'Akhilesh Yadav made voters think why is the BJP asking for 400 paar.' 'They understood his words and believed the BJP wanted 400 paar only to demolish the Constitution and end reservations.'
The Congress' Uttar Pradesh chief Ajay Rai's symbolic gesture of hanging 'nimbu-mirchi' (lemon-chillies) on a toy jet, mocking the Centre's alleged inaction in the wake of the Pahalgam attack, has triggered a political storm. The BJP has condemned the act, calling it an insult to the armed forces. Rai, however, maintained that he was merely highlighting the government's delay in utilizing the Rafale jets. The controversy comes amidst a heated debate over the government's response to the recent terror attack.
The Samajwadi Party and Congress have announced that they will contest together under the INDIA bloc.
Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday said 'there is no need for socialism in India', adding 'secularism is not the core of our culture'.
Besides disclosing in their affidavits, candidates have to prominently declare criminal cases they are facing, if any, thrice in newspapers in print as well on television, he said, adding that political parties too have to publish within three days of nomination why a candidate with criminal background was selected. "You (political parties) have to tell the public whether you did not get any (other) candidate and why was it necessary to select them (those with criminal background)," he said.
Ruling Samajwadi Party appeared to be headed for a split on Sunday as Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and his party supremo and father Mulayam Singh were engaged in an open face-off, sacking each other's loyalists Shivpal Yadav and Ramgopal Yadav.
Agarwal handed over his resignation from the state Assembly to UP Vidhan Sabha Speaker Sukhdev Rajbhar on Saturday morning. The resignation of Agarwal, who was also the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, has been accepted, the Speaker told UNI in Lucknow.
Leaders of several INDIA bloc parties met the Election Commission over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar and raised concerns over its timing, alleging that over two crore voters of the state may be disenfranchised by this mammoth exercise being done just ahead of assembly elections.
After the Congress' shock defeat in Haryana, the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) parties flexed their muscles on Wednesday, accusing the grand old party of ignoring them.
The SP MP said when the mentality is bad, then instead of telling about the achievements of the army, people start talking about their own achievements.
This will be the 49-year-old JMM leader's fourth stint as chief minister. Soren retained the Barhait seat, defeating BJP's Gamliyel Hembrom by a margin of 39,791 votes in the recent assembly polls.
Yadav asserted that he has always maintained that seat distribution should be decided considering which alliance partner is the strongest in a particular state.
INDIA bloc parties are set to raise issues such as the Pahalgam attack, US President Trump's claims of brokering a ceasefire, and concerns over electoral roll revisions in Bihar during the Parliament's Monsoon session.
Declaring the result of the election at the Samajwadi Party national convention at Ramabai Ambedkar stadium here, Ram Gopal Yadav said Akhilesh Yadav was the only candidate for the post.
The delay in finalising a seat allocation agreement among the Maha Vikas Aghadi allies for the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections has ignited concerns among smaller constituents as the nomination process commenced on Tuesday.
Siddiqui's exit came within hours of the publication of his interview in the English daily Indian Express -- bearing the headline 'Mayawati comes, speaks, goes, there's no discussion' -- where he had sought to brand Mayawati as a despot.
Shah on Sunday tweeted a picture of their meeting and welcomed the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party leader to the NDA.
The June 23 meeting of opposition parties, called by Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar, will see anti-BJP players chalk out a strategy for the Lok Sabha polls.
The Congress on Monday distanced itself from the controversial comments of some of its leaders on the Pahalgam terror attack, saying that only the recent CWC resolution and the views expressed by AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and authorised AICC office-bearers represent its position. The opposition party's assertion comes in the wake of remarks by leaders like Vijay Wadettiwar, Mani Shankar Aiyar, Shashi Tharoor, Tariq Hameed Karra and Saifuddin Soz that have triggered a row, with the BJP alleging that some from the opposition party were speaking "Pakistan's language".
When the country has been at war, the Opposition has buried its differences with the government, points out Aditi Phadnis.
The parties which gave chief ministers and sent scores of MPs to Parliament, drew a blank this time.
The delegations led by Baijayant Panda, Ravi Shankar Prasad (both Bharatiya Janata Party), Sanjay Kumar Jha (Janata Dal-United), Shrikant Shinde (Shiv Sena), Shashi Tharoor (Congress), Kanimozhi (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) and Supriya Sule (Nationalist Congress Party-Sharad Pawar) will visit a total of 32 countries and the EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.
'You have been appointed general secretary of Samajwadi Party. I hope in the coming days you will strengthen the party in Uttar Pradesh assembly elections,' Mulayam said in a handwritten letter to Amar.
A senior SP leader requesting anonymity said that the party chief had called a meeting to brief the MLAs about the voting process of the Rajya Sabha elections.
The outcome of the polls to the Rajya Sabha is likely to have an impact in the politically crucial state just ahead of the general elections in the country.
With cinestars Jaya Prada and Sanjay Dutt in tow, expelled Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh is all set to formally launch his own party in the new-year.
Reacting to the statement, Uttar Pradesh BJP chief Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary said "insulting the Sanatan Dharma again and again" has become the habit of the Samajwadi Party and its leaders.
A police complaint has been lodged at Barakhamba police station in Delhi, against 26 Opposition parties "for improper use of the name of INDIA and use of the said name for the undue influence and personation at elections."
In an interview to CNN-IBN, the SP chief denied that Amar Singh was gaining out of party and also reaffirmed his charge that a Mumbai-based business tycoon was conniving to kill him.
He termed the allegations as "just random statements" and demanded that people making such allegations should demonstrate how the EVMs can be "hacked"
The BJP, which romped to power in 2019 on the back of an unequivocal mandate from UP, winning 62 of its 80 seats, was cut to size this time and had to be content with only 33 seats.
From putting up a decent performance in the last Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh winning 10 seats stitching an alliance with arch rival Samajwadi Party, Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party drew a blank in the current general elections, dealing a severe blow to its reputation of representing the voice of Dalits in the state.
KC Venugopal mentioned that the Congress's goal is to diminish the BJP's representation in Uttar Pradesh by securing half of the seats in the state.
'The 2024 general elections proved that UP is not Gujarat.'
Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Faizabad MP Lallu Singh made a sudden exit from a press conference in Ayodhya on Thursday stating that 'mafia elements are present on stage'.
In the Muslim community, views on this Lok Sabha election seem to vary, with some seeing it as crucial for India's pluralism while others feel neglected by political parties.
However, the national party count has gone down to six from 14 in over seven decades.
The case was registered against Khan for allegedly making a provocative speech targeting the Uttar Pradesh chief minister, the then Rampur district election officer and the Election Commission at a rally in the Dhamora area on April 8, 2019 during the Lok Sabha polls.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, who faced trolling on social media in the wake of India and Pakistan reaching an understanding on May 10 to halt all military actions, has received support from veteran diplomat Nirupama Menon Rao, a body of Indian diplomats and a host of politicians from several parties.
He claimed SBSP president Om Prakash Rajbhar has deviated from the party mission of working for the poor and deprived, and his only agenda is to collect money.