The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday announced Prime Minister Narendra Modi will fight again from Varanasi in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as it named 34 Union ministers in the first list of 195 candidates.
As the new year arrives, the Bharatiya Janata Party's finds itself on the cusp of the most consequential cycle of state polls since the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as the results will tell if the road ahead in its bid for a third straight term at the Centre is getting any bumpier or a strong opposition challenge remains elusive.
Several BJP-backed state governments have unveiled schemes targeting the poor, women, farmers and students, following the party's setback in the Lok Sabha polls.
Official sources said the CRPF commandos will be deployed for the security of Owaisi round-the-clock.
UP's representation in the government could diminish, given the BJP's decreased seat count in that state.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi would have got a tough fight in Varanasi had Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra contested against him as Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) candidate, feel party workers from the temple town.
'They have not mentioned the word minorities. They say scholarships will be given to marginalised communities'
Sources said BJP working president J P Nadda called up Singh to inform him of the party's decision and asked him to make an announcement.
'In many districts, reports of 'herapheri' (tampering with) of EVMs is being received (by the party). On whose directives is this happening? Are officers being pressured from the Chief Minister's Office? EC please clarify this'
Kovind said the UP legislature has a glorious history of dignified amicability between the ruling party and the Opposition.
'This was all conspired to gain a hold on the Wrestling Federation of India and to attack the BJP and its ideology...This team of Rahul, the Congress keeps doing these things.'
With the RLD part of the NDA now, Sanjeev Kumar Balyan would expect an easier contest than five years back when the RLD, SP and BSP had an alliance.
The manifesto release programme was scheduled at the BJP office in Lucknow at 10.15 am.
While a few 'bahubalis' managed wins in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, a majority of them were rejected by the voters. According to the results, many alleged dons-turned-politicians failed to make it to the Uttar Pradesh Assembly.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Tuesday poised to form the government for a third consecutive term with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance getting a majority in the Lok Sabha, notwithstanding crushing losses in three Hindi heartland states after a bitterly fought election that was projected as a referendum on his popularity.
'Jockeying for that position has possibly started at this time.'
The Assembly polls may be three years away in Uttar Pradesh, but Rahul Gandhi has begun the ground-level work to capture power in the key state. Perhaps emboldened by the Lok Sabha and the recent bypoll success, the Congress general secretary, it is learnt, is handpicking observers who will each be in charge of 40 constituencies -- to begin with -- for the 2012 polls.
'Slogans like 'Ek hai toh safe hai' and 'Batenge toh katenge' resonated with voters.'
The SP president and the RLD chief announced the tie-up on social media for the general elections later this year.
Gujarat witnessed seizures of Rs 71.88 crore in just a few days after the announcement of the election
According to a police official, they have come across a viral post on social media in the name of an alleged member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang claiming responsibility for Baba Siddique's murder.
With the Bharatiya Janata Party leaving its rivals comfortably behind in states like Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand in the initial rounds of vote counting, its leaders credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi's governance model for the expected win and said "new history" is being created in UP.
A group of supporters stopped the vehicle of former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan outside the swearing-in ceremony site for the newly designated Madhya Pradesh CM in Bhopal on Wednesday, chanting slogans and expressing support with cries of 'mama, mama'.
Bansuri Swaraj is banking on Narendra Modi's popularity, and the fact that the New Delhi electorate is known to vote on national rather than local issues for the Lok Sabha polls.
A girl wearing hijab will become the prime minister of the country one day, All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi has said amid the controversy over Muslim women's headscarves.
The SBSP has six MLAs in the Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly.
President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday appointed Chandra as 24th CEC on Monday.
After the party's drubbing in the just-concluded assembly polls in five states, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has asked its state unit chiefs in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur to put in their papers.
"Farmers' organisations in western UP have expressed their willingness to support the Shiv Sena and we may ally with smaller parties. In Goa, efforts are on to explore a formula like MVA. Let's see if we succeed," Shiv Sena's Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut said.
"You can do your calculations," the CEC said when asked whether the poll schedule for UP will be announced before the completion of assembly poll process in Manipur, Punjab and Uttaranchal.
"I can say with confidence that the BJP will form the government in the state," he reiterated.
As many as 586 candidates are in the fray in this phase with the seats spread across Saharanpur, Bijnor, Moradabad, Sambhal, Rampur, Amroha, Budaun, Bareilly and Shahjahanpur.
If Meena resigns, it is likely to put pressure on other ministers whose areas also saw poor performance in the general elections.
SP leader Akhilesh Yadav has successfully poached a number of OBC leaders from the ruling party, including Swami Prasad Maurya, in his efforts to broaden his party's social base beyond the traditional Muslim and Yadav votebank to take it on this time round.
The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) would soon form government at the Centre, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah claimed on Wednesday as he predicted that the ruling National Democratic Alliance will not complete its five-year term.
The BJP and its allies won all assembly seats in Modi's Varanasi and Adityanath's Gorakhpur, and the SP bagged all 10 segments in Yadav's Azamgarh Lok Sabha constituency.
Shah asserted that the BJP will once again form the government in Uttar Pradesh with a comfortable majority.
Pershant Gujjar and his 40 supporters have also been booked for holding the meeting without permission on Sunday, Kakroli Station House Officer (SHO) Sunil Sharma said.
Accompanied by party leaders Dimple Yadav, wife of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, Rajendra Chowdhury and Kironmay Nanda, besides businessman Subrata Roy Sahara, Jaya Bachchan, who turns 70 next month, filed her nomination at the Central Hall of the state assembly.
Voting for the seventh and final phase of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections covering 54 seats, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi's parliamentary constituency Varanasi, will be held on Monday to decide the phase of 613 candidates.
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