Glaring contrasts in various spheres in this Nehru-Gandhi family pocketborough are being raised by the rivals to target Congress President Sonia Gandhi for lop-sided development in the constituency from where she is seeking a fourth term.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) held the core group meeting of five states on Saturday at the party headquarters in New Delhi.
Rae Bareli and Amethi -- the respective parliamentary constituencies of United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, have ceased to enjoy a VVIP status, following withdrawal of "no power cut" order by the Akhilesh Yadav government.
The Congress president's daughter held an exclusive session with the women.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi will arrive on a two-day visit to her parliamentary constituency Rae Bareli on Thursday.
'We believe in God and I know nothing bad will happen here as long as the Congress is in power. I was born in Rae Bareli, I am the third generation of Nathans from this place,' Basil Nathan, whose mother Victoria was a member of the AICC and close to Indira Gandhi, tells Swarupa Dutt/Rediff.com
Besides Defence Minister Singh (Lucknow), Minister of Women and Child Development Irani (Amethi), those in the fray are Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishor (Mohanlalganj) and Minister of State of Consumer Affairs Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti (Fatehpur).
This was a rare instance when Gandhi raised an issue during the Zero Hour.
They may not see eye to eye on a number of issues, but some sworn political rivals have converged in the same constituency in Uttar Pradesh on Valentine's Day. While Congress president Sonia Gandhi joined her daughter Priyanka to campaign in Rae Bareli, her parliamentary constituency, son Rahul will be criss-crossing neighbouring Hardoi before moving on to Agra to address more rallies there.
Aditi, a management degree holder from North Duke University, North Carolina, returned to India in 2013 and since then has been working for the constituency nurtured by his father, Akhilesh Pratap Singh, the sitting MLA.
Party doubles efforts to retain family strongholds, declares Priyanka will focus on these two constituencies, says Kavita Chowdhury
Dinesh Pratap Singh, who was elected to the state legislative council for the second time in 2016 and left the Congress last year, is pitted against UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on a seat held by her since 2004.
After performing a 'havan', Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday filed her nomination papers from the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat in yet another bid to reach Parliament from the family bastion in central Uttar Pradesh.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday assured the people of her parliamentary segment that she would take up their problems regarding poor supply of power and drinking water with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.
Have Amethi and Rae Bareli got rough treatment in the last one year? Has Varanasi become cleaner? Business Standard's Manavi Kapur finds out
Thirty one people were killed and 45 injured in a train accident on Friday morning at Uttar Pradesh's Bachhrawan railway station, barely 40 km from Rae Bareli, the parliamentary constituency of Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
After announcing Kumar Vishwas's candidature against Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, there is a buzz that the party might pit Shazia Ilmi against Congress President Sonia Gandhi in the upcoming general elections.
Ayodhya resonated with devotional fervour on Tuesday morning as thousands of devotees streamed into the temple town ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to ceremonially hoist a saffron flag atop the Ram temple, marking the formal completion of its construction.
In a culture where children take up the profession of their father, her becoming a politician was seen as natural and acceptable.
Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is expected to visit Wayanad in Kerala on June 12, party sources said on Monday.
The national capital was in the grip of a cold wave, with the sun largely obscured by clouds and pollutants lingering in the atmosphere, leading to reduced visibility. At least 129 flights were cancelled at the Delhi airport on Saturday due to dense fog, according to an official.
"I am going to Raghopur to get feedback from the people of the constituency, which wants an end to the supremacy of one family. Before Tejashwi Yadav, a second-term MLA, his father Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi had represented that seat. Yet, it is crying for basic amenities," alleged Kishor.
Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) partners Samajwadi Party and Congress on Wednesday announced a tie-up for the Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, with UP's main opposition party leaving 17 out of the 80 seats in the state for the ally.
Mayawati said that the BSP and the SP would not ally with the Congress party in the upcoming elections.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of halting military conflict with Pakistan within five hours of being asked by then US President Donald Trump. He made the allegations during a rally in Muzaffarpur, Bihar, also criticizing the media and the deletion of names from electoral rolls.
Priyanka Gandhi told him to answer the question somebody from the crowd had asked.
Here is the timeline of the Emergency that lasted for 21 months, which is considered as the darkest period in the history of Independent India.
Sharma was the key person who looked after Rae Bareli and Amethi constituencies on behalf of the Gandhis.
'Rahul is a seasoned player of politics and chess. He makes his moves after careful consideration.
Amid this unrest came the verdict of the Allahabad high court on June 12, 1975 that found Gandhi guilty over discrepancies in the electoral campaign, which led to the Emergency on the night of June 25.
The withdrawal of land for the proposed rail coach factory in All India Congress Committee chairperson Sonia Gandhi's parliamentary constituency on Monday elicited strong resentment among people against the Uttar Pradesh government.
The Congress leader said his sister Priyanka Gandhi will be representing Wayanad if the people give her an opportunity and expressed confidence that she will do an excellent job at being their MP.
Priyanka's victory seems assured, but the broader implications for Kerala's political landscape and South Indian politics remain to be seen.
According to the officer, the accused has confessed to the killings and said that he had an affair with the teacher's wife for 18 months which went sour later, leading to him shooting the family.
Irani said that Rahul Gandhi's candidature from Raebareli is a "victory" for the people in Amethi.
The women said there was no scope for traditional dancing and singing any more and with the closure of dance bars in Mumbai, where many of them were employed, they had been left with no work.
Rahul said there was no development because a different party is ruling UP.
The last time a non-Gandhi was in the fray from the constituency was in 1998, when Satish Sharma, a close aide of Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, contested the polls but lost to the BJP's Sanjaya Sinh.
The 52-year-old, who joins her mother Sonia and brother Rahul as an MP in what is a rare instance of three members of a family together in Parliament, would visit Parliament as a teenager to listen to her father Rajiv Gandhi speak as prime minister.
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