In the third phase of the Lok Sabha election on April 23, 116 seats spread across 13 states and two Union Territories, will go to the polls.
Just like the Congress, SP and BSP, small pro-Muslim parties are focussed on UP's 20 per cent Muslim voters, knowing that it could make the difference between defeat and victory. But many in the Ghazipur-Bhadohi-Azamgarh-Jaunpur belt insist that there is no such thing as the 'Muslim vote'.
Suspected Indian Mujahideen operative Salman had given intelligence agencies warning about the outfit attempting to make an 'explosive' comeback.
Besides the polarisation in favour of the BJP, there could be other reasons for the under-representation of Muslims too, says Shafeeq Rahman.
The death toll from flood-related incidents rose to 63 today in Uttar Pradesh with the situation remaining grim in several areas, even as most parts of the northern region experienced dry weather with mercury rising by a few notches.
Text messaging services of all telecom operators also remained suspended in Lucknow and some other parts of UP. In Assam, services were restored 10 days after being banned.
A Jaguar fighter aircraft on Thursday crashed in Dilahi Firozpur village in this district, killing its pilot and a girl working in a field, the second Indian Air Force plane to meet with an accident this week.
This is the third such incident of police personnel fainting during a physical ability test in Azamgarh district.
Mijwan -- Sonnets in Fabric, a fashion show organesed by Shabana Azmi saw some of the hottest stars from Bollywood walk the ramp in aid of her NGO, Mijwan Welfare Society.
'I was attracted to Javed because he was exactly like my father.'
'What of Modi? They are willing to take their chances. Maharashtra's Muslims recall how the Congress scared them with the Bal Thackeray bogey for decades, yet, when it came to using all the might of the State to protect them from Shiv Sena goons, be it in 1970, 1984 or 1992-1993, it did nothing. For them, the Congress's secularism is a cruel joke.' 'This argument that we ('seculars') must vote for the 'winning secular candidate' has one more implication: Those who are against Hindutva must forever be stuck with the same corrupt, cynical and tired old parties, who are not even secular,' says Jyoti Punwani.
In a freewheeling interview with Special Correspondent Manu Shankar, Iqbal Abdulla speaks about his IPL journey and aspirations.
Shahzad, arrested from Azamgarh district by Uttar Pradesh by Anti-Terror Squad on February 1, was remanded to judicial custody till March 4 by Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Kaveri Baweja as police did not seek his further custodial interrogation.
'I've never been more nervous about any of my own films. I can't eat, sleep or speak. I can barely breathe.'
Shah said not allowing trains to reach West Bengal is "injustice" to the migrant workers from the state.
"You are safe aren't you? I hope you have not faced any danger," shot back Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Friday when asked about the law and order situation in the state in the backdrop of the Badaun gang rape and murder case and the Azamgarh gang-rape incident.
Amar Singh built an extensive network for the party, and was often spotted with celebrities, from the Bachchans to Anil Ambani to Subrata Roy.
The Mumbai police were looking for a 26/11 link in Salim Mozawalla, 28, an agent of Pakistani spy agency Inter Services Intelligence, who was picked up after the Varanasi blasts.
'Cricket is a game where if you come back after a gap, then it is not easy to perform immediately.'
A Delhi court on Thursday extended by 14 days the judicial custody of suspected Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorist Shahzad in the September 2008 serial blasts case in which 26 persons were killed in New Delhi.
Terming the Batla House encounter "totally fake", the Shahi Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid Ahmed Bukhari has accused the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre of harassing Muslims.
During the interrogation, Shahzad spoke of how the Lashkar along with the IM had been working closely on setting up more sea-routes into India. The Lashkar is interested setting up more sea routes since the Navy has braced up and security is particularly tight along with the Indian coastline.
Suspected Indian Mujahideen terrorist Shahzad has reportedly named at least three politicians, including a former member of the Legislative Assembly from Azamgarh, claiming they helped him flee from Delhi after the Batla House shootout two years ago, police sources said in New Delhi on Frday.
