With the opposition accusing BJP of working toward polarising voters in Uttar Pradesh by broaching the issues like alleged migration of Hindus and 'triple talaq', party president Amit Shah has rejected the charges, claiming that questioning politics of appeasement and casteism being practised in the state cannot be called polarisation.
"If election is held in the country today, the BJP would draw a nought," the RJD chief said.
The Congress on Friday took potshots at the Bharatiya Janata Party over absence of some of its leaders from the party meeting in Goa, saying senior leaders are falling sick "due to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi" and the the BJP should think what will happen to the country because of him.
"Krishna was born in Uttar Pradesh but made Gujarat his karma bhoomi. I was born in Gujarat but Uttar Pradesh has adopted me," the PM said in Hardoi.
Aditi Phadnis picks five key seats in the three states where assembly elections are being held today.
The nodal officer for EVMs in Varanasi, a returning officer (RO) in Sonbhadra district and an additional election officer in Bareilly district have been pulled out from election duties, a day ahead of the counting of votes in UP.
The clean chit to Aryan Khan and five others by the Narcotics Control Bureau on Friday has once again brought the central agency's former zonal director Sameer Wankhede under the spotlight.
Stating that Art of Living (of Sri Sri Ravishankar) and Ramdev are doing good work, Gadkari asked them to start ayurvedic spas to give massages and ayurvedic treatment at these islands being opened up.
Two Indians have been allegedly confined to a guest house in Zanjan city of Iran since over a month by a private engineering firm following a business dispute with their Goa-based company, according to family members of one of them.
"Didi has already said in Delhi that if Akhilesh Yadav needs our help, we are ready to extend help. The gesture of senior SP leader Jaya Bachchan seeking votes for the TMC during the West Bengal Assembly elections will be reciprocated in Uttar Pradesh," said Laliteshpati Tripathi, who recently joined the TMC.
Political watchers believe that there is little denying the loss of face the party has suffered in its bid to rule India's richest state.
Polling across 55 assembly constituencies assembly in nine districts got off to sluggish start at 7 am due to the cold and fog at several places.
What these elections prove beyond any doubt (if ever there was one) that Modi's hold over public mind and Shah's mastery of election management are unparalleled. It doesn't seem likely that they will be matched any time soon in the Indian political scene, reaffirms Shreekant Sambrani.
Sri Ram Sene chief Pramod Muthalik has said that he would try to join Bharatiya Janata Party, from where he was unceremoniously removed only a few hours after his inclusion in Karnataka.
The 10-day-long annual Ganesh Chaturthi festival began on a low-key note on Friday with several state governments prohibiting public celebrations due to the Covid pandemic and devotees taking the virtual route to pay obeisance and join the festivities.
The AAP bagged 20 seats in Punjab while losing all seats in Goa
Asserting that there is a silent wave in his favour, Utpal Parrikar, elder son of late Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar, who is contesting the February 14 Assembly election as an independent candidate from the Panaji seat, has said he was a favoured choice after his father's death in 2019, but was denied poll ticket by the Bharatiya Janata Party due to local politics.
In 2018, the BJP's rare successes in north-east India aside, everything that could go wrong, did go wrong for the party.
At its Jaipur meeting, the BJP will focus on this year's assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh while the Congress's Chintan Shivir in Udaipur will discuss how it can resurrect itself.
'We are seeing an era where only what Modi wishes is going to happen.' 'A clear message has now been sent to others that if this fate could befall on Nitin Gadkari, then just think what could happen to lesser mortals.'
"I am also quitting as member of Legislative Council," Thackeray said in a webcast.
A defeat in UP will, therefore, dent the Modi government's efforts to win more seats in the Rajya Sabha.
Reports suggest that the prime minister has been evaluating his ministers' performances with an eye on implementing key government schemes before the next round of crucial state assembly polls.
'Our numbers were less (than BJP's) but PM Narendra Modi blessed us. Modi Saheb told me before the swearing-in that he will extend all possible help to me. Amit Shah Saheb said he will stand behind us like a rock,' Shinde said. 'But the biggest kalakar (artist) is this one,' Shinde said, pointing to Fadnavis sitting to his right on the treasury benches.
Bharatiya Janata Party patriarch L K Advani's daughter said that he will accept whatever position the party deems fit for his 'stature'.
The Delhi high court on Friday reserve its order on a Public Interest Litigation alleging that the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party received funding from subsidiaries of United Kingdom-based Vedanta Resources in violation of various Indian laws.
However, Anup Sardesai, the writer of the book titled Nathuram Godse: The Story of an Assassin, said he would go ahead with its release at a different venue.
UP BJP spokesperson Manoj Mishra said state BJP vice-president J P S Rathore, in a complaint letter sent to the Chief Election Commissioner, has accused Akhilesh of violating the model code of conduct.
He was also the second in Goa who died while still in office.
In a video message, Parrikar, 62, appealed people to continue praying for his health.
On the eve of the BJP's National Executive in Bengaluru, questions arose over whether party stalwart L K Advani will address the two-day conclave.
The decision is being seen as a balancing act in the faction-ridden party in the state.
Downplaying Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's comment that he got mandate to serve the state till 2017, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday said that one should not read too much into it as Modi has articulated a "tactical, legal and constitutional position".
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.
The run-up to the polls, which should have been a humdrum affair, became a cause celebre after it was marred by violence, arrests, sit-ins in far-away Delhi and a Supreme Court intervention asking officials to ensure peaceful polling.
Without doubt, the BJP is miles ahead in marshalling digital tools for electioneering better than any other party, observes Virendra Kapoor.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah and chief ministers of some BJP-ruled states were among those present at the Raj Bhavan ceremony.
As controversy grew, BJP leaders, actors also joined the discourse against him.
'Even if the government does not implement an all-India NRC before 2024, it will be part of the party's long-term project.'
Calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi "Saheb" during a discussion on the government's resolution on good works in the Delhi assembly's special session, Kejriwal said the nation is not with him in his "theatrics".
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