Pitching for her son and Sultanpur member of Parliament, Union Minister Maneka Gandhi has said that Uttar Pradesh would have benefited had there been a Bharatiya Janata Party led government in the state with Varun Gandhi as its chief minister.
A Congress-led opposition on Tuesday came together seeking to pin down the government on the demonetisation issue in the winter session of Parliament beginning tomorrow but a consenses eluded on Trinamoll Congress's proposed march to Rashtrapati Bhawan for meeting the President.
The Uttar Pradesh government has initiated the process to identify land for setting up of a co-ed inter college in the district as a tribute to the December 16 gang-rape victim who succumbed to injuries on Tuesday.
The announcement put an end to speculation that Sonia Gandhi may not contest in the upcoming polls due to health reasons and the party's newly appointed general secretary in-charge (East UP) Priyanka Gandhi Vadra may be fielded from her constituency.
Participating in the debate on the triple talaq bill on Thursday, Khan made certain observations on a ruling party member.
The ruling BJP is confident of bettering its 2017 performance, especially with the new UP party chief, Bhupendra Chaudhary, at the helm of affairs, reports Virendra Singh Rawat.
'Since 2017, the chief minister and the RSS seem to have come closer.' 'This relationship's warmth is more from the RSS's side.'
The rift between Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and his party colleague Azam Khan, who also happens to be a prominent minister in the state cabinet, appears to be widening.
"Issue notice. Let a copy of the petition be served on the caveator. Counter affidavit be filed within four weeks hence. Rejoinder, if any, be filed within two weeks therefrom. List after six weeks," the bench said.
The talk of an anti-BJP front got revived after leaders of various parties and prominent individuals congregated at Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar's New Delhi residence last month.
'The Modi-Shah duo won't leave the war zone without putting up a tough fight.' 'Modi's slogan for 2019 could well be, "I have done much. Give me one more chance to do even more".' '2019 will be tough for the BJP.' 'But it will be even tougher for the Opposition -- united or otherwise,' says R Rajagopalan.
The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed the Constitution amendment bill to restore the power of states to make their own OBC lists after a thaw in the logjam as Opposition parties backed the legislation but demanded the removal of the 50 per cent cap on reservation, with many of them also calling for a caste-based census.
Aam Aadmi Party on Friday asked suspended IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal to resign from the central services and contest election against Samajwadi Party Chief Mulayum Singh Yadav from his Mainpuri parliamentary constituency.
Noting that Lok Sabha elections are around the corner and only one session of Parliament remains, he asked the government to bring an ordinance.
Anti-Congress regional parties may have felt the possible impact of Rahul's South-North yatra, pending a second East-West padayatra, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'In India, the establishment not only endorses, but many a times instigates anti-Muslim hatred.'
'In mocking him, Modi and Shah went horribly wrong.'
'It made Gandhi determined to fight to the finish, which now has the entire Sangh Parivar rattled,' says a Congress leader, privy to the repeated RSS outreach for a rapproachment.
Amidst indications that Samajwadi Party leader and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav is warming up to the idea of an alliance with Congress, UP PCC President Raj Babbar on Monday said his party will contest alone in the state and described such talks as "hypothetical".
A clerical error compounded by callousness of the higher bureaucracy has raised a storm over the already vexed Ayodhya issue.
'In an alliance, you are forced to overlook loyal workers.' 'It sends a negative message and workers turn against the party.' 'I have forbidden this alliance.'
His comments come against the backdrop of the prime minister's remarks in Parliament that one should learn the art of "bathing with a raincoat on" from Manmohan Singh as there was not a single taint on him despite so many scams having taken place during his regime.
In a veiled attack on the Samajwadi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said political forces were behind the recent Muzaffarnagar communal riots as they feel they cannot achieve electoral victory without creating such conflicts.
The TMC, fresh from its resounding victory in West Bengal, is renewing efforts to mark its presence in the country's most populous state as well as politically crucial elections before the Lok Sabha battle in 2024, reports Virendra Singh Rawat.
In no mood to back down on the issue of jurisdiction over appointments, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is reaching out to non-BJP chief ministers to mount political pressure on the Modi government even as the matter reached court.
The protesting students claimed that when they reached Red Fort, police did not allow them to take out the march but they did not budge and said they would make their voices heard.
Sacking Ajay Mishra would further antagonise Brahmins in UP already upset with Yogi's government.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday urged top opposition leaders to rise above political compulsions to take on the BJP in the interest of the nation and start planning "systematically" to realise the "ultimate goal" of winning the 2024 Lok Sabha polls
'His selection is to honour the sentiment of the communal majoritarianism, satisfy the upper caste and continue the process of Hindutva.'
It is not unlikely that ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP government comes up with more imaginative schemes aimed at constituency-building. The party under Modi's leadership has a more modern thinking in such matters unlike its rivals, which are still steeped only in ideology, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Bahujan Samaj party on Tuesday demanded dismissal of the Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh over the deteriorating law and order situation and staged a walkout in the Rajya Sabha.
Why are the 'secular' parties silent about the lynchings on our streets? Are they so busy forging political alliances that they ignore the numerous distortions of Constitutional values?
Political tributes poured in after the former external affairs minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushma Swaraj passed away into the ages on Tuesday night.
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Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Pravin Togadia on Tuesday said the outfit's controversial yatra would continue as planned.
The Rajya Sabha MP, who lost out to Bachchan in the race for re-nomination to the upper house and on Monday quit the Samajwadi Party to join the BJP, had said at a press conference that the SP denied him the RS ticket and gave it to somebody who used to dance and act in films.
A day after Sonia Gandhi's letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking the Centre to ensure that suspended Indian Administrative Service officer Durga Shakti Nagpal is not "unfairly treated", the Samajwadi Party flexed its muscle over the Food Security Bill.
The Samajwadi Party, which won a spectacular majority in the assembly elections, on Friday did nothing to dispel the raging speculation over who would be the next chief minister with leaders merely saying that the issue will be decided on Saturday.
Arch-rivals Left and Trinamool, SP and BSP come together for Sonia's lunch
Modi also berated the Rashtriya Janata Dal-Congress combine in Bihar, calling it an alliance of "double-double yuvraj" (two crown princes) whose sole concern was to protect their "respective thrones".
The outcome in UP is far more significant than in the other states going to the polls next year. An unlikely setback in UP can cramp the Modi government, virtually making it a lame-duck two years ahead of the 2024 parliamentary poll, observes Virendra Kapoor.
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