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.
In the recent past, Adityanath and the RSS seem to have come closer. The warmth is more on the part of the RSS. And even now, not all requests from the RSS are accommodated by the UP government, points out Aditi Phadnis.
'In Western UP, last time a lot of Dalits voted for the BJP.' 'This time, there is a rethink among Dalits about the extent of their support for the BJP.'
Kabaddi players participating in an event in UP's Saharanpur were seen with plates and containers having rice inside a toilet.
The Delhi police on Tuesday arrested two persons including NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha in connection with a probe in the portal's foreign funding, officials said.
A Dalit man allegedly faced casteist slurs, was spat upon and beaten up when he went to a home in Aashiyana locality in Lucknow to deliver a food order, the police said on Monday.
Within hours of announcing his plans to float a political outfit ahead of the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, former IPS officer Amitabh Thakur was arrested from his residence in Lucknow on Friday on serious charges, including abetment of suicide of a rape victim and her friend in Delhi recently.
Voting for the seventh and final round will be held on March 7 for Varanasi and its eight adjoining districts.
Sources in various parties suggest that two lakh votes of the Patel community, locally known as OBC kurmi, for which mother-daughter led Apna Dal (S) and Apna Dal (K) are competing and over one lakh of OBC Rajbhars would be crucial in deciding the outcome of the assembly seats in Varanasi.
'There is a famous saying here that 'the way to Delhi passes through Lucknow'.' 'If the BJP loses UP in 2022, Modi's premiership in 2024 will be in doldrums.'
The first information report (FIR) was registered according to the directives of the Election Commission on Covid-related norms, officials said.
The Congress on Monday stepped up its attack on the BJP-led Centre over the issue of price rise with Rahul Gandhi saying the biggest problems facing the country were unemployment, inflation and growing hatred.
Ghulam Nabi Azad's resignation from the Congress on Friday marked the most high-profile exit of one of the "Group of 23" (G-23) leaders, who had written to party chief Sonia Gandhi two years ago for a "collective and inclusive leadership" in the organisation, exposing the faultlines in the grand old party.
Raut also said that all the opposition parties will discuss whether a delegation should be sent to Lakhimpur Kheri.
PM Modi, Olympian Abhinav Bindra lead country in congratulating Mirabai Chanu on winning Olympic silver on Saturday.
Krishna chants gained more currency when Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav invoked the deity.
'Outside the core voter base of upper caste Hindus, there is a large section unhappy with the performance of the BJP.'
Supension of senior IPS officer Amitabh Thakur, who was locked in a tussle with Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, on Tuesday set off a political storm with the Opposition terming it an "act of revenge" by the ruling party.
Senior Indian Police Service officer Amitabh Thakur, who is locked in a tussle with ruling Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and took his fight to the Centre, was on Monday night suspended by the Uttar Pradesh government.
Claiming that the SP supremo had threatened him with dire consequences, Amitabh Thakur sought protection from the Centre.
Lucknow's Hazratganj police station on Saturday refused to register an FIR by IPS officer Amitabh Thakur, who was allegedly threatened by Samajwadi Party supremo and former chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav.
SP leader Akhilesh Yadav has successfully poached a number of OBC leaders from the ruling party, including Swami Prasad Maurya, in his efforts to broaden his party's social base beyond the traditional Muslim and Yadav votebank to take it on this time round.
Only three seats, which were among 12 constituencies where Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath addressed rallies, were bagged by the BJP.
Here are some of the political leaders' who await their fate.
The Bahujan Samaj Party will make efforts to not field 'bahubali' (strongmen) or mafia candidates in next year's Uttar Pradesh polls, party supremo Mayawati said Friday, announcing that jailed gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari will not be given a party ticket from Mau again.
The kings of the ruling family of India's heartland -- father Mulayam Singh Yadav, the Samajwadi party supremo, and son Akhilesh Yadav, the UP chief minister -- are at war. And as on any chessboard, the queens have emerged as the power centres. Meet Dimple Yadav and Aparna Yadav.
In a terse message to the ruling party, Priyanka in a Hindi tweet said, 'The goons of the BJP involved in 'cheerharan' of the democracy should hear that women will become pradhans, block pramukhs, MLAs, MPs and prime minister, and defeat the government, which gives patronage to those committing atrocities against women.'
When Modi's name was called out by the Secretary General for taking oath, Members from the ruling National Democratic Alliance thumped the desk greeting the Prime Minister with slogans such as 'Modi Modi' and 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'.
Some senior Congress leaders, including Kapil Sibal and Shashi Tharoor, met at their senior colleague Ghulam Nabi Azad's house in New Delhi on Monday evening after the Congress Working Committee debated their letter to the party's interim chief Sonia Gandhi seeking urgent organisational reforms.
'These guys who are running away -- they are running away from all that the BJP stands for.'
Less than half the ministers in Team Yogi are not long-term BJP members. Many old-timers have been dropped.
If the BJP is set to return to power in UP, Uttarakhand, Manipur and even Goa, it is not because of the party's performance or the quality of governance. No. It is essentially Modi's popularity, observes Virendra Kapoor.
Taking strong objection to alleged improper comments made by Samajwadi Party leader Narinder Bhati against suspended Indian Administrative Service officer Durga Shakti Nagpal, social activist Nutan Thakur today filed a complaint with the National Commission for Women against the UP Agro chairman.
BJP candidate was attacked in West Bengal, EVM glitches were reported in New Delhi.
'Every family in UP has been deeply affected in this second wave.' 'It has only been denial, denial, and denial by the incumbent CM.'
'The main characteristic of Bihar politics is that it has always affected Delhi.'
The outcome in UP is far more significant than in the other states going to the polls next year. An unlikely setback in UP can cramp the Modi government, virtually making it a lame-duck two years ahead of the 2024 parliamentary poll, observes Virendra Kapoor.
'The vitriolic campaign now in progress, the underlying threat of violence, and the elevation of Pragya Thakur as a star candidate are key markers in the BJP's obstacle-strewn march back to New Delhi,' says Sunil Sethi.
The six-time independent legislator said though he would be labelled anti-Dalit, he is only talking about equality.
'After meeting the prime minister and Amit Shah, Yogi has come out with his position secure till the assembly election.'