Shahzad, who was picked up by the Delhi cops from Azamgarh in connection with the Batla House case, had revealed that the IM had planned on making a strong comeback after being kept silent for more than a year.
The death toll due to the cold wave that has disrupted normal life across north India rose to 326 on Wednesday.Another 38 deaths were reported from Uttar Pradesh, taking the death toll in the state to almost 300. The dense fog has further added to the problems of the people in the region with Kanpur recording a temperature of 3.7 degree Celsius, the coldest place in the state, followed by Varani, where the temperarure was recorded to be 4 degree Celcius.
'This Sunday holds special significance for us, as we woke up to a new and transformed Sunday, with a feeling of relief that the lingering issue of Ayodhya dispute has been resolved once and for all'
"Members of Ulema Council and other organisation will stage a demonstration at Jantar Mantar tomorrow to protest against NHRC's clean chit to Delhi Police," convenor of the council Amir Rashadi said in Azamgarh on Monday.
Making a foray into politics, Azamgarh-based Ulema Council on Friday announced its plan to contest from over a dozen parliamentary constituencies in Uttar Pradesh in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
Now that a majority of the community has voted for the Congress, there is a sense of entitlement. And with it comes the expectations.
An accused in the 2008 serial blasts in the national capital was on Monday arrested by the Anti-Terror Squad of the Uttar Pradesh Police from Azamgarh district, a senior officer said.
The tragedy took a political hue with CM Yogi Adityanath suggesting the involvement of SP in 'such mischievous acts'.
Director General of Police O P Singh said that two people lost their lives in Bijnor and one each in Meerut, Sambhal and Firozabad. But officials reported a death in Kanpur as well.
Protesters had vandalised a police station and torched vehicles in Mau. Internet services have been suspended in the district.
Addressing a crowd of some 1000 people, most of whom had come from Azamgarh on a special train dubbed the Ulema Express to protest the harassment of Muslim youngsters and also the Batla House encounter, Rashadi said the party will contest from two seats - Azamgarh and neighbouring Lalganj -- in the coming Lok Sabha elections. "Though we do not intend forming a full-fledged political outfit, we will contest these two seats independently.
The seat sharing formula reached between the BSP and SP is not on the basis of who emerged stronger in the previous election.
Former union minister and Lok Janshakti Party president Ram Vilas Paswan, who lost the recent Lok Sabha elections, said in Varanasi on Wednesday that his party would contest the 2010 Bihar assembly elections in alliance with Lalu Prasad-led Rashtriya Janata Dal and also welcomed Congress party to their fold.
The 24-year-old Azamgarh youth allegedly submitted a BSc degree certificate from Allahabad University for taking admission in a post-graduation course in human rights, Joint Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Karnal Singh told PTI.
The Anti-terrorist Squad of the Uttar Pradesh police on Monday arrested an Indian Mujahideen terrorist Arif, who is allegedly involved in Ahmedabad, Delhi and Lucknow blasts.During preliminary interrogation, Arif, a close associate of Tariq Kazmi, has admitted to his involvement in the serial bomb blasts in three civil courts of Uttar Pradesh in November last year.
Those disqualified by Speaker Somnath Chatterjee are Bhalchandra Yadav (Khalilabad), Ramakant Yadav (Azamgarh) and Mohammad Shahid Akhlaque and their seats in the House have been declared vacant. Petitions for their disqualification were filed by the BSP under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution (anti-defection law) on the ground that the three MPs had voluntarily given up the membership of their party and joined the Samajwadi Party.
Thirteen people, four of them siblings, were killed in incessant rains that lashed vast areas of Uttar Pradesh and Punjab triggering house collapses and inundating low-lying areas. Major rivers, including Ganga, Gomti, Rapti and Ramganga, were also rising menacingly in Uttar Pradesh due to heavy rains, officials in Lucknow said.
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