Can compassion, common courtesy or an 'emotional connect' win seats in the harsh realpolitik of UP, a state riddled with divisions of caste and religion, and confronted with a seemingly impregnable BSP-SP alliance? asks Sunil Sethi.
Rich tributes were offered to Rajiv Gandhi amid singing of hymns at Vir Bhumi, the memorial to the departed leader on the banks of river Yamuna.
She also accused the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Uttar Pradesh of "complete failure" in handling the Kanpur ambush case and arresting Dubey, the main accused who fled the state and was arrested from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday morning.
However, she said her own wish is to work for the party's organisation.
Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh (Phase II) go to the polls on Friday, November 17, 2023.
Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were on Tuesday stopped by police from entering Meerut on their way to meet the families of those who died during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act.
Addressing a prayer meeting in memory of the Dalit rape victim, she said her party will continue to exert pressure on the government till justice is delivered in the case.
Reacting to his win, Sharma expressed his gratitude to the people of Amethi and the Congress party, saying the 18th Lok Sabha election in Amethi will be the biggest example of a strong and empowered democratic country.
AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday brainstormed with senior Congress leaders from Uttar Pradesh on the preparations for next year's assembly polls, as the party resolved to hit the streets against the Bharatiya Janata Party government over issues such as unemployment, price rise and law and order.
"You take any section of society be it Dalits, weavers or Brahmins, everybody has been exploited. The administration of Yogi Adityanath ji is working completely against the 'vichaar' (thoughts) of Guru Gorakhnath," she said at a rally, taking a swipe at the BJP leader who is also the head of the prominent Mutt in Gorakhpur named after Saint Gorakhnath.
A large number of party workers welcomed her by raising slogans of "Priyanka Gandhi aayi hai, nayi roshni layi hai" (Priyanka Gandhi has come, she has brought light).
'Mrs Sonia Gandhi, chairperson, UPA has been admitted to our hospital today. She has been admitted in Department of Chest Medicine under the care of Dr Arup Basu and his team. Mrs Gandhi has been admitted for observation and treatment of a viral respiratory infection,' said Dr Ajay Swaroop, chairman of the hospital's board of management.
"If you get employment, you will watch Reels for half an hour and work for 12 hours," the Congress leader said.
At a poll rally on Monday, Prime Minister Modi said the protests against the new citizenship law in Shaheen Bagh and other areas in New Delhi are not a coincidence but an 'experiment' ('sanyog nahi prayog') and a political conspiracy to destroy the country's harmony. Taking on the PM, Priyanka Gandhi said a report recently said 3.5 crore jobs have been lost in the last five years in seven important sectors.
'Having taken the first step, Priyanka will do well to remember that politics is not a part-time occupation, nor is it meant for guest appearances and cameos.' 'It can't be that come June 2019 and Priyanka goes back to her cocooned life, to re-emerge five years later because the family business is in trouble again,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Mizoram will be voting for total 40 seats in a single phase while polls in Chhattisgarh (90 seats) will be conducted in two phases on November 7 (20 seats) and remaining 70 seats on November 17.
Priyanka Gandhi's charge were the key seats of Lucknow, Amethi, Raebareli, Sultanpur, Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Phulpur, Allahabad, Barabanki, and Kushinagar.
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 Congress, which criticised the amendment, walked out of Rajya Sabha saying it is dissatisfied with the home minister's reply on the amendment to the SPG Act.
Hitting out at Bharatiya Janata Party-led government, the Congress leader underlined that the Indian economy had grown at a rapid pace during the United Progressive Alliance regime.
The discussion between the former deputy chief minister and the Gandhi siblings comes days after the dramatic developments in Punjab where the Congress replaced Amarinder Singh as chief minister and appointed Charanjit Singh Channi, a Dalit leader, to the top post of the state.
"At a time when the people of the country are struggling with shortage of oxygen, vaccines, hospital beds, medicines, it would be better if the government deploys all resources in saving the lives of the people, instead of building a new house for the PM at Rs 13,000 crore," Priyanka Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.
Under SPG protection, Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi were using Range Rovers.
The duo is unlikely to visit the neighbouring parliamentary constituency of Amethi, from where Congress president Rahul Gandhi lost the Lok Sabha polls.
The electoral battle in Varanasi, according to locals and political experts, is not about whether the PM will win for a third successive occasion, but if he will increase his share of the votes polled and his win margin.
A video shows the Congress leader taking instructions from workers of the Sadhuru tea garden on how to pluck tea leaves. She smiles as a few others click photographs, the minute long video shows.
The Congress will give 40 per cent of tickets to women in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections beginning next year, party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said here on Tuesday.
Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu will meet senior party leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Delhi on June 29, sources in his office said.
Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra Wednesday met the family members of farmers killed in the violence in Lakhimpur Kheri and promised them all assistance.
Speaking on the issue, political commentator and the author of 'Sonia A Biography', Rasheed Kidwai tells Rediff.com's Priyanka that the accusations don't reflect state craft and whether government funds were misused.
Celebrations had already begun at BJP headquarters before the full announcement of results.
Attacking Priyanka Gandhi for her remarks comparing the BJP leaders to "panic-stricken rats", Arun Jaitley on Monday said she has "lowered the political discourse" with her language and the Vadra family needs to be "scared of the law".
With this latest notice, the Income Tax department has raised a total demand of Rs 3,567 crore from the Congress.
Even Priyanka's formal entry into politics could not act as a saving grace for the Congress. She was made in-charge of the party's fortunes in eastern Uttar Pradesh, but despite her high-octane election campaign, Congress is ahead on just one seat -- her mother Sonia Gandhi from Raebareli.
Priyanka spent the night at the guesthouse, turning down all requests of the local administration to return.
'We cannot endanger our national security by indulging in false bravado, fake narratives and high-decibel whitewashing. As a nation, we have to collectively fight the scourge of cross-border terrorism'
Devotional music rent the air as scores of political leaders and Congress workers remembered the late leader for his services to the nation.
While Congress leader Sam Pitroda says it was Priyanka's own decision, party spokesperson Rajiv Shukla says it was Rahul's call.
Soon after meeting, Raut hinted at a pre-poll alliance with the Congress in UP and Goa, stating that the parties are thinking of working together in both the states that are scheduled to go to assembly polls early next year.
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