Samajwadi Party on Wednesday appointed Mohan Singh as its general secretary and spokesman in place of Amar Singh and he lost no time in demanding the resignation of the dissenting leader from Rajya Sabha on moral grounds.
Maurya had the right to give his own independent explanation different from explanations of many scholars but he cannot use such language which may disturb the religious feelings of a community, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court said.
'Commentators have said that dealing with allies as equals will make Modi more sensitive.' 'Remember that the people Modi is dealing with are equally autocratic in their own lairs.' 'Further, Modi always has handy the threat of dissolving Parliament and calling for fresh polls.' 'Most of his own party, and certainly his allies and opponents having blown their budgets of efforts and resources in the just concluded elections, have no stomach for this.' 'They are all greatly looking forward to the loaves and fishes of office on offer.' 'That gives Modi an unbeatable advantage in any push-comes-to-shove situation,' explains Shreekant Sambrani.
In the five years in politics Priyanka Gandhi has undeniably emerged as a thorn in the BJP flesh, notes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay. It is time that this thorn is twisted a wee bit more when the elections have become far more uncertain than what it was when the Election Commission announced the poll schedule.
A voter turnout of over 40 per cent was recorded till 1 pm on Monday in the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections in 96 constituencies spread over 10 states and Union Territories amid incidents of violence in Andhra Pradesh and reports of poll boycott in some villages of Uttar Pradesh.
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.
The Congress on Friday welcomed the statements of opposition leaders condemning Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from the Lok Sabha and said it was now time for the party to take on the job of building the opposition unity in a "systematic way".
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday cruised to a two-thirds majority in Madhya Pradesh assembly, winning as many as 163 of the 230 seats in the House, leaving the Congress a distant second at 66.
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.
People had also started gathering at Mukhtar Ansari's residence in Ghazipur and there was a large deployment of security personnel around the house.
The visits come against the backdrop of complaints from the Khan camp that Akhilesh Yadav has been 'ignoring' the party veteran and the Muslim community, though it backed the SP in the recent assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh.
Congress o Tuesday sought to take some credit for Samajwadi Party's victory in Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, saying Rahul Gandhi had made "immense contribution" to creating atmosphere against the "misrule" of Mayawati which benefited Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Nishad party president Sanjay Nishad, who had demanded deputy chief minister post but settled with his nomination as an MLC, thanked the BJP on Monday and said his party will ensure the NDA's victory in next year's Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.
The opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) was in the grip of a crisis on Saturday with the Janata Dal-United saying the alliance was collapsing amid indications that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will switch back to the National Democratic Alliance, prompting the Congress to allege that the Bharatiya Janata Party is doing its best to cause a 'mini implosion' in the coalition.
The conference was seen by many as a show of strength by the Opposition with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, his Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav joining in to raise their voice against oppression of backward classes.
Accusing the Centre of "misusing" intelligence agencies and armed forces for political dividend, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday said former army chief General V K Singh was being falsely accused of allegedly attempting to destabilise the Jammu and Kashmir government.
Among the keenly watched contests are those involving former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav (Kannauj, UP) and Union ministers Giriraj Singh (Begusarai, Bihar), Nityanand Rai (Ujiarpur, Bihar) and Raosaheb Danve (Jalna, Maharashtra).
Besides Defence Minister Singh (Lucknow), Minister of Women and Child Development Irani (Amethi), those in the fray are Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishor (Mohanlalganj) and Minister of State of Consumer Affairs Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti (Fatehpur).
Is it is necessary to play divisive politics to succeed in the next general elections? asks Dr Sudhir Bisht.
'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.'
'His way of communication is different than the first yatra.' 'Maybe his anger and frustration stems from the fact that no one is asking hard questions to the government and he is trying to do that.'
The Congress is planning to call a meeting of Opposition parties in May. It is possible to keep all possibilities open in case Karnataka yields a hung House, leading to a recalibrated Opposition.
The body was brought to the family's ancestral burial ground, about half a km from their residence, where a grave was dug on Friday near that of Mukhtar Ansari's parents.
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.
'We have got together to save the democracy, Constitution and brotherhood. The country's constitutional institutions are being misused and the country's wealth is being sold out'
The Samajwadi Party released its list of 40 star campaigners in which there was no mention of Mulayam Singh Yadav.
The BJP is far more prepared than the Congress as their pool of prospective candidates is much bigger, reports Prakash Bhandari.
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.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi slammed the UP government over the incident 'Another proof of 'goondaraj' (hooliganism) in UP. When police is not safe how can people be?. My condolences are with family of martyrs and I wish speedy recovery of injured,' he said in a tweet.
As BJP leaders went all out to project the event as a moment of national pride, some leaders were directly critical of the ceremony with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, belonging to the Communist Party of India-Marxist, slamming the state's role in the Ram Temple consecration, saying the line that demarcates religion and state seems to be 'getting thinner and thinner'.
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 Uttar Pradesh Police on Wednesday arrested Bajrang Muni Das of Maharishi Shri Laxman Das Udasin ashram, days after he allegedly made a hate speech and issued a "rape threat" in Sitapur.
The TDP and JD-U will have a lot to answer inside Parliament, day after day, session after session, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
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.
Till 5 pm, Agra recorded 56.61 per cent polling, Aligarh 57.25 per cent, Baghpat 61.35 per cent, Bulandshahr 60,52 per cent, Gautam Buddh Nagar 54.77 per cent, Ghaziabad 54.77 per cent, Hapur 60.50 per cent, Mathura 58.51 per cent, Meerut 58.52 cent, Muzaffarnagar 62.14 per cent and Shamli 61.78 per cent, an EC report said.
It was becoming difficult for him to continue working in the Samajwadi Party, he told reporters, without elaborating.
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.
The parties also said that the decision has come in late and had the Modi government shed its 'arrogance earlier' and repealed the laws opposed by farmers, a number of precious lives lost during the nearly year-long agitation could have been saved.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has announced financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh to the kin of each of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to the injured.
The bill was passed with 165 voting in favour and 7 against it.