With the Yogi Adityanath government taking credit for cracking down on criminals and making it an election issue, political parties are now having a rethink on aligning with those who have a criminal background but also enjoy influence in their areas.
The SP-Congress campaign will see Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi criss-cross the seats held by either party.
Uttar Pradesh government on Monday recommended a CBI probe into the Mohalalganj rape and murder case of a 36-year-old woman.
'The Modi-Shah duo won't leave the war zone without putting up a tough fight.' 'Modi's slogan for 2019 could well be, "I have done much. Give me one more chance to do even more".' '2019 will be tough for the BJP.' 'But it will be even tougher for the Opposition -- united or otherwise,' says R Rajagopalan.
On its own or with allies the Congress has a strong presence in states that account for a total of 253 LS seats, or 20 short of the magic figure of 272 required to form a government at the Centre. So what is Mamata Banerjee talking about, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
The directives came after he took stock of the situation arising from the massive earthquake at a high-level meeting attended by Ministers Arun Jaitley and Rajnath Singh, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Principal Secretary Nripendra Misra and senior officials of National Disaster Response Force and Indian Metereological Department.
As CM, he took decisions that confirmed his image as a Hindutva mascot. Early in the first term, he banned illegal slaughterhouses and the state police cracked down on cow slaughter. But the menace of stray cattle created disquiet among farmers, presenting the Adityanath government with a new challenge.
Sacking Ajay Mishra would further antagonise Brahmins in UP already upset with Yogi's government.
Claiming that the SP supremo had threatened him with dire consequences, Amitabh Thakur sought protection from the Centre.
"The BJP tried every trick to defeat the BSP candidate and indulged in malpractices," the BSP supremo alleged.
The land in the district's Ghorawal area earlier belonged to an IAS officer and he had sold it to village head Yagya Dutt, who wanted to take its possession, Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police O P Singh told PTI.
The oath taking took place as the House witnessed a virtual slogan-shouting contest between treasury and opposition benches.
A nine-member Bharatiya Janata Party team on Wednesday visited Kairana village in Uttar Pradesh to review the situation over alleged migration of Hindus
Ashok Chowdhury, a Dalit politics expert said, "BJP had impressed the Dalits in the 2014, 2017 and 2019 elections, but it's difficiult to retain them now".
'Look at the aggressive way in which a campaign against Friday namaz is going on in North Indian cities.' 'Even the Union home minister is part of this vicious campaign.'
Conceding that the RJS is the "big brother" in Bihar, the Congress said that Rahul was "the face of anti-NDA forces" in the country.
Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav on Tuesday said that had he been in the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, he would have changed perception of law and order in the state within 15 days and advised Akhilesh not to hesitate in sending errant officers to jail.
'In the next two years, we might see a new kind of realignment across India.' 'I don't see political alliances working against the BJP until an alternative political agenda is created.'
He also said the governments of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the BSP and the SP that have ruled Uttar Pradesh in the last 32 years, when Congress was not in power, failed to live up to the expectations of the people and the Congress was set for a comeback in the state.
'Yogi Adityanath is working for one caste only and suppressing the others,' Bihar Minister and NDA ally Mukesh Sahni tells M I Khan.
Former Union minister Beni Prasad Verma on Friday quit the Congress and rejoined the Samajwadi Party, a move which is likely to shore up the SP's prospects in the 2017 assembly polls.
"There's no space for hate politics in our country. Today's result is a tribute to my father, and against hate and communalism. People should realise there is no gain in fighting in the name of religion. I appeal to all politicians not to divide the country for the sake of power, said Sartaj.
True, Azam Khan is being targeted rather disproportionately and also because of his Muslim identity. That must be protested and resisted. But to say that he is a big messiah, and his profit-making educational enterprise is an issue concerning all Muslims of India, is absolutely unjustified, assert Mohammad Sajjad and Md Mohammad Zeeshan Ahmad.
In a move which could embarrass the Uttar Pradesh government, state Transport minister Durga Prasad Yadav has embarked on a week-long study tour to Brazil with family in tow.
All India Congress Committee general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Ghulam Nabi Azad said the party would not react immediately and would come out with a detailed reaction in Lucknow on Sunday.
Yet another case of gang rape and murder of a teenage girl was reported from Uttar Pradesh's Azamgarh, the constituency of Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Two sisters, who were declared dead after their bodies being identified by family members, have been found alive in Ghaziabad, following which the police have detained their parents.
President Pranab Mukherjee expressed condolences over the loss of lives in the stampede and called upon the authorities to provide all assistance and help to the victims.
The Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday removed senior police official Arun Kumar, who oversaw the situation in Muzaffarnagar after the recent communal riots, from the post of Additional Director General in-charge of law and order.
Sharply divided maulanas appear to have paved way for a smooth sailing for Bharatiya Janata Party nominee Santosh Kumar Gangwar in Bareilly.
The SP candidates in these seats include Mulayam Singh Yadav's daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav and three ministers, one of whom was recently sacked.
The banners came up at major road crossings in Lucknow late on Thursday night on the directions of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, an official said. They bear photographs, names and addresses of those accused of vandalism during protests in December against the CAA.
In a statement that expressed the unrelenting stand of the Samajwadi Party government over the IAS officer's suspension, UP minister Ahmed Hasan in the presence of Yadav and his cabinet colleagues said the issue was being "highlighted unnecessarily".
At least 22 people died and seven others were taken ill after consuming spurious liquor in several villages of Mubarakpur area, leading to suspension of six policemen on Friday on charges of laxity.
Modi also berated the Rashtriya Janata Dal-Congress combine in Bihar, calling it an alliance of "double-double yuvraj" (two crown princes) whose sole concern was to protect their "respective thrones".
Mayawati is now gearing up for a fresh start for the 2019 general election. Unconfirmed reports from the BSP camp suggest she has already reached out to arch-rival Akhilesh Yadav, reports Sahil Makkar.
Despite both parties joining hands to fight the elections, they have fielded different candidates for the polls in this region.
The cook is seen mixing a litre of milk in a bucket full of water in the video clip.
Campaigning came to an end on Saturday for the single-day election in Uttarakhand and Goa, two states known for political volatility where the Bharatiya Janata Party is attempting to retain power, and for the second phase of assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh on February 14.
'It will be a grand alliance where they could get the Muslims, Dalits and Yadavs in one camp and pose a serious challenge to whatever the BJP might conjure up in the run-up to the 2019 election.'
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