The Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh will be reduced to its 2012 tally of 47 or thereabouts as the wind is blowing in favour of the Akhilesh Yadav-led coalition this election, says Swami Prasad Maurya who left the saffron party to join the Samajwadi Party last month.
'By calling names and using unparliamentary language, they are trying to divert people's attention from the issues of electricity, water, and income.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday exhorted farmers to adopt natural farming saying it will help not only save water but also produce better crops, and invited them to join a mega programme on it on December 16 as it would prove beneficial for them.
The polls for 70-member assembly will be held on February 8 and results will be declared on February 11.
"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.
Modi was addressing a rally after laying the foundation stone of 594-km-long Ganga Expressway in this Uttar Pradesh district.
'Both the BJP and SP have workers and cadres across the state, and now it will boil down to which party manages booths smartly and gets its voters to come out.'
There is nothing the young Purvanchali wants more desperately than to escape to a place with less hopelessness, and some opportunity, discovers Shekhar Gupta.
'Is baar vote jati par nahi, kaam par milega.'
'It's like the BJP is mocking people: Do what you want, we'll still win.'
"The way in which UP has controlled the second Covid wave and stopped its spread is unprecedented," the prime minister, who arrived at his parliamentary constituency earlier in the morning on Thursday, said while addressing a gathering.
The issue of division of Uttar Pradesh had been lying dormant till now with major political parties including the BSP preferring silence so far.
'Uttar Pradesh, our largest state by population and the most powerful, is also the worst governed.'
In a bid to outsmart rivals ahead of the assembly elections, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Tuesday announced bringing a resolution in the House for carving out four new states in the winter session beginning next week.
The Hindutva poster boy has lost his sheen following the BJP's poll reverses in Hindi heartland states and his style of governance, reports Virendra Singh Rawat.
That would be three more seats than what the BJP won in 2014.
Modi is seen as exceptional not only on account of his acts but also owing to his style. He appears to sacrifice his life for the people -- like a fakir, a figure he came to epitomize even more in 2020 by growing a long white beard. Charisma is above accountability, and Modi has grasped these dynamics.
Mr Modi and Mr Shah will need him if they want to win UP again in 2022 and India in 2024. This signals a Yogi Adityanath-sized change in BJP politics, even under Mr Modi, Shekhar Gupta.
Expelled leader Amar Singh has said he was associated with the Samajwadi Party for 14 long years and if he would open his mouth, SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav would land in jail.
Nirahua, a Bhojpuri star and the BJP's candidate, is drawing huge crowds in his road shows and meetings after he entered the poll fray against Yadav, but voters with caste and local equations appear favourable for the senior Yadav.
The right to life and health of the public at large cannot be sacrificed at the altar of a right to celebrate a festival
Tunnaji Pandey was earlier arrested on Sunday for misbehaving with a girl on board a running train.
The Varanasi versus Azamgarh story is about the fears and insecurities of two of our strongest leaders, Narendra Modi and Mulayam Singh Yadav, says Sheela Bhatt.
The CM recently instructed officials to prepare a roadmap for providing local jobs to about two million people, especially in the rural-based industries, such as khadi, dairy, and food processing units and MSMEs.
On the eve of the final phase of the Uttar Pradesh elections, Rediff.com's Aslam Hunani reviews the political landscape in the epicentre and beyond.
That day is not very far when farmers will get double their present income, says PM.
'The BJP's all-India plans can be expected to become clearer around 2022-2023, particularly if -- as some anticipate -- the senior Congress leadership cracks, broadly as between the Nehru-Gandhi loyalists and those who may be termed 'pro-changers',' observes Arun Bhatnagar, a retired IAS officer.
The UP CM failed to launch any major infrastructure project of its own, including the proposed Purvanchal Expressway, and also rid the roads of potholes by June 2017.
The total exposure of top 50 defaulters of PSBs as on December 2015 was Rs 1,21,832 crore.
From opposing the NPR and NRC to demanding special status for Bihar to staying out of the Union Cabinet on principle to showing the BJP who was boss in Bihar, Nitish Kumar has wasted no opportunity at cocking a snook at the BJP leadership. But how long can he continue, asks Gopal Krishna.
"Crores of Muslim women had always demanded that triple talaq should be banned, as it is also banned in Islamic countries," he said.
The Purvanchal Sena president, Adarsh Sharma, went into hiding soon after a case under the Delhi Prevention of Defacement of Property Act was registered against him at the Parliament Street police station.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit his Parliamentary constituency Varanasi on September 18, a trip that he has been forced to cancel thrice earlier.
Although Gorakhpur is the largest urban centre and trading hub in Eastern UP, catering not only to the neighbouring district but also the adjoining Bihar and Nepal, it had been lacking in proper infrastructure of road and air connectivity, impeding the harnessing of its socioeconomic potential.
'On the evening of the 17th, the RBI said the bank was put on moratorium.' 'Within an hour, the RBI said it would be merged with DBS.' 'How did DBS come to know within an hour that LVB was in trouble?' 'It means, what happened was match-fixing.'
The prime minister's tough talk assumed significance in view of protests against the CAA in various parts of the country.
Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Wednesday renewed her demand for splitting the state into four parts, besides creation of Gorkhaland and Vidarbha.
Here are some of the political leaders' who await their fate.
On the eve of the sixth and penultimate phase of the marathon Uttar Pradesh elections, Rediff.com's Aslam Hunani reports on what's at stake.
The BJP's losses in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, where the UP CM had addressed nearly 75 rallies, has put a big question mark on his ability to deliver in high-octane contests, reports Virendra Singh Rawat.
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