Former Samajwadi Party MP S T Hasan links the Uttarakhand disaster to the demolition of religious sites, claiming it angers God and disrupts spiritual balance. He also cites environmental destruction as a contributing factor to increasing natural disasters.
Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Yadav dismissed rumors that Azam Khan might join the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) after his release from jail.
Pradhan, who had filed his nomination on Wednesday, said he accepts the decision of party national president Akhilesh Yadav, who he met in the morning.
The SP MP said when the mentality is bad, then instead of telling about the achievements of the army, people start talking about their own achievements.
Police said they have expunged a case after no evidence supporting the complaint was found during the investigation.
The police have lodged a first information report (FIR) against 25 people in Moradabad after they offered namaaz at an open space that, they claimed, was the private property of some of them.
Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, remains on high alert following violence that erupted on November 24 over a court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid. Police have deployed heavy security ahead of Friday prayers and a court hearing on the survey, which is expected to be tense. The violence, which left four people dead and several injured, stemmed from claims that a Harihar temple previously stood at the site of the mosque.
Amid tight security, members of a judicial commission on Sunday visited the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal and other areas which witnessed violence over a court-ordered survey of the Mughal-era mosque.
The Union government has sought a report from Uttar Pradesh about the violence in Kanth area of Moradabad district, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Saturday.
"If you get employment, you will watch Reels for half an hour and work for 12 hours," the Congress leader said.
Families of the four men killed in the Sunday violence in Sambhal are now forced to contend with the double tragedy of death and poverty, reliant as they were on the frugal income the four once brought.
Like all politicians, Bharatiya Janata Party's Ramveer Singh dreamt of ending the losing streak of his party, but little did he know his victory would be so stylised, featuring a rout by 1.44 lakh votes of his nearest rival.
Bypolls to 10 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh will be a litmus test for the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA)'s unity after the group's success in the recent Lok Sabha polls when they won more than 40 seats, significantly contributing to the Bharatiya Janata Party's failure to win a simple majority in parliament.
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and Congress MP Mohammad Azharuddin were on Thursday detained by Uttar Pradesh police while they were on their way to a violence-hit village in Moradabad where restrictions are in force.
Apna Dal-K leader Pallavi Patel made it clear that the party was no longer an ally of the SP which is a member of the INDIA bloc.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday declared 13 candidates from Uttar Pradesh for the Lok Sabha polls including actor Arun Govil, who played Lord Ram in popular TV serial Ramayan, from Meerut, while replacing sitting MP Varun Gandhi from Pilibhit with state minister Jitin Prasada.
Two days after violence broke out during a court-ordered survey of a Mughal-era mosque in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, life is gradually returning to normal with schools reopening and shops resuming operations. Internet services remain suspended and authorities continue to monitor the situation closely with restrictions in place on entry of outsiders and public representatives. The area around the Shahi Jama Masjid remains deserted, while the police investigate the violence and make arrests.
The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday questioned former Indian cricket team captain and Congress leader Mohammed Azharuddin for over nine hours in a money laundering case linked to alleged financial irregularities in the Hyderabad Cricket Association, official sources said.
This has invited sharp reaction from the Opposition, with the Samajwadi Party saying that the BJP was afraid of its defeat in Milkipur due to which it moved the court for "stalling" polls on the assembly seat.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday met ministers from the state at his residence in Lucknow to discuss the upcoming assembly bypolls in 10 constituencies.
The ruling Samajwadi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh seem to be making the most of the prevailing crisis in Moradabad to serve their political ends.
A first information report (FIR) was filed in Ghaziabad on Monday against Alt-News co-founder Mohammad Zubair for allegedly promoting enmity among religious groups and other offences following a complaint by an aide of controversial priest Yati Narsinghanand, according to police.
"Owaisi is an old friend of mine. As far as I know, he was 'Kshatriya' (Hindu) earlier. He is a descendent of Lord Ram, not the one belonging to Iran," said Singh.
Voters include 8.4 crore men, 8.23 crore women and 11,371 from third gender. There are as many as 35.67 lakh first time voters, besides 3.51 crore young voters in the age group of 20-29 years.
'Episodes of targeted attacks on Muslims established that for a section of people and, sadly, even officials of the State, the election results conveyed no lessons.' 'Opposition parties must not be hesitant in speaking out whenever the mob with tacit State support targets Muslims,' asserts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author of Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times.
Four of the injured are personnel of UP police, two of them with gunshot wounds, the police said.
A special court in Moradabad has acquitted all 74 accused, including UP Cabinet minister Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary and local Bharatiya Janata Party legislator Ritesh Kumar Gupta, for allegedly attacking policemen during the protest in Kanth area of the district in 2014.
Asked about him sticking with the Congress since he got the parliamentary polls ticket from Moradabad in 2009, he said loyalty is very important to him since the beginning.
MP-MLA court magistrate Shobit Bansal awarded the three the maximum seven-year sentence.
Officials said most of the preparations are complete and the counting will start at 8 am on Saturday.
"The party will try to connect with these voters by organising 'Sneh Milan: Ek Desh, Ek DNA Sammelan' in various West Uttar Pradesh districts," he said, adding these conferences would start after Eid next month and the first convention will be held in Muzaffarnagar.
A case has been registered against Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and 20 party workers in connection with alleged assault on some journalists in Uttar Pradesh's Moradabad, police said on Saturday.
Saharanpur recorded a turnout of 71.13 per cent, Bijnor 65.91, Moradabad 67.26, Sambhal 62.87, Rampur 64.26, Amroha 71.98, Budaun 59.24, Bareilly 61.67 and Shahjahanpur 59.34 per cent, a statement issued by the election office said in Lucknow on Tuesday.
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.
The ruling BJP-led coalition ended Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan's over four-decade dominance in Rampur with its ally Apna Dal-Sonelal winning the Suar assembly by-election by a margin of 8,724 votes.
The bypolls were conducted for two Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, one each in Meghalaya and Odisha and the Jalandhar Lok Sabha constituency in Punjab.
Bharatiya Janata Party MP Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday defied a ban on his election meeting in Lucknow by addressing it and accused the SP government of following a communal agenda.
The second list has named 16 candidates from Uttar Pradesh and five from Maharashtra.
The panchayat polls or those for district panchayat chiefs are not held on a party symbol but candidates enjoy the tacit support of various parties.
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