The SP candidates in these seats include Mulayam Singh Yadav's daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav and three ministers, one of whom was recently sacked.
Amid the raging feud in Mulayam Singh Yadav's family, Samajwadi Party leader Ramgopal Yadav on Thursday said the leadership had committed a "mistake" by removing Akhilesh Yadav as party's UP president and that "differences" had arisen due to some "misunderstanding".
A total of 788 candidates are in the fray in the first phase of the elections on 89 seats spread across 19 districts of South Gujarat and Kutch-Saurashtra regions.
Opposition parties on Sunday lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party after Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar and eight others were inducted into the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government, saying the ruling party's 'washing machine' has resumed its operation to clean tainted leaders and it was an 'ED-facilitated power grab'.
Bharatiya Janata Party vice president Radha Mohan Singh on Tuesday dismissed speculation over any change of leadership in Uttar Pradesh and called the state government's handling of the Covid pandemic "unparalleled". Singh and BJP's national general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh are on a three-day visit to Lucknow, meeting party leaders on "preparations to fight Covid" and what participants called "organisational" issues.
The prime minister also said if there is a 'kabaristaan' (graveyard), there should be a 'shamshaan' (cremation ground) too.
Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, whom Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav earlier gave a berth in the Rajya Sabha, was the surprise entry even for senior ministers who were seen asking each other about the background of the man from Punjab.
Several SP leaders fear Muslim voters may shift loyalty, which will benefit rivals like the BJP.
The rift between Samajwadi Party strongman Mulayam Singh Yadav and 'obedient' Akhilesh grew even wider with the father openly backing his son's foes in the party
The remark by Agrawal was expunged by the chair even as it came for a strong condemnation from the BJP.
The HYV describes itself as "a fierce cultural and social organisation dedicated to Hindutva and nationalism". Alongside cow protection, its stated objectives are "complete abolishment of the differentiation between touchable-untouchable and high-low, promote the harmonious development of society".
The MLAs, who are seemingly unhappy with their leadership, arrived in Surat on Monday night and are camping at the Le Meridian Hotel, they said.
In a stinging attack on Narendra Modi, Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party was trying to hoodwink Muslims by talking of apology after "having allowed their carnage" in 2002 and dismissed as "baseless propaganda" Gujarat chief minister's development claims.
Azam Khan, the Uttar Pradesh minister for urban development and minority affairs, has sought intervention of the United Nations to what he terms as "Prime Minister Narendra Modi's bid to turn India into a theocratic majority nation."
Even as Akhilesh Yadav has emerged stronger in Uttar Pradesh politics, the Samajwadi Party has become weaker due to family feud, reports Virendra Singh Rawat.
The Gomti Riverfront Development project, the Agra-Lucknow Expressway, the Jai Prakash Narayan International Centre and the efforts towards the beautification of Old Lucknow are some of Akhilesh Yadav's initiatives that are the subject of investigation.
This phase of voting was crucial for the state's ruling Samajwadi Party and main opposition Bahujan Samaj Party.
'Since 2017, the chief minister and the RSS seem to have come closer.' 'This relationship's warmth is more from the RSS's side.'
Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com tracks Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi's project-launching spree with just about three months to go for the assembly election in India's most populous state.
The Congress needs to reorganise itself at the grassroots, infuse younger blood, and have more boots on the ground. Just offering freebies is not the answer anymore. Leadership matters, asserts Ramesh Menon.
In an interview to PTI, Mishra, who on Wednesday agreed with the state Cabinet's proposal to call an assembly session from August 14, said he has always directed the state government to follow constitutional provisions in sending its request for convening a session.
Formidable challenges including funds for the farm loan-waiver, and law and order stare him at his face, with the opposition claiming the misses have outnumbered the hits.
In the wake of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's projection in the Bharatiya Janata Party as its future leader, political parties have begun to position themselves in the run up to the next general elections, says Renu Mittal.
Akhilesh Yadav begins his campaign for next assembly election in Uttar Pradesh.
His immediate challenge is the February 8 Delhi assembly polls followed by year-end elections in Bihar. However, his big test would be the next year's assembly polls in West Bengal, a state where the BJP has emerged as a strong challenger to Mamata Banerjee-headed TMC.
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.
The Rajya Sabha MP, who lost out to Bachchan in the race for re-nomination to the upper house and on Monday quit the Samajwadi Party to join the BJP, had said at a press conference that the SP denied him the RS ticket and gave it to somebody who used to dance and act in films.
"All the schemes in which the term Samajwadi is used should be presented before the cabinet so that they can be reviewed and the word should be replaced with Mukhyamantri," the CM said at a review meeting late Thursday evening.
In renaming TRS and repositioning it as a 'national' party, KCR is also eyeing a pole position in opposition politics ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Most of the parties supported 'one nation one election', says defence minister Rajnath Singh.
The BJP ignored the principle of the Cabinet's joint responsibility and the adage of the buck stopping at the top, observes Amulya Ganguli.
Describing the clashes as 'shameful', Naik observed that this was for the first time in the last 9-10 months that such an incident occurred in the state.
Lok Sabha was on Tuesday adjourned briefly as a united opposition created an uproar demanding the resignation of Union minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti from Prime Minister Narendra Modi over her controversial remarks.
Naidu, a former BJP ally, said he will meet non-BJP political leader and convince them about the need to fight collectively against the BJP.
'He will use these five years to project himself as the next PM candidate within the Hindutva fold.'
The crisis showed no signs of ending but party sources said that the chief minister may be persuaded to relent on the issue of portfolios by returning the key departments.
The BJP at 43 is a work in progress, with total ideological continuity and much substantive change in political method and style, observes Shekhar Gupta.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expanded his Cabinet and inducted 21 new ministers. Of these, 4 - Manohar Parrikar, JP Nadda, Suresh Prabhu and Birender Singh were appointed as Cabinet ministers. Other than this, Modi has inducted 17 other ministers of state. Here's a quick look at them:
Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav behaved entirely in character when he broke ranks with the Congress and backed the Bharatiya Janata Party in the monsoon session, says Aditi Phadnis
Largest in area among the 75 UP districts, Lakhimpur Kheri, known for sugarcane cultivation, with nine sugar mills in the district, is home to three or four lakh Sikhs.
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