Uttar Pradesh is on high alert as Holi coincides with Friday namaz, prompting authorities to implement additional security measures in the state, including enhanced patrolling, surveillance drones, and strict monitoring of social media. The decision follows controversial remarks made by some politicians and a police officer, raising concerns about potential incidents in mixed population localities. The administration has also decided to cover mosques to prevent them from being stained with colors, while several mosques have shifted the timing of Friday prayers.
It submitted a memorandum to UP Governor Vishnukant Shastri seeking a review of the governments decision to rename Amethi district after Chatrapati Sahuji Maharaj.
It begins with the position of All India Congress Committee member for which there was a price tag of Rs 1 lakh, followed by UPCC membership for Rs 50,000, District Congress Committee membership for Rs 5000 and Block Presidentship for Rs 20,000.
Gandhi said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the "champion of corruption".
A local court in Moradabad could not take up on Friday morning the hearing of the bail application of Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who is currently in judicial custody for allegedly making derogatory remarks against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati.
The decision on Rahul Gandhi's appointment as the Leader of Opposition was made after a meeting of the floor leaders of the INDIA bloc at Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge's residence.
A banner describing senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as the '2024 prime minister' has appeared outside the party office in Lucknow, days after the Samajwadi Party office put up a similar poster calling its party chief Akhilesh Yadav the country's 'future prime minister'.
Congress leaders say that after the huge drubbing received by the party in Bihar, this is just the beginning of what is in store.
Rita Bahuguna Joshi had fought the 2017 elections and defeated Aparna Yadav, the then SP candidate from Lucknow Cantonment.
Party president Sonia Gandhi nominated Mukut Mithi (Arunachal Pradesh), Peerzada Sayeed (Jammu and Kashmir), Prabha Rau (Maharashtra), B D Kalla (Rajasthan) and Salman Khurshid (Uttar Pradesh).\n\n
In an apparent rebuff to Amar Singh, Congress on Monday dismissed the sulking Samajwadi Party leader's claim suggesting that his 'DNA was Congress.'
Vice President V V Giri's resignation in 1969 triggered political upheavals that saw the ruling party defy its own presidential nominee, the expulsion of a sitting prime minister by her party president, and a historic split in the Indian National Congress, recounts Utkarsh Mishra.
Scindia also said that as far as talks for alliances are concerned, "like-minded parties should also think in a like-minded way".
Taking a 30-minute break from the Kanyakumari to Kashmir foot march at Sonawar, Gandhi drove to the Pradesh Congress Committee headquarters on Maulana Azad Road before heading to the clock tower, locally known as 'Ghanta Ghar', to unfurl the tricolour.
Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and chief ministers of Congress-ruled states of Rajasthan, Punjab and Chhattisgarh are among those named by the party as its star campaigners in Uttar Pradesh.
Indicating his keenness to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Amethi, Robert Vadra, businessman and husband of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has said that the people of Amethi expect him to represent their constituency if he thinks of becoming a member of Parliament.
Congress today received a shot in the arm in its bid to revive the party in Uttar Pradesh with a former Bahujan Samaj Party Rajya Sabha member joining it.
'Every Congress leader in UP and the rest of India is calling me and thanking me that finally someone spoke about this JNU gang ruling the Congress party in UP.'
A police officer in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, has sparked outrage after suggesting that those uncomfortable with Holi colors should remain indoors, drawing criticism from opposition parties who accused him of bias and demanded action. The officer's remarks came during a peace committee meeting ahead of Holi, which coincides with Friday prayers during Ramzan. Opposition leaders condemned the statements, calling them "condemnable" and accusing the officer of acting as a "BJP agent." They demanded action against him for his "political statement." The incident comes after violence erupted in Sambhal last year during protests against a court-ordered survey of a Mughal-era mosque.
Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi is likely to take a mid-campaign review of the party's poll strategy on Thursday in the Congress war room in New Delhi. He has called a meeting of the various Congress committees set up for Uttar Pradesh, including the manifesto committee, the publicity and media committee and the campaign committee.
The speculation on whether Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Sonia Gandhi will attend the Ram temple consecration ceremony continued with the party on Thursday saying that their decision would be conveyed at the 'right time'.
The Haryana government transferred Rohtak Superintendent of Police Narendra Bijarniya after an IPS officer's suicide and allegations of caste-based discrimination.
The Congress expects Rahul Gandhi to take over as its chief this year, Jairam Ramesh said on Monday.
"Our target was the decimation of the Samajwadi Party and we have succeeded in it," Salman Khursheed said, congratulating Mayawati on her party's performance.
Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) partners Samajwadi Party and Congress on Wednesday announced a tie-up for the Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, with UP's main opposition party leaving 17 out of the 80 seats in the state for the ally.
Congress leader Ghulam Ahmad Mir on Thursday promised that LPG cylinders will be provided in Jharkhand at a subsidised rate of Rs 450 even for 'infiltrators', sparking a political row in the midst of assembly elections in the eastern state.
Arun Beereddy (37), a native of Telangana's Hyderabad, was arrested from Delhi. He handles the 'Spirit of Congress' account on X, the official said.
Congress MP from Faizabad Nirmal Khatri was made the new Pradesh Congress Committee chief of Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday in a bid to revive the organisation in the key state after the party's debacle in the February assembly elections.
Cross FIRs were lodged against 30 people, including Aam Aadmi Party leader Kumar Vishwas and a Congress leader, after an altercation between activists of both parties, at Peparpur police station in Amethi district.
The police baton-charged and detained several Congress leaders and workers on Thursday, including Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee president Rita Bahuguna Joshi, during a statewide protest against the arrest of Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi.
SP has already fielded its sitting MLA from Gauriganj seat.
The election of Tytler as an AICC delegate drew strong reactions from Delhi's ruling AAP and the BJP, which said it exposed the opposition party's character of creating division and chaos in the country.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has said she is not the only face of the party for Uttar Pradesh assembly polls and her remarks at a press conference on Friday about being the face of the party were made in a 'slight exaggerated way' in response to repeated queries from the media on the issue.
Forget India, UP won't accept Rahul's leadership, says Rita Bahuguna Joshi while joining the BJP
When asked whether Sonia will be present at the day-long convention, Congress spokesman Shaktisinh Gohil told reporters that Rahul had led the agitation against demonetisation and he would preside over it.
The Congress took the gamble of going it alone but Rahul Gandhi's magic, like it did in Uttar Pradesh, failed this time in Bihar with the party recording its worst-ever performance in assembly elections in the state in last 10 years.
The Congress is of the view that firming up of proper opposition alliances in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra is crucial.
Amid intense speculation over whether he would contest the Lok Sabha polls from Uttar Pradesh's Amethi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said he would abide by his party's decision on it.
If her mother anoints her as the Congress's chief ministerial candidate for the UP assembly election, it could be Game On! in Lucknow.
Infighting in Congress in the wake of its electoral debacle in Uttar Pradesh came out in the open on Thursday with Pradesh Congress Committee chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi saying there was a "lot of sabotage" at the local level in the party which is in a "crisis" at this moment.
