The Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee is keen to field senior leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra from Varanasi and will soon send a proposal in this regard to the top leadership, said newly appointed party's state president Ajay Rai on Sunday.
The Congress on Monday nominated Bharatiya Janata Party turncoat Ashish Shukla against the saffron party's nominee, Sanjay Sinh, from the high-profile Amethi assembly seat in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.
Amethi's former Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has sent five trucks each of rice and wheat besides one truck of pulses, cooking oil, spices and other material for distribution among people, said party's district unit president Anil Singh.
A government school teacher, his wife and two daughters were allegedly shot dead at their rented accommodation on Thursday, over a month after the family lodged a first information report (FIR) against a man saying he would be responsible if something untoward happened to them, police said.
Modi will address a rally to boost BJP candidate Smriti Irani's chances.
When asked about the matter, Superintendent of Police Dinesh Singh said on Wednesday Yadav had tweeted for a distant relative. "When he was called, he did not pick up. We thought he might be in some problem and therefore he was not picking up the phone. So we used surveillance and tracked his location and reached his house, where he was found sleeping," Singh said. "Shashank's motive was to create sensation and fear," he added.
'Amethi people will not leave the Gandhi parivar even if they do not meet them.'
Two people were killed and around six injured in a clash following a dispute over celebrating Holi in a village in Amethi on Friday, police said.
He accused the BJP of starting a "factory of lies" and using huge cash to lure voters but said he was confident that the people of Amethi won't fall into this trap.
Prior to filing his nomination, Rahul Gandhi held a road show during which he was accompanied by Priyanka Gandhi and her husband Robert Vadra alongwith their children Raihan and Miraya.
Priyanka Gandhi also said farmers were in debt, and about 12,000 of them had committed suicide.
"I will celebrate the milestone in Amethi, where I will be meeting our Congress workers & supporters today," he said.
The Congress chief will also be contesting from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the world has seen the power of India's indigenous weapons during Operation Sindoor, which is 'not over yet'.
According to the officer, the accused has confessed to the killings and said that he had an affair with the teacher's wife for 18 months which went sour later, leading to him shooting the family.
Union minister Smriti Irani on Monday bought a plot of land in Amethi to build a house for herself and, in an apparent dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, said no member of Parliament from here ever made the constituency his house.
Lack of organisational network and a strong disconnect with the rural population led to the Congress president's defeat in what until now had been described as a party stronghold.
An Independent candidate and three others had on Saturday raised objections over the Congress president's nomination from Amethi.
The ruling party appears to have worked to a plan, beginning with the weaning away of Congress MLC and MLAs.
Sources said Rahul Gandhi is likely to contest from Rae Bareli, but a final call is yet to be taken by the first family of the Congress.
Police did not rule out the possibility of it being a 'political murder'.
'If his health was good he would have become CM again after polls.' 'Those who are with Nitish Babu today will remain with him till the elections to use his name for votes and would definitely play games with him after the polls.'
26 candidates in Amethi fray take away 60,545 votes; the difference between the victorious Smriti Irani and Rahul Gandhi is 55,120 votes.
Priyanka Gandhi's husband Robert Vadra joined the campaign trail on Monday, taking out a motorcycle rally to drum up support for the Congress in Amethi. Vadra and his daughter arrived in Amethi on Sunday night. He took part in the rally in Gauriganj area on Monday morning and later addressed the electorate in Salon assembly segments of Amethi, which is a Gandhi family pocketborough.
"As of now, two accused persons are still absconding and we are tracking them," the DGP said.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday urged people to refrain from using derogatory language and being nasty towards former Union minister Smriti Irani or any other leader.
"I do not mind if attacks are made on me but what pains me is that Modiji snatched the food park from Amethi...it was meant to transform Amethi and Raebareli," he said.
Modi was addressing a public rally after laying the foundation stone of a factory to manufacture advanced AK-203 rifles in Amethi, represented by the Congress president in Lok Sabha.
She also tagged a video in which an elderly women is seen alleging that her hand was forcibly put on 'panja' (hand) election symbol of the Congress though she wanted to vote for the 'kamal' (lotus), the BJP's symbol.
Without making two-thirds of the country's population a development partner, India's prosperity is impossible, the Congress leader added.
During Emergency Indira Gandhi acquired absolute power. Lakhs of political opponents, students, activists were arrested.
On balance, RG contesting from Raebareli instead of Amethi isn't the masterstroke the party's adherents are touting it to be, but neither is it the blunder the BJP and its tame media is framing it as, points out Prem Panicker.
Missing persons posters featuring Rahul Gandhi's image pop up in Amethi.
'They want to keep the pot boiling all the time.' 'The BJP wants to set a political narrative that the Gandhis are doing wrong things.'
Union Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani has distributed over 15,000 saris among woman from the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency as a Diwali gift.
Narendra Modi on Wednesday claimed that the electorate of Amethi has destroyed the pride of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi and forced the latter to go around with folded hands in the constituency, which he would otherwise not visit in five years.
Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi on Sunday held an impressive roadshow in family pocket borough Amethi as a huge crowd chanted slogans praising the Congress vice-president who has been representing the constituency for the past 10 years.
Gandhi is scheduled to visit Amethi from October 4-6.
Walking around Amethi barely gives the feel of a VVIP constituency. Could years of neglect cost the Gandhi Parivar its bastion? Sharat Pradhan finds out.
100 of the 1,198 candidates are women.
