The best-case scenario is that the BJP will top out at around 50 seats in UP -- a drop of 12 from the 62 it had won in 2019. Taken in tandem with Maharashtra and Karnataka, this is what is likely to put paid to the BJP's ambitions of a third term for Modi, argues Prem Panicker.
The video in this regard was shared by Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo Akhilesh Yadav and senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on their social media accounts.
He also pointed out the high sums earned by the coaching centres leading to the commercialisation of education.
Ruling Samajwadi Party appeared to be headed for a split on Sunday as Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and his party supremo and father Mulayam Singh were engaged in an open face-off, sacking each other's loyalists Shivpal Yadav and Ramgopal Yadav.
Digital radio -- 'Radio Saifai' -- launched in the native village of Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav has become an instant hit within a week.
The coming together of SP and BSP leaders on one platform is being seen as the emergence of a new phase of politics in the state after a dismal show of all anti-BJP parties in the 2014 Lok Sabha and 2017 assembly polls.
613 candidates are in the fray on 54 seats, including those falling in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's parliamentary segment Varanasi.
'There was a strong undercurrent of deprivation, and also frustration against misuse of power and authority.' 'This election was an opportunity for the manifestation of this discontentment.'
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the NDA won 64 seats -- 62 bagged by the BJP and two by Apna Dal.
Azam Khan is currently a member of Parliament from Rampur Lok Sabha.
Leaders of several Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) parties met on Saturday to take stock of the opposition's preparations leading up to the June 4 counting of votes polled in the Lok Sabha elections, and claimed they will get more than 295 seats, enough for them to form the next government.
Voting for the seventh and final phase of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections covering 54 seats, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi's parliamentary constituency Varanasi, will be held on Monday to decide the phase of 613 candidates.
Taking a dig at Narendra Modi's demonetisation move, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav termed cashless economy as a "bigger dream" than 'achche din' and said the note ban will be an issue in the upcoming assembly elections in the state.
The SBSP has six MLAs in the Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly.
A voter turnout of 60.19 per cent was recorded till 5 pm in the third phase of Lok Sabha elections in 93 constituencies spread over 11 states and Union Territories on Tuesday with sporadic incidents of violence in West Bengal.
Congress's chief ministerial face Sheila Dikshit offered to step aside in favour of a young Akhilesh Yadav.
Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, BJP chief J P Nadda and new party entrant Ashok Chavan and Union ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw and L Murugan were among the 41 candidates elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha on Tuesday while Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh will witness polling on February 27.
Veteran socialist leader and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister the late Mulayam Singh Yadav, and medical professional Dilip Mahalanabis, known globally for his work on Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS), were among those conferred the Padma Vibhushan award by President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday.
Former Uttar Pradesh minister Swami Prasad Maurya, who resigned this week from the Yogi Adityanath government and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the assembly polls, on Friday said that former state cabinet minister Dara Singh Chauhan will join the Samajwadi Party on Sunday.
'Laluji is like my father and I am like his son.'
Senior Janata Dal-United leader Dhananjay Singh pitched for Opposition unity ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and said party workers in Uttar Pradesh want Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to contest the elections from the state's Phulpur constituency.
In a scathing attack on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, Congress leader and Union Minister Jairam Ramesh on Friday accused him of being "masterly inactive" over Muzaffarnagar riots and adopting a "cynical strategy" of believing that it would divide voters.
A myth was nurtured for nearly three decades that any chief minister of Uttar Pradesh who visited Noida in Gautam Buddh Nagar district was doomed to go out of power.
In remarks that might land him in fresh trouble, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Giriraj Singh questioned the impartiality of the Election Commission on Monday, saying that different yardsticks were being adopted for model code violations.
President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, several central ministers and chief ministers and leaders cutting across party lines condoled the demise of former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal on Tuesday and hailed his immense contributions to the state as well as the country.
The ruling BJP in UP, however, lost Khatauli to Samajwadi Party ally Rashtriya Lok Dal.
Among the keenly watched contests are those involving former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav (Kannauj, UP) and Union ministers Giriraj Singh (Begusarai, Bihar), Nityanand Rai (Ujiarpur, Bihar) and Raosaheb Danve (Jalna, Maharashtra).
The Congress leadership is upset over Nath's remarks against many leaders of the INDIA bloc, including Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Janata Dal-United supremo Nitish Kumar, over seat sharing.
The 77-year-old former Congress president is set to enter the Upper House for the first time from Rajasthan.
'There is some deep rot that has set in the Congress party. This requires an organisational surgery.'
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was an experienced leader and it would be great if a proposal came to make him the convenor of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), his deputy Tejashwi Yadav said on Wednesday.
'Just today a shopkeeper I went to was saying how bad business is. He must have been a BJP supporter.' 'He finally said, "It's a good thing there's an NDA government, not a BJP government, 'they' had become too big for their boots,".'
Though there was no official word from both the parties, the sources claimed that two Uttar Pradesh-based political outfits will contest 37 Lok Sabha seats each.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said his party would oppose the Centre's move to bring a bill in Parliament to amend the 1995 law governing Waqf boards, and accused the BJP of trying to snatch the rights of Muslims.
The outcome of the polls to the Rajya Sabha is likely to have an impact in the politically crucial state just ahead of the general elections in the country.
This dictatorial attitude with the help of police will not be tolerated, Yadav said.
Kishori Lal Sharma, a close aide of the Gandhi family, has been fielded from the Amethi Lok Sabha seat, the party said in a statement.
His father Somappa Rayappa Bommai was the state chief minister during 1988-1989.
The Opposition on Tuesday termed the Union Budget as a 'kursi bachao budget' driven by political compulsions and claimed that it ignored opposition-ruled states in a bid to 'appease' Bharatiya Janata Party's allies.
This is dil ka alliance, mil ke jeetenge (It is an alliance of heart, we will win together)... says Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi while addressing a joint press conference with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances