A portrait of Mahatma Gandhi was defaced at Bapu Bhawan in Laxmanbagh Sansthan in Madhya Pradesh on Gandhi Jayanti by unidentified persons who wrote "deshdrohi" (traitor) over it and also stole an urn which was used for immersing his ashes, police said on Thursday.
"Former Chief Minister Mayawati and I will not contest the assembly elections," Bahujan Samaj Party member of Parliament Satish Chandra Misra told ANI.
Polling across 55 assembly constituencies assembly in nine districts got off to sluggish start at 7 am due to the cold and fog at several places.
The alliance adopted a resolution to this effect and said its theme for the elections will be "Judega Bharat, Jeetega India, (India will unite, India will win)".
According to poll observers, there are about 3.88 lakh voters in Rampur assembly constituency and of them, about 2.27 lakh, about 60 per cent, are Muslims.
The houses of a sitting and a former MLA, both Dalits, were set afire by a violent mob.
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.
JD-U on Friday dismissed the Samajwadi Party-driven formation of a 'Third Front' for the Bihar polls and said that there was "only one front" in the state.
Yadav also pressed for the caste census which, he said, would be a major issue in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
In remarks that could stoke a fresh controversy, Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agrawal on Wednesday said that officers are "scared" to appoint women as their personal assistants after the passage of the bill to prevent sexual harassment of women at workplaces.
Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Monday came down heavily on the Uttar Pradesh government over the suspension of a woman IAS officer, who had clamped down on illegal mining in the state.
Yadav struck deals with the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress whenever needed to form or save the governments led by him in Uttar Pradesh.
The Congress, out of power in Madhya Pradesh for nearly 15 years, has also expressed its willingness to align with like-minded parties to take on the BJP.
Umesh Pal's family thanked Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and the police.
The EC has asked both factions to show strength of MLAs, MPs and MLCs supporting them through signed affidavits.
Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav on Monday said that the country is witnessing 'politics of change' and called on the youth to make it successful.
In the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly, the actual strength of the house at present is 228 as two seats are lying vacant. With the resignation of 16 more MLAs, the strength of Congress has come down to 92 from 108.
Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav's daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday.
With the Yogi Adityanath government taking credit for cracking down on criminals and making it an election issue, political parties are now having a rethink on aligning with those who have a criminal background but also enjoy influence in their areas.
Shivpal Yadav is campaigning for Akhilesh Yadav's wife Dimple Yadav in Mainpuri seat, which fell vacant due to the death of Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Bharatiya Janata Party MP Kirodi Lal Meena moved for leave to introduce the bill to provide for the constitution of the national inspection and investigation committee for preparation of a Uniform Civil Code and its implementation throughout India and for matters connected therewith during the private member's business.
Mamata Banerjee's sights are not on the next month's Presidential election. She is focusing on another election that will take place in 2024.
S P Singh Baghel and B L Verma who made it to the Union council of ministers on Wednesday are two prominent Other Backward Classes leaders from Uttar Pradesh.
The Congress has no love lost for Amar Singh's Samajwadi Party in Madhya Pradesh despite the two striving for an electoral alliance in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh.
Sacking Ajay Mishra would further antagonise Brahmins in UP already upset with Yogi's government.
Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister and former state BJP president Keshav Prasad Maurya had also dropped a hint in a recent tweet, saying Yaduvanshi (Yadavs), Ravidasiyo (Jatavs) and Pasmanda Muslims will be brought closer to the BJP so that the lotus 'blossoms' in every booth in UP.
Mulayam's cousimn and senior Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav's son Akshay is all set to take the electoral plunge in Ferozabad. However, he faces really tough competition from BJP's S P Singh Baghel. Renu Mittal reports.
While a few 'bahubalis' managed wins in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, a majority of them were rejected by the voters. According to the results, many alleged dons-turned-politicians failed to make it to the Uttar Pradesh Assembly.
Samajwadi Party leader Abdullah Azam on Sunday said the property given to the Rampur Nawabs for 'being loyal to the British' should be confiscated and that a movement in this connection will be launched soon.
The bill seeks to reserve one-third of all seats for women in the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies.
The House witnessed heated exchanges between Congress and Samajwadi Party members.
In her defence, the teacher, Tripti Tyagi, has said that the video has been tampered with in order to stoke tensions.
Upset over alleged 'personal' remarks made against her, Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan on Monday lashed out at the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Rajya Sabha with a 'curse' that it will face bad days soon.
'If you interpret Akhilesh's statement, he is clearly saying Shivpal wants to become chief minister.'
He also rejected allegations of being a vote cutter and cleared the air about his fallout with the Akhilesh Yadav-led party.
Mulayam said his son had promised to leave the post of party president after staying at the helm for three months, but he did not do so.
Jailed gangster and former member of Parliament Atiq Ahmad and his wife on Tuesday joined the All India Majlis e Ittehadul Muslimeen in the presence of its chief Asaduddin Owaisi, drawing a sharp reaction from the Bharatiya Janata Party which said Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will not allow "Jinnah's jihadi mentality" to flourish in Uttar Pradesh.
Announcing that a district-wide bandh was being organised in protest against the killing, Chaudhary said that if no headway is made in the investigation within 48 hours, there will be a state-wide stir.
Muslims constitute 20% of UP's electorate. Currently, Muslim voters are divided between Akhilesh's SP and Mayawati's BSP. What will tilt the balance? Can Muslims back the winning party? Mohammad Sajjad explains the mysteries of UP's Muslim politics.
While Madhya Pradesh sends 29 members to the Lok Sabha, Uttarakhand accounts for 5 seats in the Lower House of Parliament.
