'Hindutva will not win any elections. Hindutva as a political plank never works.'
A bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar also indicated that it may not take up the pending scheduled petitions, heard earlier by a three-judge bench, during the day as it was sitting in a combination of two judges.
Ghulam Nabi Azad said this was just a beginning of the alliance process and the nitty-gritty would be decided in the next one or two days.
Sharat Pradhan examines how Mulayam Singh Yadav's foreign-education son is transforming the Samajwadi Party.
Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra on Thursday said all political parties in Uttar Pradesh want the Assembly elections to be held according to schedule while ensuring Covid protocol.
With several political stalwarts of Uttar Pradesh no longer on the scene, it will be keenly watched how their children lead at the hustings this time without their formidable presence.
In an apparent reference to the Congress with which it failed to strike an understanding for the upcoming assembly polls in Jharkhand, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad has said national parties are out to 'crush' smaller and regional outfits.
As many as 624 candidates are in the fray in this round of voting being held in Pilibhit, Lakhimpur Kheri, Sitapur, Hardoi, Unnao, Lucknow, Rae Bareli, Banda, and Fatehpur districts.
While the opposition is demanding imposition of President's rule ahead of the poll, the ruling Samajwadi Party has asserted it was ready for any "eventuality."
Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak on Friday lashed out at the opposition parties for extending support to criminals after gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahemd's son Asad, and another accused, Ghulam, were killed in an encounter by the Special Task Force (STF).
Five BJP MLAs and Apna Dal (Sonelal) legislator Amar Singh Chaudhary also joined the SP in the presence of Akhilesh Yadav.
A Rampur court on Thursday sentenced Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan to three years in jail in a 2019 hate speech case, a government lawyer said.
The Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh on Monday renamed eight districts, which had been earlier named by Mayawati, leaving the Bahujan Samaj Party supremo fuming. The decision to change the names was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday said the country has to decide if the sweetness of sugarcane will grow or the followers of Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah will cause mischief in the state, in a veiled attack on the Samajwadi Party (SP).
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and several prominent faces among 676 candidates are contesting on 57 seats spread across 10 districts in the state.
The Rampur assembly seat in Uttar Pradesh which fell vacant following the disqualification of SP leader Mohammad Azam Khan is one of the five seats going for the bypolls.
According to sources, the Uttar Pradesh police had arrived in Ahmedabad most likely to take Ahmed, who is a key accused in a high-profile killing that took place in February, to their state.
The Samajwadi Party on Monday moved a step closer to bringing Azam Khan back into the party fold a year after he was expelled, with party chief Mulyam Singh Yadav saying that he has accepted Khan's "demands".
The Gyanvapi issue has been at the centre of a long-drawn legal battle with the Hindu side arguing that the Gyanvapi mosque was allegedly built on the remains of a pre-existing temple, while the Muslim side has contested the claim.
Police have booked more than 10 people for 'promoting enmity' after they allegedly burnt photocopies of the pages of Ramcharitmanas in the Vrindavan area of Lucknow on Sunday.
Majority of these constituencies are in Uttar Pradesh and the party that is on the third slot even as the counting is still underway on several seats is the Bahujan Samaj Party, a party neither with the National Democratic Alliance nor the opposition INDIA bloc.
The parties which gave chief ministers and sent scores of MPs to Parliament, drew a blank this time.
The BSP has not entered into any alliances and has also been keen to shed the tag of being a 'B-team' of the BJP.
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.
Azam Khan is currently a member of Parliament from Rampur Lok Sabha.
The Hyderabad Lok Sabha member termed as "bogus" the list of 346 families who are alleged to have "fled" Kairana in Uttar Pradesh, adding that it suited the interests of both the BJP and the Samajwadi Party to create a "drama" over the issue.
A Samajwadi Party office bearer, Manish Jagan Agarwal, was arrested here earlier in the day for allegedly making indecent and derogatory remarks on social media.
The sources said the Congress is the binding force for the opposition bloc and the stronger the Congress emerges the better for the alliance.
Jitin Prasada was once considered as among Rahul Gandhi's 'young Turks' and was a minister in successive Manmohan Singh governments but defected from the Congress to the BJP in 2021, where he has again established himself as a prominent Brahmin face of Uttar Pradesh.
Criminals and terrorists have no caste or religion, he said, adding that those who have suspicions on such police action can always approach courts for remedial measures.
Playing the same tunes, the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance has come up with a rhythmic slogan, sounding more or less like Salman Khan starrer 'Sultan's' song 'Baby ko bass pasand hai.'
On chances of taking uncle Shivpal Yadav's Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party Lohia along in the polls, he said, "I dont have any problem in this. He and his men will be given due honour".
The Samajwadi Party tops the list as of now with 6 candidates with a criminal history and pending criminal cases. The Congress is second with 4 while the Bharatiya Janata Party is at third with 3 such tainted candidates.
As many as 10 ministers in the Yogi Adityanath government failed to win their seats in the 2022 assembly elections, despite the BJP registering an impressive victory.
Reacting to Yadav's dig at her on Wednesday, Mayawati said she has never aspired to become the President and the Samajwadi Party leader was dreaming about it to clear his path to become the Uttar Pradesh chief minister.
According to sources, Aparna has sought a ticket from the Lucknow Cantt assembly seat.
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).
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.
The Uttar Pradesh police on Thursday said they have arrested six sevadars (volunteers), including two women, of the organising committee in connection with the Hathras stampede that killed 121 people.
Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi are likely to contest the Lok Sabha election from Rae Bareli and Amethi seats, respectively, sources said on Thursday.
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