Aam Aadmi Party leader Shazia Ilmi sought to quell speculation that she would be pitted against Congress President Sonia Gandhi in the Lok Sabha polls, saying she "never agreed" to contest from Rae Bareli.
Bharatiya Janata Party general secretary Amit Shah on Saturday said winds of change were blowing across the country and its effect would be visible even in a Congress stronghold like Amethi.
With the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress not coming forward with the name of a candidate for the post of Delhi assembly speaker, the Aam Aadmi Party is considering the names of its legislators for the post.
Their visit has provided impetus to the Congress in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh.
Slamming Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi for stating that poverty was just a "state of mind," Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the Congress leadership and Planning Commission should immediately stop making fun of poverty.
Battling on Rahul Gandhi's behalf, Priyanka Gandhi took on Narendra Modi over his shehzada, namuna and other barbs at her brother on Tuesday, saying the Bharatiya Janata Party leader is aspiring to be prime minister but indulging in childish behaviour and that he should maintain decorum.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday set at rest speculation that Uma Bharti could be fielded against Sonia Gandhi from Rae Bareli after the firebrand leader asserted that she "cannot leave my Jhansi" from where she has already been nominated.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Rahul Gandhi and BSP supremo Mayawati will descend on Varanasi on Saturday making it their battleground ahead of the last phase of Uttar Pradesh polls, a schedule that has put the administration on its toes.
Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal has made it abundantly clear that he would contest against Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi from Varanasi.
With trends projecting a defeat for the Congress in both Maharashtra and Haryana, a group of party workers gathered outside the All India Congress Committe office in New Delhi demanding that Priyanka Gandhi join active politics.
While Azad, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, has been made in charge of Uttar Pradesh, Nath will look after Punjab and Haryana, party General Secretary Janaradan Dwivedi said.
BJP plans to put up strong candidates against these 15 MPs.
'Her presence before and during the Lok Sabha election will electrify the political environment.'
To a question on whether deciding against contesting in the constituency would send a wrong signal, she said, "No I don't think so... I had said from the start that I will do what my party says...my party decided this and I am happy to follow the instructions."
'Overnight, with zero qualification whatsoever for the responsibility of prime ministership, Priyanka is being projected as an alternative to Narendra Damodardas Modi!' says Nazarwala who predicted Mayawati's win in the 2007 UP elections, forecast her rout in the 2012 polls, and called right the 2017 UP assembly election result.
The polling body said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not violate the model code or its advisory on armed forces in his speech in Varanasi. It also found nothing wrong in his comments made in Nanded, Maharashtra where he reportedly dubbed the Congress as a 'sinking Titanic'.
Venturing out of twin constituencies of her mother Sonia Gandhi and brother Rahul for the first time, Congress' star campaigner Priyanka Gandhi on Sunday carried out a roadshow in Sultanpur to woo voters.
Bharti also targeted Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, saying by choosing to contest elections from Amethi and Wayanad, he has accepted defeat.
Aam Admi Party leader Kumar Vishwas has been booked for allegedly hurting religious sentiments through his remarks in some videos available online.
Congress hopes to field upper caste candidates to eat into BJP voter base while SP-BSP focuses on consolidating Dalit-OBC votes in their favour.
Disappointed and angry Congress members are likely to train their guns on Rahul Gandhi's team of advisors for inept handling of the 2014 Lok Sabha poll campaign, says Rediff.com contributor Anita Katyal
Union Minister Kumari Selja was named the Congress nominee for Rajya Sabha elections, putting an end to speculation that former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit could be brought to the Upper House from Haryana.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday launched a frontal attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party, charging it with pursuing "politics of strife" and questioning its alliance with Shiv Sena even as he rubbished Narendra Modi's claims of development in Gujarat.
Shah said before the Yogi Adityanath dispensation assumed office, Uttar Pradesh was known for 'goonda raj' and bad law and order. '...Yogi government has established rule of law,' he said.
Leaders of that party are now scared of contesting from constituencies dominated by majority population
'Whether she will remain CPP chairperson or not, that she will decide.'
The situation is worse in the Gandhi family pocket borough -- Amethi and Raebareli.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra appears to have shed the maximum sweat among top leaders for over the last 45 days in the seven-phase Uttar Pradesh assembly elections campaign.
Different voices emerged from Congress on Monday on the leadership issue with senior leader Ambika Soni insisting that the party needs Sonia Gandhi as president while party general secretary Digvijay Singh pitched for Rahul Gandhi, saying a "generational change has to take place".
The BJP alleged that former French president Francois Hollande is part of the "nexus" to sabotage the procurement.
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.
Congress leaders are confident that Priyanka would act as a catalyst for the party and boost the sagging morale of cadres to put up a spirited fight against the BJP and also the SP-BSP pre-poll alliance which had already shut its door on the Congress, reports Virendra Singh Rawat.
The Opposition unity to fight the Bharatiya Janata Party seems to have run into rough weather as the Trinamool Congress and the Congress are at daggers drawn over the recent instances of 'poaching' by the Mamata Banerjee-led camp, with the grand old party finding itself in a tight spot.
Here's a recap of the events from the past 48 hours.
Even though she always knows what's happening, this was the first time she reviewed plans with party veterans.
A section within the RSS feels Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani should be projected as the BJP's CM candidate in UP, says Rajeev Sharma.
The combativeness reflects her insistence not to meekly acquiesce to what has been going on in Raisina Hill for years or decades, observes Kartikeya Tanna.
Dikshit, who served as Delhi CM for three terms, is said to have been sounded by the Congress high command for a leading role in Uttar Pradesh.
With their high-decibel campaigns so far, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Samajwadi Party may appear to be locked in a direct fight in Uttar Pradesh.
Her name figures among the 40 star campaigners that the Congress has finalised and forwarded to the Election Commission on Tuesday for the first phase of Uttar Pradesh polls.
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