau of Investigations probe ordered into his family assets, Yadav alleged Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil were after him.
Dil Bekaraar is watchable, but not quick-witted enough to binge watch, feels Sukanya Verma.
As the second phase of polling commenced on Thursday amid heightened security, bigwigs came out to cast their votes for constituting the 17th Lok Sabha. Among those who took to their respective polling booths were former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, actor-turned-politician Rajinikanth, BJP candidate from Bengaluru South Tejasvi Surya, and defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman, among others.
Meanwhile, the Congress said that that it is ready to go it alone in Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha election.
There's little to cheer about Sonakshi's solitary expression and lifeless chemistry with Arjun that makes for nearly three hours of the movie, says Sukanya Verma.
Akhilesh Yadav confirmed in a television interview that the press conference is on the alliance in Uttar Pradesh, while parrying questions on the Congress.
Tevar emerges an overdone, underwhelming film with zero charm, warns Raja Sen.
