The election authorities on Tuesday gave a clean chit to Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh's son and Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Jayant Chowdhury who was caught on camera accepting money from a local leader in Mathura and allegedly violating the model code of conduct.
Members from the Jayant Chaudhary's Rashtriya Lok Dal too were part of the group, their participation seen as another indication that the party is all set to switch sides from the SP to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
The combine of the Congress and the Rashtriya Lok Dal will emerge as the single largest party in the forthcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, according to yet another survey commissioned by the party. The survey also indicates that the real battle will be between the Congress and the BJP, with the latter making considerable gains since the last election and winning in 113 constituencies.
'When voting clause by clause on Waqf came up in the JPC, the TDP and JD-U supported the BJP on each and every clause.'
Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Ajit Singh was sworn in as the 33rd member of the Union Cabinet, and 77th in the Union council of ministers on Sunday morning. Singh is widely expected to be allotted the civil aviation portfolio. This is the fourth time Singh has been inducted into the Union Cabinet.
After his party formally joined the United Progressive Alliance on Monday, Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh is likely to be sworn in as a Union Cabinet Minister this week with civil aviation being mentioned as the possible portfolio.
Many in the Telangana region have shown some interest in the RLD and depending on how honest they are to the cause they would think of supporting them, says Vicky Nanjappa.
Leaders from 26 opposition parties, in power individually or in alliance in Delhi and 10 states, are meeting in Bengaluru to discuss strategy to take on the Narendra Modi-led NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Actor-turned-politician Jaya Prada on Thursday said she wants to join the Bharatiya Janata Party as she is impressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership.
Candidates contesting from Kunda (in Pratapgarh), Malhani (in Jaunpur), and Rasara (in Ballia) failed to secure enough votes to prevent forfeiture of their deposits.
Dubbing as 'utterly baseless' the latest WikiLeaks claim of Members of Parliament being bribed ahead of the crucial 2008 trust vote, Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh on Thursday said his party had 'openly' voted against the United Progressive Alliance at that time. "We had opposed the (India-United States) nuclear deal and after talking to MPs from Opposition parties we had decided to vote against the government," Singh told PTI.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sought to send out the message that the ruling BJP, unlike its predecessors at the helm, is not guided by parochial politics in recognising contributions in the public life, as the party looks to break new ground during the polls.
The Samajwadi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party appeared to take early leads in Uttar Pradesh where counting of votes began after a seven-phased elections concluded on Saturday.
The Samajwadi Party can form the government in Uttar Pradesh without the support of the Congress, if initial leads turn into actual wins for the party. The party is leading at 171 seats and it can take the support of Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal and others to reach the magic figure of 202 -- the number needed to form the state government. According to figures available till now, SP has emerged as the leading party in UP, the Bahujan Samaj Party is at second place.
A search of Ardebili's computer had revealed email communication between Ardebili and Vikramaditya, culminating in Vikramaditya forwarding a price quote and bank account information to Ardebili for various items, including digital microwave radios, the statement said.
Acting Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, in his first visit to the national capital after leading his ruling alliance to an unprecedented second straight term in the state.
Gorkhaland supporters called for a bandh in Darjeeling for their own state, while Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Ajit Singh threatened to resume the agitation for a separate Harit Pradesh, as the planned statehood for Telangana sparked fresh demands to create new states.
With an eye to make the Rashtriya Lok Dal happy the Union Cabinet in a crucial meeting decided to rename the Lucknow airport as Chaudhary Charan Singh Airport. This was disclosed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram while briefing media-persons on the developments that took place in Thursday's meeting.
Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav on Thursday asserted that 'something major' will take place, after Lok Sabha results are out, in Bihar where Chief Minister Nitish Kumar seemed to be 'not going along well' with ally Bharatiya Janata Party.
A new crop of politicians is redefining the dynamics of politics in Uttar Pradesh. Neerja Chowdhury analyses the mood change in the poll-bound state.
Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi held a virtual meeting on Friday evening with leaders of 19 Opposition parties, including the chief ministers of some Opposition-ruled states, amid efforts to boost Opposition unity and evolve a common strategy against the National Democratic Alliance government.
Amid protests against acquisition of farmers' land, work on the Reliance power plant at Dadri in Uttar Pradesh will start from Thursday.
Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh on Monday took charge of the civil aviation ministry, saying it was a 'sensitive' portfolio.
Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh will be inducted as a Union Cabinet minister on Sunday in a minor expansion of the Council of Ministers by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh on Friday said that his party is in the process of holding talks with the Congress for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections to be held next year.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, BJP national president JP Nadda and several other famous faces were seen at polling booths, exercising their franchise in the final and seventh phase of the Lok Sabha polls on Saturday.
Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh on Wednesday claimed that a large number of Bahujan Samaj Party leaders in Uttar Pradesh are in touch with the party, and Ajit Singh-led Rashtriya Lok Dal is also willing to form an alliance with it ahead of the state assembly polls.
The five ministers in UP government are: Kokab Hamid, Anuradha Chaudhary, Babu Lal, Thakur Tejpal Singh and Swami Omvesh.
Referring to the polling for the first phase of elections, Yogi said that the time for a "big decision" has come.
The case pertained to obstructing a public servant from performing his duty during a protest three years ago.
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A day after Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh was detained for trying to enter Uttar Pradesh, his son Jayant Chaudhary managed to give police a slip and bypassed the tight security arrangements at the state border in Meerut.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and party's candidate from Kalkaji, Ramesh Bidhuri, has yet again courted controversy by allegedly saying that after victory in the Delhi assembly polls next month, he will develop smooth roads in the constituency like Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi's 'cheeks'.
These meetings with Pawar has fuelled speculations about the possibility of opposition parties coming together to form a third front against the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Lecturer Kavita Rani had alleged in letters before her disappearance on October 24 that she had received threats from various people including Babulal.
With the Centre blinking on the issue of formation of Telangana, Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh on Thursday decided to revive his demand for Harit Pradesh to be carved out of Uttar Pradesh after the Parliament session.
Fissures surfaced among Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) partners ahead of the Jharkhand assembly elections as the Rashtriya Janata Dal on Saturday expressed disappointment over the announcement of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and Congress contesting 70 of 81 seats in the state.
Top leaders of the Opposition's Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) held talks in an informal setting in Mumbai on Thursday evening to chart out a concrete roadmap and evolve a structure for cooperation among the alliance partners to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
A former protege of the JD-U de facto leader, Kushwaha, had revolted against Kumar in 2013, giving up his Rajya Sabha berth and floated his own outfit.
BJP sources said a meeting of the National Democratic Alliance is expected to take place soon to highlight its growing strength and to dispel the impression that the departure of some of its oldest allies such as the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, Shiromani Akali Dal and the Janata Dal-United have the left the saffron party without a major partner.
Yadav was dismissed in 2017 after he posted a video online complaining about the food served to the troops.
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