Newly-appointed chief ministerial candidate Sheila Dikshit and state chief Raj Babbar came out all guns blazing against the SP, BSP and BJP.
Many exit polls predicted that SP-BSP alliance in Uttar Pradesh is likely to trump the BJP in the country's politically most crucial state.
The past three weeks have demonstrated that the Congress is still to recover from the drubbing it received in Lok Sabha elections, says Rediff.com contributor Anita Katyal
Mulayam Singh and Mayawati fell out after their ruling coalition in Uttar Pradesh crashed in 1995, two years after they came together along with smaller parties to keep the Bharatiya Janata Party out of power.
The Congress party on Saturday moved the Election Commission over Narendra Modi's controversial khooni panja (bloodied hand) barb at the party during a poll rally in Chhattisgarh, seeking "stern action" against Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate.
Every party had been asked to give in their suggestions during the meeting.
'It will be a grand alliance where they could get the Muslims, Dalits and Yadavs in one camp and pose a serious challenge to whatever the BJP might conjure up in the run-up to the 2019 election.'
'What should surprise BJP supporters is Modi's call for 'stability' at the manifesto launch, a theme that he and his team members had not touched ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in 2014 and 2019.' 'The last time the party called for 'stability at the Centre' was in 1998 and 1999,' recalls N Sathiya Moorthy.
Not all Opposition parties on board, say they are once bitten, twice shy.
Shah accused the Congress and other opposition parties of running a misinformation campaign.
'Congress and BSP are in the fray, but not in the contest.'
Glimpses of the CWC meeting, which was meant to formulate a plan to revive the party from the death throes of electoral irrelevance, but...
The Bharatiya Janata Party leader, who travelled by road from Jharkhand to this West Bengal town to address a rally after being denied permission earlier for landing helicopter in the state, targeted the Trinamool Congress chief for opposing the Central Bureau of Investigation's attempt to quiz the Kolkata police chief in connection with the ponzi scams.
Sources said the Congress leadership is also in talks with AAP leaders and senior leaders within the party are trying to convince Delhi Congress leaders for an alliance.
Unsure about having the numbers in the Rajya Sabha, the Congress, the Trinamool Congress and other parties have decided they will create awareness about the "divisive" nature of the proposed legislation, reports Archis Mohan.
In the same breath, the RPI-A leader said, "No one can challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi -- neither Congress president Rahul Gandhi, nor SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, nor BSP supremo Mayawati."
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath expressed confidence that the BJP will win over 74 out of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
Addressing a press conference in London via Skype, the man, identified as Syed Shuja, said the BJP would have won Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh elections if his team hadn't intercepted the BJP attempts to hack the transmissions in these states.
Assembly polls in Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim and Odisha will be held simultaneously in the first phase.
The National Democratic Alliance government's parliamentary managers have a busy weekend ahead, says Rediff.com contributor Anita Katyal.
All India Congress Committee general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Ghulam Nabi Azad said the party would not react immediately and would come out with a detailed reaction in Lucknow on Sunday.
It is not much of an issue just now, but it could become one if the idea of caste census captures socio-political imagination, going beyond electoral tags and identities, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The strengthening of regional outfits may weaken the grand old party's chances of leading a joint opposition front for the 2019 general elections.
Known as an astute strategist whose non-political interests range from playing chess and watching cricket to stage performances and listening to classical music, 54-year-old Shah is often hailed as the BJP's most successful president for crafting its way to power states after states.
Criticising the decision, the party also said it was a fight between forces 'rejecting democracy' and voices 'rescuing democracy'.
In the couple of hours that you spend in the riot-hit city you find it is not the BJP that is asking for the votes of an excited section of Hindus, but it is the people who are clinging to Narendra Modi. Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt reports on the sentiment on the ground in Muzaffarnagar, whose Hindu-Muslim fracture is a long way from being mended.
Smriti Irani will reprise her electoral battle with Rahul Gandhi from Amethi.
Although conventional political wisdom would decree that the construction of a 'magnificent' Ram temple at his 'birth-place' would bring the BJP a big yield of votes in the prospective elections, its leaders know by now that the mandir must not exist in isolation in its game plan, reports Radhika Ramaseshan.
'...if elections were to be held today.' 'The problem is Akhilesh is not very aggressive.' 'Had he started his campaign aggressively six months ago, the picture in UP would have been very different.'
'The unusual aspect of this election is that this time there is a triangular fight.' 'Previously, the fight used to be between two parties.'
The BJP president came down heavily on the Opposition saying a shocking change has happened in the country's politics with those against the prime minister resorting to lies and speaking it loudly all the time.
The kisan is as integral a part of the BJP's master plan for the 2019 polls as the Dalit because it surmised that the farmers and Dalits were as restive in UP as in much of the country, and if it had to cut its losses, its reflexes must kick in fast. Radhika Ramaseshan reports.
Many non-NDA parties have extended support to the nationwide 10-hour strike on Monday called by farmers protesting against the three agri laws under the aegis of Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM).
Has Owaisi's MIM become an albatross for Imtiaz Jaleel, former journalist and the party's candidate in Aurangabad?
"To all casteist leaders I would like to say my only caste is poor, my only identity is poor."
The extended Winter session of Parliament got off a stormy start on Wednesday with uproar over the Telangana and caste-reservation issue stalling proceedings.
'I am more worried about the BJP as I see lot of marginalisation of top leaders in the BJP.' 'I am really worried about the terminal decline of the Congress. And the greatest tragedy is that there are so many good people in the Congress.' 'It will take a couple of years, but this is the most appropriate time for a new political party and leadership to emerge.'
Gandhi also took a potshot at the RSS, saying it was bent on changing the country's Constitution.
The no-confidence motion against the government could not be introduced amid the din in the Lok Sabha.
Congress is riven by four different approaches to an issue: the Sonia Gandhi way, the Rahul Gandhi method, Lok Sabha MPs' tactic, and Rajya Sabha MPs' style, reports R Rajagopalan.
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