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.
Congress will withdraw support to Samajwadi Party-led government in Uttar Pradesh at the "right time."
In the past the Congress had cold-shouldered overtures from the Samajwadi Party chief, leading to bad blood between the two parties.
The principal opposition party though appeared content securing 99 of the 543 seats in the 2024 national elections as against its all-time low of 44 in 2014 and then 52 in 2019.
Political parties earlier used to seek vote on the basis of caste and religion, said Kejriwal.
Amid the political blame game over Bengal's potato ban, which led to shortages in Jharkhand and Odisha, Uttar Pradesh farmers are the unlikely winners.
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.
In the first major action after its massive drubbing in Lok Sabha polls, Congress on Tuesday dissolved the state unit of politically key Uttar Pradesh signalling a drastic overhaul.
The communal violence in Sambhal that claimed four lives and left over 20 people injured has now sparked a debate over a purported rivalry between the Turk and Pathan communities, with political and administrative figures weighing in on the cause of the unrest.
'Has the BJP not announced its candidates in Raebareli?'
Kanugolu had also made forays in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh following a directive from the party's central leadership but regional satraps Ashok Gehlot and Kamal Nath reportedly were not on the same page as the poll strategist.
Gearing up for the assembly polls next year, the Congress on Wednesday constituted the election committee for Uttar Pradesh, which includes state unit chief Ajay Kumar Lallu and former Union ministers Salman Khurshid, Rajeev Shukla and R P N Singh.
The Congress said that the move is meant to keep away candidates who are not serious.
The BJP is far more prepared than the Congress as their pool of prospective candidates is much bigger, reports Prakash Bhandari.
Gandhi has expressed "deep pain and anguish" over what has happened in Uttar Pradesh, All India Congress Committee general secretary Janardan Dwivedi quoted her as saying. Dwivdei told media-persons that the party regrets the personal elements in reference to Chief Minister Mayawati in Joshi's remarks.
A day after the Congress's second straight defeat in the national election, resignations were flying.
There is no confusion or dispute in the 'Mahagathbandhan' over Tejashwi Yadav being the main face for the Bihar chief minister's post, Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar said on Friday while asserting that the CM will be from the Rashtriya Janata Dal if the alliance gets a majority in the upcoming polls.
While the BJP went back to the drawing board to recraft its political and governance outreach and regained momentum by notching up surprisingly big wins in a string of assembly polls, the burst of fresh optimism in the main opposition Congress and other INDIA bloc parties fizzled out.
He said the multi-party committee formed by the Speaker in Himachal Pradesh would discuss all issues about street vending on October 3. Singh's remarks came a day after the Congress top brass chided him over his remarks on mandatory display of names by the street vendors and told him that no one was allowed to go against the party's policies and ideologies.
Patole wrote that he was resigning as the chairman of the Kisan Congress and 'dismissing' the unit.
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.
The decision was announced by Ghulam Nabi Azad in New Delhi at a press briefing.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday dubbed the electoral bonds as the 'world's biggest extortion scheme' and alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the 'champion of corruption'.
Yashpal Arya and his son, along with their supporters, joined the Congress in the presence of senior party leaders Harish Rawat, K C Venugopal and Randeep Surjewala in New Delhi.
"You are seeing my face everywhere," the Congress leader added while addressing a press conference to release the party's 'youth manifesto' along with her brother and former president Rahul Gandhi.
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.
One hundred years ago, a group of 10 revolutionaries carried out an operation that shook the British Empire. Utkarsh Mishra revisits the 'Kakori Conspiracy Case', a turning point in the armed struggle for independence.
Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi was on Saturday granted interim bail by a local court in a case relating to derogatory remarks against Chief Minister Mayawati. The release order has been sent to the district jail, where she has been lodged after she was arrested under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for allegedly making derogatory remarks against Mayawati.
The Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee is keen to field senior leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra from Varanasi and will soon send a proposal in this regard to the top leadership, said newly appointed party's state president Ajay Rai on Sunday.
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.
Additional District Judge Sudha Sharma passed the order and fixed July 29 as the next date of hearing.
Gandhi said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the "champion of corruption".
'The concept of an MP IPL team is the brainchild of Kamal Nath.' 'If the Congress government comes to power in the state, he will assemble an IPL team for MP with the assistance of his business contacts.'
The committee comprises all the top leaders including Union ministers and AICC general secretaries from states.
Congress and Rashtriya Lok Dal held a crucial meeting in New Delhi on Thursday night to finalise seat sharing arrangements for Uttar Pradesh assembly elections to be held early next year.
Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Asim Azmi, suspended from the Maharashtra assembly over his remarks praising Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, will be '100 per cent' put in jail, Chief Minister Minister Devendra Fadnavis said in the legislative council.
The Congress would go to the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections without a chief minister face but will fight under the watch of general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, whom the state party chief Ajay Kumar Lallu described as a 'storm' that will help sweep the polls.
Priyanka wants to have 33 per cent representation of women in the organisation given the fact that they are not be related to party leaders.
Dubey was arrested outside the Mahakal temple at Ujjan in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday morning.
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