However, Bajpai ruled out any possibility of an epic battle in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections between Sonia Gandhi and Arun Jaitley.
Irani has said she did not complete her Bachelor of Commerce (Part-I) -- a three-year degree course -- from Delhi University's School of Open Learning in 1994.
For Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who continues the Gandhi family legacy of active politics that began several generations ago, the formal entry into politics was two decades in the making.
Before the MCC came into effect, Modi was busy laying stones, cutting ribbons, and unveiling plaques across the country.
With Rahul showing a significant lead over Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi in opinion polls across southern India but lagging in the north, the Congress believes his contesting from the south will help galvanise cadres.
Targetting Priyanka Gandhi, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley on Monday said her ignorance about the presence of party candidate Smriti Irani in Amethi showed the Congress star campaigner's "arrogance at its worst".
A man was shot dead in police firing in Telangana's Secunderabad, trains went up in flames, and public and private vehicles attacked, as railway stations and highways turned into battleground in many states on Friday amid burgeoning protests against Agnipath, the contentious defence recruitment scheme.
Clashes between BJP supporters and Congress workers marred the last leg of his visit.
The HRD minister claimed that Gandhi family had failed to deliver on their development promises to Amethi, which had to wait for all these years to get a rail line.
If the Opposition has any chance at the prime minister's job, it can happen only if they all stop dropping names and work at the grassroots-level, state-wise, suggests N Sathiya Moorthy.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra appears to have shed the maximum sweat among top leaders for over the last 45 days in the seven-phase Uttar Pradesh assembly elections campaign.
With their high-decibel campaigns so far, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Samajwadi Party may appear to be locked in a direct fight in Uttar Pradesh.
In the summit as well as in the inaugural '2+2' defence and foreign ministerial talks, the two sides are also expected to focus on the situation in Afghanistan and the rising threat of terrorism including from groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed.
Rediff Labs brings you the election affidavits of all candidates in the fray in the fifth phase of polling for the Lok Sabha elections.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley said on Sunday that the relationship of Rahul Gandhi with Amethi is "nominal" and it remains one of the most backward constituencies in the country.
The Patna civil court on Thursday deferred hearing of a case that was filed against Priyanka Gandhi on Wednesday for her remarks on Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, terming his speech in Amethi as "neech rajniti" (low level politics).
Having won in 2009 nearly half of the 64 seats going to polls in the penultimate round, the Congress appears to face a difficult task as people in the whole of Seemandhra, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand lined up to cast their vote in the Lok Sabha elections on Wednesday.
The Congress leader from Maharashtra said that the party of Mahatma Gandhi that once saw Maulana Azad become its president at the age of 35 years "is now the proprietorship of a Shehzada.
The Congress quickly hit back accusing TMC of being a 'stooge of BJP' and challenged it to prove its credentials on a 'pan India' platform.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday visited the house of a Central Reserve Police Force jawan who was among the 76 security personnel killed in the Maoist attack in Dantewada in April and assured the family of full support from the Central government.
"I had said it earlier and reiterating it now that educational institutions should not be made 'rajiniti ka akhada' (political battlefield) as it affects the life and progress of our students," Irani told reporters when asked about the violence in the campus. "I hope students will not be used as 'rajnitik mohre' (political tools)", the Amethi MP said. "A probe has started in the matter and it is not justified for me to comment on it as I am in a constitutional post," she added.
Venturing out of twin constituencies of her mother Sonia Gandhi and brother Rahul for the first time, Congress' star campaigner Priyanka Gandhi on Sunday carried out a roadshow in Sultanpur to woo voters.
As Varun Gandhi courted controversy by "praising" estranged cousin Rahul Gandhi, his mother and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Maneka Gandhi on Thursday said her son's remark on Amethi's development was "not correct" and advised him to use his mind instead of heart while making statements.
After taking a long break from grassroots politics, Priyanka Gandhi, the charismatic daughter of Congress president and United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi, is back into campaigning where her brother Rahul is busy moving heaven and earth to put the Congress back on its feet at next month's assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.
The BJP MP in her plea alleged that Gandhi has attributed his personal remarks to the top court and tried to create prejudice.
The Congress' announcement that the party chief will contest from Wayanad evoked sharp reactions from the Left and Right of the political spectrum.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will be the deputy leader.
If you want to take revenge on me, you do it. I have no problem. But the poor of Amethi have done you no harm. They should be treated well," said Rahul.
Congress leaders are confident that Priyanka would act as a catalyst for the party and boost the sagging morale of cadres to put up a spirited fight against the BJP and also the SP-BSP pre-poll alliance which had already shut its door on the Congress, reports Virendra Singh Rawat.
Sinh, who has been in the BJP earlier and was elected to Lok Sabha on its ticket in 90s, wields considerable influence in the Amethi region of Uttar Pradesh.
Amethi, Guna, Rohtak.... These were believed to be easy seats to win but as they say in politics, anything's possible. This election has seen a few family bastions fall and one could attribute it to the TsuNaMo that has swept the country.
The districts going to polls in this phase are Balrampur, Gonda, Faizabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Bahraich, Shravasti, Basti, Siddharth Nagar, Sant Kabir Nagar, Amethi and Sultanpur.
The great Indian election is over and now the wait for the results is shrinking with every passing moment. Though exit polls hint at a cakewalk for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his National Democratic Alliance, there are some battles which will be keenly observed on the result day.
Having already received and deployed the first lot of around 72,500 Sig Sauer assault rifles from the US for counter-terrorist operations, the new batch of these assault rifles would be given to the soldiers deployed on the front with China in Eastern Ladakh.
In his opening remarks at the talks, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh asserted that India is confident of overcoming the challenges with a strong political will and an inherent capability of its people.
Thushar is the son of Vellappally Natesan, who is the general secretary of the influential Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam, which works for the welfare of Ezhava community, a backward caste with sizeable population in the state.
Talking tough, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday warned party men against groupism and asked them to forget the past and prepare for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra would accompany him to Wayanad.
Even Priyanka's formal entry into politics could not act as a saving grace for the Congress. She was made in-charge of the party's fortunes in eastern Uttar Pradesh, but despite her high-octane election campaign, Congress is ahead on just one seat -- her mother Sonia Gandhi from Raebareli.
The order for the second batch of the assault rifles would be coming after the first lot of 72,000 rifles, has already been delivered to the army for use by troops in Northern Command and other operational areas.
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