The seat sharing formula reached between the BSP and SP is not on the basis of who emerged stronger in the previous election.
The counting will begin at 8 am, and as per the Election Commission's COVID-19 guidelines, a candidate, his poll agent and counting agent can remain present in the counting hall, officials said, adding various measures have been taken to ensure social distancing and avoid crowding.
After resorting to quirky measures like debarring party spokespersons from news channel debates, the opposition parties are now overhauling their organisational set-ups and purging respective executives, committees and wings to weed out non-performers and deadwood. Virendra Singh Rawat reports.
Extensive arrangements have been made due to the COVID-19 pandemic including personal protective equipment kits for election staff, more polling booths, thermal screening, sanitisers, masks and gloves for voters and markings to ensure social distancing, officials said.
'If prices of everyday consumption don't come down, employment doesn't pick up, 2020 will not be a happy year for anyone but the super rich,' notes Sherna Gandhy.
'The death penalty exists in India for murderers. Is it a deterrent and does it stop murders?'
Here's a glimpse of all that happened around the world last week in images.
Anil Singh, the Unnao MLA, said, "I am with Maharaj-ji (Adityanath)."
A sadhu's dream, and India's bizarre response, reveals the country's true nature, says Amberish K Diwanji.
The fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections will go to polls on April 29. The voting will be held for 71 seats spread across 9 states.
In controversial remarks, Bharatiya Janata Party MP Sakshi Maharaj on Sunday alleged that madrassas were giving "education of terrorism".
Verdicts paving the way for construction of a Ram Temple at Ayodhya and India's multi-billion dollar Rafale fighter jet deal with France were 2019's landmark imprints of the Supreme Court, which also found itself at the centre of a controversy with then Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi being accused of sexual harassment before getting the clean chit.
The Congress general secretary was joined by leaders like Ahmed Patel, A K Antony, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Randeep Singh Surjewala, besides hundreds of party workers at the India Gate on Monday in a show of solidarity with the students from Jamia Millia Islamia and several other universities across the country protesting the contentious amended citizenship law.
A dust storm also hit the national capital on Saturday and its surrounding areas that had been reeling under the scorching heat for a few days.
'Let us not fool ourselves into thinking that by sidestepping the rule of law, justice has been served in this case because we have once again very conveniently and completely absolved society's responsibility in all of this,' says Neetika Vishwanath.
Both want parents to have more children.
Forty five organised slaughterhouses are not in a position to cater for the big demand for rawhide
In recent weeks, reports have come out from Uttar Pradesh of members of the Hindu Yuva Vahini thrashing couples, shutting down meat shops. Many say that the group formed in 2002 by Yogi Adityanath has been emboldened ever since his elevation to chief minister. Here's a look at the 2-million strong and growing group.
'So you wonder, couldn't he have combined these two qualities: His love of his own voice, and his acting talents, to voice concern about the Kathua and Unnao rapes?' asks Jyoti Punwani. 'His supporters are siding with the accused in the first case, and are the accused in the second.'
"There was a Ram temple in Ayodhya and it will exist there in the future, too, and with a grand look," he said.
He attacked the dispensation over issues such as the state of the economy, the situation in Kashmir, the National Register of Citizens in Assam and action by probe agencies against opposition leaders.
'We may have the finest criminal laws, but of what use are they when it can ensure neither a quick, time-bound trial nor punishment?' 'The outcome, then, will be extra-judicial solutions like what the Telangana police has hit upon,' argues Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Desraj, the servant, said Prakash Chander Pandey had come to her residence along with Santosh Kumar Rai.
Police are probing both the cases and efforts are on to trace the missing 9mm pistol, they said.
A Bharatiya Janata Party leader in West Bengal has gone a step ahead of controversial party MP Sakshi Maharaj, asking Hindu women to bear five children "to protect Hinduism".
A group of dalits set ablaze the house of a tribal 'Kanjar' caste family in Fatehpur Chaurasi village.
BJP said Gandhi's remarks were condemnable and he should apologise in the House.
A cyclonic circulation over Haryana was the trigger for the deadly dust storm that swept parts of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, weather experts said.
The DCW chief had been demanding death penalty for rape of minors and setting up of fast-track courts across the country to try rape cases, along with other demands.
Says UP misunderstood and underplayed
The Bill, which was already approved by the Rajya Sabha, defines child pornography, making it punishable.
'Trail and appeals for rape cases must end in a year. Then the Police will not feel constrained to justify encounters and people will not applaud it.'
Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament Swami Sakshi Maharaj on Tuesday invoked spirituality to seek peoples' support for the BJP in the upcoming Delhi assembly elections, saying he has come as a saint and should not be sent back "empty handed".
The minimum punishment in cases of rape of women has been increased from rigorous imprisonment of seven years to 10 years.
While a nine-year-old girl was raped and murdered in Uttar Pradesh's Etah, an 11-year-old girl was allegedly raped and killed by a guest at a wedding in Chhattisgarh.
The fate of 961 candidates, including Union ministers Giriraj Singh, Subhash Bhamre, S S Ahluwalia and Babul Supriyo of the BJP and former Union ministers Salman Khurshid and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury of the Congress, will be decided by about 12.79 core voters in the fourth phase.
Accompanied by Union minister Nitin Gadkari and BJP national general secretary Bhupender Yadav, Kovind drove straight to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's official residence from the airport.
Relishing mangoes this summer will cost a lot more as prices of the fruit have shot up by 50-65 per cent as supplies have been hit following unseasonal rain.
Counting's underway and the fate of the candidates is awaited. As we wait for the results with bated breath, here's how your heavyweights are faring for now.
Akhilesh Yadav doesn't need Bollywood stars to power his campaign for the UP election when he has a charming campaigner like his missus.
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