The development is being seen as a blow to the opposition Congress which was planning to forge a grand alliance in Chhattisgrah to unseat the ruling BJP.
The electoral battle in Varanasi, according to locals and political experts, is not about whether the PM will win for a third successive occasion, but if he will increase his share of the votes polled and his win margin.
Officials said most of the preparations are complete and the counting will start at 8 am on Saturday.
The parties which gave chief ministers and sent scores of MPs to Parliament, drew a blank this time.
Azad was taken into custody by police on Tuesday for violating the model code of conduct.
Modi's remarks at an election rally in Mirzapur in the backward eastern region of Uttar Pradesh came amid war of words on supply of electricity in the state.
Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister and former state BJP president Keshav Prasad Maurya had also dropped a hint in a recent tweet, saying Yaduvanshi (Yadavs), Ravidasiyo (Jatavs) and Pasmanda Muslims will be brought closer to the BJP so that the lotus 'blossoms' in every booth in UP.
'Congress and BSP are in the fray, but not in the contest.'
'...It is important for you to take a stand.' 'It is a sin to remain silent when the basic structure of the Constitution is being attacked.'
The latest case was registered at the Dhoomanganj police station on Monday, the official added.
BJP sources suggest that the upcoming elections will likely revolve around the renewed enthusiasm for the temple unless another theme with religious and nationalist undertones emerges.
The Supreme Court had last month ruled that any appeal for votes on the ground of 'religion, race, caste, community or language' amounted to 'corrupt practice' under the electoral law.
Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra on Tuesday claimed that the meeting of the ethics committee of the Lok Sabha was postponed to keep a Congress member away from the proceedings and adopt the report by a majority, prompting a sharp retort from Bharatiya Janata Party MP Nishikant Dubey.
The Congress this time won six of the 10 seats reserved for the SC category, one less than in 2018.
'They (BJP) can claim of winning even 82 seats, despite the fact that Uttar Pradesh has only 80 seats'
The gangster-politician was booked in 65 criminal cases ranging from murder to extortion and was elected an MLA five times on the tickets of different political parties.
Samajwadi Party has won the Gunnaur assembly seat by defeating Bahujan Samaj Party while the BSP has wrested the Swar Tanda seat from the SP in the by-polls held on August 31.
"Former Chief Minister Mayawati and I will not contest the assembly elections," Bahujan Samaj Party member of Parliament Satish Chandra Misra told ANI.
Action will be taken against such MLAs, he said.
The outcome in UP is far more significant than in the other states going to the polls next year. An unlikely setback in UP can cramp the Modi government, virtually making it a lame-duck two years ahead of the 2024 parliamentary poll, observes Virendra Kapoor.
The number of policemen injured in them was 1,443 and 13 were killed, the data showed.
'The BJP would like to capitalise on Yogi's tough image on criminals, law and order situation, and hands-on CM.' 'Modi will be an additional advantage, but it is primarily a contest between Yogi and Akhilesh.'
Addressing a gathering after the 'bhoomi pujan' of a bottling plant here, Adityanath said people are seeing that those who showed little respect for law and order earlier were now running for their lives.
'In Western UP, last time a lot of Dalits voted for the BJP.' 'This time, there is a rethink among Dalits about the extent of their support for the BJP.'
An India TV-C Voter exit poll showed the SP securing 23 to 27 seats, the BJP 13 to 17, the BSP 11 to 15 and the Congress two to six seats from today's voting.
Several BJP voters say the Ram temple sentiment may give the ruling party a fillip but are also aware of the herculean task at hand and concede that it is a daunting electoral contest for Dinesh Singh, who lost to Sonia Gandhi in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Khushi Dubey, Hari Shankar Tiwari and Mata Prasad Pandey represent the resentment among Brahmins towards the Adityanath government. Radhika Ramaseshan reports.
Electioneering ended in Madhya Pradesh at 6 pm except in Naxalites-hit districts of Balaghat, Mandla and Dindori, where campaigning drew to a close early at 3 pm.
As many as 623 candidates, including 73 women are in the fray in the first phase and around 2.28 core voters, including 1.24 crore men and 1.04 crore women are eligible to caste their francise, election officials said.
The Uttar Pradesh police on Monday gunned down one of the accused in the sensational February 24 killing of a prime witness in the 2005 murder case of then Bahujan Samaj Party MLA Raju Pal in an encounter in Prayagraj.
'Economic issues do not matter during elections; it is the emotional connect that helps swing votes.'
Besides the national capital, polling will be held Saturday in 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh, all 10 seats of Haryana, eight seats each in Bihar and West Bengal, six seats in Odisha, four seats in Jharkhand and one seat in Jammu and Kashmir. Simultaneously, polling will be held for 42 assembly constituencies in Odisha.
Ruling out any truck with the Bahujan Samaj Party, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday gave his battle cry against the Mayawati regime.
Congress hopes to field upper caste candidates to eat into BJP voter base while SP-BSP focuses on consolidating Dalit-OBC votes in their favour.
He said the Uttar Pradesh police in all likelihood will seek his transit remand and also police remand to take him from Ahmedabad to Prayagraj and he "genuinely apprehends that he may be eliminated during this transit period".
Slogan shouting Congress and BJP members on Monday forced four adjournments of Rajya Sabha demanding dismissal of SAD-BJP government in Punjab over alleged atrocities against Dalit youths.
In the recent past, Adityanath and the RSS seem to have come closer. The warmth is more on the part of the RSS. And even now, not all requests from the RSS are accommodated by the UP government, points out Aditi Phadnis.
In financial year 2020-21, the BJP declared assets worth Rs 4,990 crore, up by 21.17 per cent to Rs 6,046.81 crore in 2021-22.
The Uttar Pradesh police on Monday arrested two gunmen engaged in the personal security of Bahujan Samaj Party legislator Shekhar Tiwari, who is behind bars for allegedly murdering PWD engineer Manoj Kumar Gupta in Auraiya on December 24. "We suspect Tiwari's gunners Pal Singh and Gajraj Singh, so we arrested them today," UP Additional Director General of Police (law and order) Brijlal said on Minday evening.
While people voted in a fifth round that will set the tone as this election rounds into the straight, and while Modi on the stump chews the cud of personal grievances and hackneyed promises that have long since passed their use-by date, there is a rogue wave rising -- what damage it will do, we will know 16 days from today, observes Prem Panicker.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances