The best-case scenario is that the BJP will top out at around 50 seats in UP -- a drop of 12 from the 62 it had won in 2019. Taken in tandem with Maharashtra and Karnataka, this is what is likely to put paid to the BJP's ambitions of a third term for Modi, argues Prem Panicker.
"The court of Additional Sessions Judge/First MP-MLA Court Durgesh also imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on Mukhtar and Rs 1 lakh on Afzal," ADGC Criminal Neeraj Srivastava said.
The BJP had registered a one-sided victory on all the 17 SC-reserved seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. But in 2019, out of these 17 seats, it lost Nagina and Lalganj seats to the Bahujan Samaj Party.
Lok Sabha constituencies that sprung a surprise in the 2024 polls.
Delhi Police has given permission to the farmers to hold their 'Kisan Mazdoor Mahapanchayat' with the condition of gathering not exceeding to 5,000, no tractor trolleys, no march at the Ramlila Maidan, and made elaborate security arrangements that may lead to a heavy traffic jam in the national capital on March 14, officials on Wednesday said.
Few in Varanasi expect the result to be different from 2014 and 2019. The only point of interest is whether Narendra Modi will increase his winning margin against his rivals.
The police deployed tear gas and water cannons for a second day to stop the farmers from marching to Delhi.
Due to a 'Kisan Mazdoor Mahapanchayat' convened by farmers at the Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi on Thursday, the Delhi Police has beefed up security and deployed heavy force for checking vehicles, which might lead to traffic snarls in the central parts of the city, officials said.
Vehicles entering Delhi were being checked and pickets were increased at Delhi-Ghazipur, Tikri and Singhu borders.
Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Ayodhya on December 30, the streets in the temple town in Uttar Pradesh are being decorated with flowers to give the city a 'divine look'.
Ahead of Kejriwal's visit, drama ensued at the Ghazipur landfill site and roads leading to the area as scores of Bharatiya Janata Party supporters staged a protest, showed black flags and raised slogans against him.
Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party chief Om Prakash Rajbhar, Rashtriya Lok Dal's Anil Kumar and two Bharatiya Janata Party leaders were sworn in on Tuesday as Yogi Adityanath expanded his council of ministers, weeks ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
The notable names in the BJP's first list include Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh from Lucknow, Hema Malini from Mathura, Ajay Mishra Teni from Kheri, Smriti Irani from Amethi, Lallu Singh from Faizabad (Ayodhya) and Mahendra Nath Pandey from Chandauli among others.
There will be a complete ban on gathering, processions or rallies and entry of tractor trolleys carrying people in the national capital as the Delhi Police has imposed Section 144 for a month in the view of intended widespread tension and 'social unrest' due to the farmers' 'Delhi Chalo March' on Tuesday.
"As part of regular training and towards increasing cohesion between civil and military functionaries, aircraft operations will take place over the Purvanchal expressway," said Defence PRO.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday named 14 candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls including former Union minister R P N Singh and Sudhanshu Trivedi -- the only outgoing MP renominated by the party.
Ahead of farmers' 'Delhi Chalo March', the Delhi Police has intensified security arrangements at Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri borders and installed nails along with barricades to prevent vehicles carrying protesters from entering the city, officials said on Sunday.
The share of candidates who were successful among the BJP was 56.5% in 2019. It was 5% for the Congress.
Haryana Police lobbed tear gas shells at farmers from Punjab at Shambhu border between the two states as thousands of protesters stayed put there on Wednesday, the second day of their 'Delhi Chalo' march.
A court in Varanasi on Monday convicted gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari in the murder of Congress leader Awadhesh Rai more than 30 years ago.
'Fifteen days ago, we were only talking of Ayodhya. Now we are talking about farmers.'
Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher on Tuesday said the Centre should convene a daylong Parliament session to bring a legislation on the minimum support price (MSP) for crops, a key demand of protesting farmers.
Farmers from across the states arrived at Delhi's Jantar Mantar on Monday early morning protesting over unemployment.
Thousands of farmers from around 100 villages of Noida and Greater Noida on Thursday took to the streets seeking hiked compensation, bringing traffic to a standstill in several parts of Delhi-NCR as they made an unsuccessful bid to march towards Parliament.
A bag containing an improvised explosive device (IED) was found by the police in a house in the Old Seemapuri area in the northeastern part of Delhi on Thursday, a senior police officer said.
Thirty-five-year-old Sonu Jaiswal, a liquor store owner who was among the five Indians killed in a plane crash in Nepal on Sunday, had gone to pay obeisance at the famed Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu after his wish for a son was fulfilled around six months ago, his relative said.
His brother suffered a bullet injury while trying to save him.
The bus had gone to Delhi and was plying on the wrong side of the expressway after refilling CNG near Ghazipur border.
"Mock polls" are part of the first level check (FLC) process.
Farmers have taken down their settlements and have vacated the borders around Delhi, which were their protesting sites for the last one year.
A video apparently shot by one of the five Indian passengers on board the aircraft that plunged into a gorge in Pokhara on Sunday captures the horrific moments of the crash that killed 72 people.
The deceased, identified as Jeetu Choudhary, was the secretary of BJP's Mayur Vihar district unit, they said.
After over a year, the Singhu border, which was the epicentre of the farmers' agitation, now bears a deserted look with the last batch of demonstrators leaving for their home states on Monday.
Ashfaq Alam had been in jail for one month in connection with the crime committed in New Delhi and later came out on bail, Aluva Rural Superintendent of Police Vivek Kumar told reporters in Kochi.
IEDs found in a Seemapuri house on Thursday and at the Ghazipur market last month were prepared with the intention of carrying out blasts at public places across the city, according to Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana.
The seats held by the non-BJP parties in the state are Bijnor, Amroha, Moradabad, Sambhal, Raebareli, Ghosi, Lalganj, Jaunpur, Ambedkarnagar, Ghazipur, Shravasti, Mainpuri, Saharanpur and Nagina. Of these, Raebareli is held by Sonia Gandhi of the Congress.
'When a person is very furious, it does give way to tears.' 'It was in this emotional state of mind that he took a decision to not vacate the Ghazipur border without fearing the consequences.'
Addressing a public rally in his parliamentary constituency of Varanasi, Modi said the schemes earlier were meant for a select few and the past governments did not get seek feedback from the ground.
Emotions ran high as the farmers performed ardas (prayers) and havan to thank the almighty and started their 'victory march' from Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur protest sites to Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh in convoys of tractors, bedecked with colourful flowers and lights and blaring songs of jubilation.
Tens of thousands of farmers gathered in Muzaffarnagar town on Friday to attend a mahapanchayat in support of the Bharatiya Kisan Union-led protest against the Centre's new farm laws in Ghazipur on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border.
