In a major upset in the Faizabad parliamentary constituency, where the temple town of Ayodhya is situated, Samajwadi Party candidate Awadhesh Prasad defeated sitting Bharatiya Janata Party MP Lallu Singh by a margin of 54,567 votes.
In a jolt to Rashtriya Lok Dal, its Rajya Sabha member of Parliament Shahid Siddiqui and Anuradha Chowdhury, a former aide of party chief Ajit Singh, on Sunday joined the Samajwadi Party ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.
The ruling SP declared the candidates for nine assembly seats besides changing the candidates of 14 constituencies ahead of the 2017 UP polls.
To repeated questions, the SP chief asserted that the Congress was 'very much in the alliance'.
Pradhan, who had filed his nomination on Wednesday, said he accepts the decision of party national president Akhilesh Yadav, who he met in the morning.
Nirahua, a Bhojpuri star and the BJP's candidate, is drawing huge crowds in his road shows and meetings after he entered the poll fray against Yadav, but voters with caste and local equations appear favourable for the senior Yadav.
SP chief Akhilesh Yadav had on Thursday announced an alliance with his uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav's PSPL after a meeting between them.
The remarks come as another setback to Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, who was recently removed from party's state president post owing to an apparent feud in the first family of the state.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday sought to defend his widely criticised statement equating Muhammad Ali Jinnah with Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Jawaharlal Nehru and saying they helped India get freedom even as an Uttar Pradesh minister suggested a narco test for him for 'glorifying' the founder of Pakistan.
Mulayam said his son had promised to leave the post of party president after staying at the helm for three months, but he did not do so.
Shivpal refused to comment on whether the SSM will eventually part ways with the Samajwadi Party.
The Gomti Riverfront Development project, the Agra-Lucknow Expressway, the Jai Prakash Narayan International Centre and the efforts towards the beautification of Old Lucknow are some of Akhilesh Yadav's initiatives that are the subject of investigation.
Addressing a press conference in Lucknow on Monday, he sought to emphasise that he had charted out a comprehensive development plan for the state.
Among the bigwigs are Union ministers Amit Shah (Gandhinagar), Jyotiraditya Scindia (Guna), Mansukh Mandaviya (Porbandar), Parshottam Rupala (Rajkot), Pralhad Joshi (Dharwad) and SP Singh Baghel (Agra).
Through the yatra the UP CM would try to send the message that he was in the driver's seat, notwithstanding all the hue and cry within the party.
Reacting to his father and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav's unhappiness with the working of his five-month old government, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav said in Lucknow on Wednesday, "My father has all the right to criticise me."
After rolling out a whole lot of sops for the young and old alike in fulfillment of his Samajwadi Party's election promises, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has found a novel way to appease the state's 500-odd legislators.
Ramgopal was expelled from the party for six years on October 23.
According to sources, Aparna has sought a ticket from the Lucknow Cantt assembly seat.
'Akhileshji has to protect his political turf and if it means confronting his father, snapping ties with him and forming another party, so be it.'
He also urged all the ministers, MLAs, and public representatives to respect party workers.
Although Mulayam Singh has made public his preference for Akhilesh as his successor, younger son Prateek's presence in the rival camp hasn't gone unnoticed.
"Everyone is responsible for the loss. A single person cannot be blamed," Mulayamsaid
A building under construction at the Kannauj railway station in Uttar Pradesh collapsed on Saturday, trapping around two dozen workers under the rubble. Six workers have been rescued and rushed to hospital. Rescue efforts are ongoing with teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) deployed at the site. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed officials to ensure the safe recovery of those trapped and their proper medical treatment.
A total of 73 women got elected to the 18th Lok Sabha against 78 women MPs in the 17th Lok Sabha.
Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav's daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday.
'The 2024 general elections proved that UP is not Gujarat.'
His outburst came a day after UP Governor Ram Naik asked the state government to take action over the reported damage to the bungalow vacated by the former chief minister, calling it a serious matter involving the taxpayer's money.
In his maiden foray in the state election, Yadav won from the Karhal assembly seat by a margin of 67,504 votes.
The last day of the campaigning in Lucknow brought all political rivals to converge on the streets of the state capital, throwing normal life out of gear.
Since the beginning of the Maha Kumbh last month, many influencers, models and actors have had their brief moment in the sun of virality: model-turned-sadhvi Harsha Richaria, garland seller Mona Lisa, 'IIT baba' Abhay Singh and actor Mamata Kulkarni to name a few.
Making a difference in style of governance, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday revived the practice of meeting people to listen to their grievances at his official residence in Lucknow, a step that was ended by his predecessor Mayawati.
A resident of Jainabad in the Chinhat area in Lucknow, Mohit Kumar was arrested in connection with a case on Saturday.
The Dedh Ishqiya actress performed at the Samajwadi Party's annual extravaganza in Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav's native village Safai in Uttar Pradesh.
Terming Bharatiya Janata Party as the "most cunning" party, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday accused it of trying to divide the country by talking about 'love jihad'.
On Republic Day the President recognised the daring rescue of 41 workers trapped in a tunnel for 17 days in 2023 by humble rat-hole miners. The award hopefully will bring the forgotten superheroes back into the light.
Coming from the 'first family' of Uttar Pradesh politics has not always been a cakewalk for Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's wife Dimple, who is trying to shed the dynasty politics product tag and is banking on her "personal" rapport for a win in this seat in Thursday's poll.
The latest round may have gone against him, but the chief minister is planning his counter-attack.
Glimpses from the campaign trail on Thursday, February 17, 2022.
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