Vaihayasi Pande Daniel -- who covers the Sheena Bora murder trial for Rediff.com -- reports on a day in a Ranchi court.
The BJP wants to win a state where it has been out of power for 15 years. The Congress wants to make its mark in a state where it has been a bit player for nearly 30 years. And the BSP wants to recapture power it lost 5 years ago.
The kings of the ruling family of India's heartland -- father Mulayam Singh Yadav, the Samajwadi party supremo, and son Akhilesh Yadav, the UP chief minister -- are at war. And as on any chessboard, the queens have emerged as the power centres. Meet Dimple Yadav and Aparna Yadav.
The mother of a journalist was set ablaze on Monday at Kothi police station in Baranbaki allegedly by two policemen after she refused to "bribe" them to free her husband.
The Athletics Federation of India has submitted a list of 51 athletes, including the 11 called for trials, for the August 18 to September 2 Asian Games.
The Commission has told both the sides that a judgment will be delivered at the earliest.
A day after holding marathon talks with Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, Congress poll strategist Prashant Kishor on Monday held closed-door meeting with Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav
Mayawati said that the BSP and the SP would not ally with the Congress party in the upcoming elections.
The father and son were together for over two hours.
As many as 69 assembly constituencies in the Yadav heartland, considered crucial for the ruling Samajwadi Party in the state, went to the polls in this phase.
Since the Mahabharata the Yadavs have been known for infighting. And the 2017 UP election proved yet another example of that, says Nazarwala.
Throughout the governor's 35-minute address, Samajwadi Party legislator Rajesh Yadav blew a whistle.
'They (BJP) can claim of winning even 82 seats, despite the fact that Uttar Pradesh has only 80 seats'
Uttar Pradesh is under the scanner again as that state IAS Association has taken on CM Akhilesh Yadav for the suspension of Durga Shakti Nagpal, who campaigned against the sand mafia
The past two years have been all about navigating the choppy waters of family connections, complicated intrigue and courts of appeal that have a tendency to cross each other out
She also vowed to waive farmers' loans up to Rs 1 lakh per head.
The UP government said it would not sack any of its ministers without a probe, days after a cabinet minister was accused of orchestrating the murder of a journalist in the state.
Kicking off Uttar Pradesh poll campaign, Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah on Saturday took a dig at infighting in the Mulayam Singh Yadav family and targeted the ruling Samajwadi Party as well as the Bahujan Samaj Party, saying neither party is bothered about development of the state.
SP-Congress alliance is likely to consolidate Muslim vote in their favour.
"This wasn't an attack over meat. He has been killed in the name of religion. This is a pre-planned, cold-blooded killing. It cannot be an accident," said Owaisi.
As Som, who is an accused in the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots case, and Samajwadi Party leader Atul Pradhan took out separate rallies, prohibitory orders were enforced across Shamli district and borders of Kairana sealed and paramilitary forces deployed. Both the rallies were stopped by authorities.
A 17-member delegation of the Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday left for a five-nation tour from Lucknow, drawing criticism from opposition parties for undertaking the visit at a time when Muzaffarnagar riot victims were living in difficult circumstances in relief camps.
Rahul Gandhi is more inclined towards Akhilesh, who has said their combination could win more than 300 of the 403 assembly seats.
And ticket redistribution could be that moment, says Nazarwala.
Complaints of electronic voting machine malfunctioning poured in from several booths on Tuesday during the third and largest phase of Lok Sabha polls which saw voters turning out in large numbers to cast their vote in 116 seats, including all constituencies of Gujarat and Kerala.
Our work in last five years and the problems people are facing due to demonetisation will lead us to victory, he said.
Akhilesh believes his catchment area is the 4.1 million new voters who are 18 to 19 years old.
After Dadri, tension now prevails in Mainpuri district of Uttar Pradesh where rumours of cow slaughter triggered violence with protesters targeting police vehicles and setting afire shops, leaving seven policemen injured.
Mayawati urged the Muslim voters to vote for the party, saying her party has given tickets to 99 candidates from the community.
How he hopes to retain his fort is anyone's guess, says Nazarwala, the man who called right the 2007 and 2012 UP elections.
Neeraj is currently ranked fourth in the new rankings of the international federation.
With reports of eight fresh deaths on Thursday, the total toll in Bihar flood increased to 135, with Bhojpur district accounting for 12 deaths in the second round of floods due to the swollen Ganga.
An Uttar Pradesh government panel on Sunday accused a Bharatiya Janata Party MP of inciting Saharanpur riots, besides blaming laxity by local officials, sparking a war of words among parties with BJP dismissing the report as "politically motivated" and an attempt by ruling Samajwadi Party to hide its "failures".
'If these two parties come together, there could be amalgamation of OBC, Dalits and Muslim votes.'
Increasingly seen as the 'bellwether' for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the assembly election results will not only decide as to who will rule UP but show which way the wind is blowing ahead of the Lok Sabha elections two years hence.
"Our only solace is that Modi will win Varanasi, but there will be a by-election here. Modi will not be able to cobble 272 seats to become prime minister so he will remain the chief minister of Gujarat. He will resign from Varanasi and then we will ensure Kerjiwal's handsome win." Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt reports on how Varanasi's 300,000 Muslim voters are strategising their vote.
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