The BJP is hopeful of improving its performance in Dalit-dominated constituencies in Delhi ahead of the February 5 assembly polls, following a sustained outreach campaign. The party failed to win any of the 12 SC reserved constituencies in the 2015 and 2020 elections. The party has been out of power in the city since 1998.
After taking on Mayawati on National Rural Health Mission irregularities, the Bharatiya Janata Party in a surprise move on Tuesday, inducted into the party Uttar Pradesh chief minister's former confidant Babu Singh Kushwaha, who is facing Central Bureau Investigations inquiry in the scam.
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.
Hours after Uttar Pradesh labour and employment minister Swami Prasad Maurya quit his post, his daughter and the Bharatiya Janata Party's Badaun MP Sanghamitra Maurya on Tuesday claimed her father has not joined any party and will reveal his strategy in a couple of days.
"Former Chief Minister Mayawati and I will not contest the assembly elections," Bahujan Samaj Party member of Parliament Satish Chandra Misra told ANI.
'Whether I turn 75 or 85, I will remain active in politics and contest the next election. I like politics very much'
Notwithstanding Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari's reported view that certain leaders who quit should return to the party fold, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh is going ahead and completing formalities for launching his new political party next month.
Delhi is set to get its third woman chief minister, after Congress' Sheila Dikshit and Bharatiya Janata Party's Sushma Swaraj, as Aam Aadmi Party leader Atishi has been chosen to succeed Arvind Kejriwal.
Saini's elevation as Haryana chief minister fits in with a pattern that has gathered pace in the BJP after the Congress and its allies like the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh and the Rashtriya Janata Dal in Bihar began making an aggressive bid to woo the largest group of communities and politically most significant, especially in Hindi-speaking states, by pushing for a caste census.
Rajbhar said the seat-sharing talks with the BJP remained unsuccessful.
The BJP appointed Sunil Bansal, one of the party's key election managers, as its national general secretary and in charge of three opposition-ruled states -- West Bengal, Odisha and Telangana -- in run-up to the Lok Sabha polls in 2024.
In the wake of numerous demands emerging for separate statehood from various parts of the country, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday called for a meeting of all political parties to decide on the creation of smaller states. "There should be a meeting of all political parties to decide on the issue of creation of smaller states," senior BJP leader Vinay Katiyar told reporters outside the Parliament.
The Samajwadi Party tops the list as of now with 6 candidates with a criminal history and pending criminal cases. The Congress is second with 4 while the Bharatiya Janata Party is at third with 3 such tainted candidates.
Rita Bahuguna Joshi had fought the 2017 elections and defeated Aparna Yadav, the then SP candidate from Lucknow Cantonment.
The Congress would also take inspiration from history as it was from Karnataka that an embattled Indira Gandhi had revived her dwindling political future by winning a Lok Sabha bypoll from Chikmagalur.
Eight railway stations in the Lucknow division of Northern Railways were officially renamed after saints and freedom fighters on Tuesday, officials said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday appointed election in-charges and co-in-charges for 23 states and Union territories in view of the Lok Sabha polls this year.
There is little doubt that the prime minister's own charisma exceeds that of his party, but 2024 is proof that no party can ultimately depend on one person to deliver victory all the time, points out R Jagannathan.
The BJP is willing to offer two Lok Sabha seats, including Baghpat which is currently represented by its MP Satya Pal Singh, to the RLD and may also give it a Rajya Sabha seat, they added.
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Tuesday claimed the Muslims made a "huge mistake" by voting for the Samajwadi Party, which she accused of being "complicit with the Bharatiya Janata Party in giving communal colour" to the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.
The Congress on Tuesday suffered a major upset in Himachal Pradesh at the hands of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Rajya Sabha elections which were marred by cross-voting in all the three states though it won three seats in Karnataka while the saffron party pocketed an extra seat in Uttar Pradesh.
This would give BJP the chance to explore Constitutional options for government formation if there is no clear-cut mandate, explains Sheela Bhatt.
A total of 78 Muslims were in the fray in the Lok Sabha elections this year, a significant drop from the last polls when 115 Muslim candidates were fielded by various parties.
A severe traffic congestion extending for kilometers was witnessed on the routes to the Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj on Sunday with Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav asking the government to make emergency arrangements for the stranded devotees.
Shown the door by Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and having been cold-shouldered by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a rudderless Kalyan Singh is now toying with the idea of launching a political party.
Raut said such friendly fights should happen on all 48 seats in Maharashtra as well as in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
The Uttar Pradesh Police on Monday said it has gunned down a second accused in the Sultanpur jewellery store robbery case in a pre-dawn encounter in Unnao district. "Akhilesh Yadav's wish has been fulfilled, a Thakur has been encountered," said the father of Anuj Pratap Singh.
Bharatiya Janshakti chief Uma Bharti on Friday announced withdrawal of her party candidates from Uttar Pradesh elections following Vishwa Hindu Parishad's call to make Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kalyan Singh chief minister.
With the Yogi Adityanath government taking credit for cracking down on criminals and making it an election issue, political parties are now having a rethink on aligning with those who have a criminal background but also enjoy influence in their areas.
The immediate challenge for the Centre and the home ministry is to ensure the conduct of assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir and restoration of its statehood.
The Shiv Sena has plans to field 50 to 100 candidates in Uttar Pradesh, including in Ayodhya and Mathura and made it clear that the party will not be part of any alliance.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has attributed the recent state assembly election victory to the role of Hindutva and counter-polarization. He described BJP's Hindutva as a way of life and said it played an important role in mobilizing voters. Fadnavis also alleged that the opposition alliance had an agreement to withdraw riot cases against Muslims. He further commented on PM Modi's inclusive Hindutva and the increased voter turnout in the election.
Two soldiers who were critically wounded in Thursday's terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Gulmarg succumbed to their injuries, raising the death toll in the ambush to four.
With the Bharatiya Janata Party leaving its rivals comfortably behind in states like Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand in the initial rounds of vote counting, its leaders credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi's governance model for the expected win and said "new history" is being created in UP.
In a statement, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh questioned the motive behind the inauguration of the "incomplete" temple by the leaders of the BJP and the RSS.
Sources said BJP working president J P Nadda called up Singh to inform him of the party's decision and asked him to make an announcement.
According to sources, the party has formed a committee comprising BJP's Rajya Sabha chief whip Shiv Pratap Shukla, party leader Abhijat Mishra, former national secretary and Gujarat MP Ram Bhai Mokariya and Mahesh Sharma to reach out to Brahmin members of the community.
Atal (Bihari Vajpayee), Advani and Joshi have contributed a lot for the BJP to reach where it is now, he said.
Priyanka and Yogi meet up with future voters.
Speaking in the assembly after tabling the Aparajita Woman and Child Bill (West Bengal Criminal Laws and Amendment) Bill 2024, Banerjee said the Bill aims at quick investigation, fast justice delivery and enhanced punishment of the guilty.
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