Counting of votes is underway in assembly byelection to 58 seats in 11 states including Madhya Pradesh where the results will decide the fate of the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government.
The development came against the backdrop of the ruling party accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of trying to poach its MLAs to topple the Kamal Nath-led government, which enjoys a wafer thin majority in the House, and imminent expansion of the state Cabinet.
The meeting at SP headquarters was attended by Akhilesh, his uncle Shivpal Yadav, senior leader Azam Khan and party office bearers.
"Rai is a grass root worker, who is a sitting Congress MLA and has fought a number of elections successfully and he will be the best candidate in Varanasi", party spokesman Randeep Surjewala told reporters announcing the candidature.
Subhash Yadav and Sadhu Yadav, who were powerful faces during the 15-year Lalu-Rabri rule, are now working towards ensuring that Rashtriya Janata Dal chief and his sons face defeat in the forthcoming Bihar elections.
"Partying late night in half attire, blindly following western culture, has never been our culture," he said.
Kovind may bag over 62 per cent votes but fall short of the 69 per cent votes polled by incumbent Pranab Mukherjee in 2012.
'How can the BJP give Muslim candidates tickets if they don't have any good Muslim candidates?'
The four-time MLA and OBC leader joined the saffron party in presence of Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah.
It is curtains down for Maharashtra and Haryana assembly polls. Here's a look at political biggies, who made it and who didn't.
Advocating for Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, yoga guru Ramdev on Monday accused the Congress of creating economic and social anarchy, and said only Modi can save the country from corruption.
Former Navy chief Admiral L Ramdas also said he was 'upset' over the Uttar Pradesh chief minister's remarks.
A one-man judicial commission headed by former high court judge Vishnu Sahai is understood to have indicted government officials more than politicians for the communal violence in Muzaffarnagar and four adjoining districts in 2013.
Despite both parties joining hands to fight the elections, they have fielded different candidates for the polls in this region.
The Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday suspended five policemen for their alleged role in the killing of Shahjahanpur-based journalist Jagendra Singh.
While Rahul loyalists were keen that he be given the post, a leader known to be close to him said, "If he does not become the leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, then he should quit politics."
His son Sunil lighted the pyre and a police contingent gave the departed leader a gun salute.
The fifth-term Lok Sabha member is the mascot of the party's Hindutva-wrapped agenda of development as the BJP makes a final push in its bid to capture power in the state
Here is the detailed procedure of how the AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj 'tampered' an EVM.
The much speculated expansion of the Uttar Pradesh cabinet will take place on Thursday. Chief Minister Aklhilesh Yadav, who gave indications to that effect on Tuesday, is all set for enlarging the size of his 56-member council of ministers.
cution' of the Brahmins in the regime of Adityanath, a Rajput, accused of pandering to his caste's interests. Radhika Ramaseshan reports.
Elections for 19 Rajya Sabha seats spread across eight states will be held on Friday with the contest in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan promising to be a close affair between the BJP and the Congress.
The election in this seat is also important for Union minister and local MP Mahesh Sharma who has considerable influence the area.
Bhim denotes Dalit icon Bhimrao Ambedkar, while Mim denotes the letter 'M' in the Urdu alphabet; the party used the slogan effectively in the 2014 Maharashtra assembly elections
In remarks laced with sarcasm, Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan has said that Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi is an "innocent child" who reads from the dais whatever is given to him in writing.
Here are some of the political leaders' who await their fate.
Prolonged parleys with different power centers led to several hiccups before Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav could induct four new faces in his team in Lucknow on Thursday. The total tally of council of ministers is now 60.
Opposition members in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday expressed serious concern over reports that some Sangh Parivar leaders had allegedly sought to take "revenge" on the minority community for the killing of a VHP leader.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday demanded a statement from the prime minister on media reports about the government's 'decision' to allow an American company to install a nuclear reactor diluting the provisions of Nuclear Liability Bill.
Newly-appointed chief ministerial candidate Sheila Dikshit and state chief Raj Babbar came out all guns blazing against the SP, BSP and BJP.
The chief minister assured the family of all the possible help and also met the two daughters and consoled the family promising strict action against the guilty.
A row erupted on Friday over plans by the Bharatiya Janata Party to observe the birth anniversary of freedom fighter Raja Mahendra Pratap at the Aligarh Muslim University campus with its vice chancellor warning of a potential "communal conflagration" and the saffron party defending the move.
Somaiya, an old BJP hand and one of its leading speakers on economic issues in Parliament, had been a trenchant critic of the Sena.
Three guys stood out at the swearing-in ceremony of Deve Gowda's son, says Sudhir Bisht.
The families that were affected by the communal violence in Muzaffarnagar district have no hope of their homes being restored to them. Is the government really unable to reassure them of a safe return?
Kamal Nath said that the Bharatiya Janata Party was perturbed as its "corruption over its 15-year rule is going to be exposed"
Since the Mahabharata the Yadavs have been known for infighting. And the 2017 UP election proved yet another example of that, says Nazarwala.
'From 10 am on Tuesday to 3 am this morning, we must have made not less than a thousand phone calls.' 'We kept fighting till the end and we did not leave the room till we got 113 certificates.' 'Two-three losses would have changed the game and the BJP wanted to become the largest party which they did not become.'
The BJP government in Uttar Pradesh battles its own and Opposition over the community's 'victimisation' and alleged preference to the Rajputs. Radhika Ramaseshan reports.
As the year 2014 draws to an end, we at Rediff.com take to look at some of the ridiculous remarks made by some blundering politicos.
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