Kickstarting his party's 'Mission 2022' with a 'rath yatra,' Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party, saying it has 'crushed farmers' and on return to power in Uttar Pradesh would 'crush the Constitution' as well.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday hinted that a meeting of opposition leaders may take place in Patna after the crucial Karnataka assembly polls were over as many would be busy electioneering there.
'I want to ask the Congress only one question: What is more important than election management in politics?'
AICC general secretary KC Venugopal said eight former MLAs joined the party in Haryana two days ago, and lamented that such fresh developments were not getting prominence.
When the Bharatiya Janata Party's Mukesh Dalal was declared elected unopposed to the Lok Sabha from Surat on Monday, he became the first candidate to achieve the feat from Gujarat since its formation 64 years ago though the erstwhile state of Saurashtra saw a similar instance in 1951.
Consensus emerged on the appointment of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge as the chairperson of the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), while Janata Dal-United chief Nitish Kumar's name was proposed for the convener's post, pending approval of parties absent at the alliance meeting on Saturday, according to sources.
State deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya among 692 candidates are contesting on 61 seats spread across 12 districts in the fifth phase.
Former Union Minister Rasheed Masood was on Monday made special invitee to the Congress Working Committee with immediate effect. The announcement was made by party General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi.
At least 30 people were killed and 60 others injured in a pre-dawn stampede at the Sangam area of the Maha Kumbh early on Wednesday as crores of pilgrims jostled for space to take a holy dip on the occasion of one of the most auspicious days of Mauni Amavasya, officials said.
While the BJP and the Congress have always supported the bill, opposition by other parties and demands from some for quota for backward classes within the women's quota have been key sticking points.
With two phases of voting already completed, political parties are busy with filing nominations, addressing roadshows and undertaking hectic campaigns for the constituencies that will vote this month.
Samajwadi Party leaders Amar Singh and Ram Gopal Yadav met President Pratibha Patil on Wednesday. Amar Singh handed over to the President a list of Lok Sabha MPs who contested under the SP symbol.
Forty-two of the 102 Lok Sabha seats going to polls in the general election's first phase are constituencies that have three or more candidates facing criminal cases, according to a poll rights body.
Modi also accused previous government of neglecting the pilgrim city and said criminals had a free in the state.
'In an alliance, you are forced to overlook loyal workers.' 'It sends a negative message and workers turn against the party.' 'I have forbidden this alliance.'
'Just today a shopkeeper I went to was saying how bad business is. He must have been a BJP supporter.' 'He finally said, "It's a good thing there's an NDA government, not a BJP government, 'they' had become too big for their boots,".'
The stakes are significant for the BJP in this round as the party had in 2019 won an overwhelming majority of these seats, including all in Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, that will go to polls on May 7.
Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh on Thursday alleged that the government was 'hatching a conspiracy to eliminate' its top leadership, including president Mulayam Singh Yadav. "Mayawati, through the state police chief Vikram Singh and additional director general of police (law and order) Brijlal, wants to eliminate me, Mulayam, Shivpal Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav," Amar claimed.
Campaigning for the fifth phase ended on Friday evening, and all necessary arrangements have been completed, state Chief Election Officer Ajay Kumar Shukla said in Lucknow on Saturday.
The Samajwadi Party on Wednesday said that former Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kalyan Singh has neither joined the party nor is he being given party ticket for the forthcoming elections. "Mulayam Yadav Kalyan Singh ke raste pe nahi, Kalyan Mulayam ke raste pe hai (Mulayam is not following Kalyan's path, Kalyan is following in Mulayam's footsteps)," party General Secretary Amar Singh said, responding to criticism over the former Uttar Pradesh CM's association with the SP.
"Press Conference by Election Commission of India for the announcement of Schedule for General Election to Legislative Assemblies of Goa, Punjab, Manipur, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh," reads the statement issued by ECI.
Electoral setbacks and thwarted ambition can have an unpredictable effect on leaders,, observes Aditi Phadnis.
An all out war has broken out after SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav replaced son Akhilesh with his brother Shivpal as the party's state unit chief.
The Samajwadi Party and Congress on Monday decided to jointly contest the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, with the SP also seeking alliance in four other states including Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka.
Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday said people of the country want change of power, but evaded a direct reply on whether his party would join an opposition alliance to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Former Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh, Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani's former aide Sudheendra Kulkarni and two former BJP MPs were on Thursday issued summons by a Delhi court to stand trial for their alleged role in the 2008 cash-for-vote scam.
Charging the Centre with failing to take decisive action against Pakistan in the wake of the Mumbai terror strikes as promised, Samajwadi Party on Wednesday threatened to "consider withdrawing support to the government".
"We will meet President A P J Abdul Kalam shortly and demand withdrawal of the UP governor who is working with malafide and motivated political intentions," Party general secreratry Ramgopal Yadav told reporters in Delhi.
After serving as the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh for ten years, Digvijay Singh has been entrusted with the responsibility of the Congress' affairs in UP. In an interview with Renu Mittal, Singh talks about the 'friendly fight' between the two parties in UP.
The Samajwadi Party released its list of 40 star campaigners in which there was no mention of Mulayam Singh Yadav.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to entertain a plea by 14 political parties led by the Congress alleging arbitrary use of central probe agencies against opposition leaders, asserting that laying down guidelines without facts of a criminal case will be "dangerous".
Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav died in Medanta hospital of Gurugram on Monday. He was 82.
After facing a ban in Jayalalithaa's Tamil Nadu, Kamal Haasan's ambitious film Vishwaroopam may face a similar fate in Uttar Pradesh. "Before it is allowed to be screened, we will take a look at Vishwaroopam to find out what is objectionable in the film", Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav told media personnel in Allahabad Thursday.
"Amar Singh will be chairing the closing session of the Saifai festival," Mulayam told reporters on Monday, shortly after inaugurating the 14-day cultural event at Saifai in Etawah district of Uttar Pradesh.
While the 16 Congress legislators in the state favoured joining the Mulayam Singh government, a section of the central leadership strongly opposed any such move.
For the first time in his political career, he failed to carry his party to even a working majority -- and again, for the first time in his career, he finds himself in a situation where he cannot rule by dictatorial fiat, points out Prem Panicker.
The bill was passed with 165 voting in favour and 7 against it.
The upcoming Opposition meet in Patna scheduled for next week will not discuss a possible prime ministerial candidate and will focus on deciding the common agenda for the parties to work on in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections.
Kharge said the leaders of INDIA parties have come together as democracy is under threat under the Bharatiya Janata Party government.
On Wednesday, December 29, Priyanka reached out to women voters through a Shakti Samvaad in Firozabad asking them to make their elected representative more accountable and steer clear of voting on lines of caste and religion.
