Political tensions are escalating in Uttar Pradesh as Samajwadi Party leaders strongly refute Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party chief Om Prakash Rajbhar's assertions of an impending split within the SP.
UPCC chief Ajai Rai clarifies Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's role in Uttar Pradesh Congress campaigns, emphasizing her national leadership while confirming her continued prominence in the state.
The spiralling agitation over the NEET issue saw protests and counter-protests by Congress and BJP across the country on Wednesday, with clashes and tense face-offs at many places, a day after Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders were forcibly removed from a dharna outside the prime minister's residence.
Recent BJP organisational moves and Rajya Sabha nominations have sparked speculation that Prime Minister Narendra Modi may soon undertake a ministerial reshuffle.
Several prominent BJP leaders, including former Union minister Smriti Irani, RSS veteran Ram Madhav, and former chief ministers Biplab Kumar Deb and Tirath Singh Rawat, have been reinstated into significant roles within the party's national team. This reshuffle marks a political recovery for many who had previously seen their influence wane or lost electoral battles, positioning them for key organisational responsibilities ahead of upcoming elections.
In the past the Congress had cold-shouldered overtures from the Samajwadi Party chief, leading to bad blood between the two parties.
While the Congress top brass has declined an invitation to the January 22 consecration ceremony at the Ram temple in Ayodhya, the party's Uttar Pradesh unit stuck to its plan to offer prayers in the holy city on Makar Sankranti.
Uttar Pradesh Congress Legislature Party leader Pradeep Mathur has shot off a letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi seeking her intervention. Sharat Pradhan reports from Lucknow
The Congress announced on Thursday that it would not field candidates in the nine assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh where bypolls are being held and would support Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) nominees.
The decision was taken to foil the attempts made by Chief Minister Mayawati to further split the party.
The Chhattisgarh government has introduced a bill aimed at preventing religious conversions through force, inducement, or misrepresentation, sparking opposition and debate in the state assembly.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh has alleged that the BJP's "real and ultimate target" in seeking a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha is to amend the Constitution to end reservation, rather than genuinely implement women's reservation.
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.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday slammed the Congress and DMK over the defeat of the amendment bill regarding the Women's Reservation Act in Parliament but said the government was determined to implement it and that "no power in the world can stop us," from doing so.
One of the Congress members said two more legislators would join the group.
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.
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'.
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.
The Maharashtra assembly has passed the Freedom of Religion Bill 2026, introducing strict measures to prevent religious conversions through coercion, fraud, or marriage, sparking debate over constitutional rights and religious freedom.
According to political observers, the AIMIM sees a catchment area in Bihar, where Muslims are more than 17 per cent of the total population but have never got a proportionate representation in the state legislature.
The Congress party on Friday advised Uttar Pradesh government to strengthen its intelligence network, which proved to be a failure during the recent surprise visit of the party general secretary Rahul Gandhi to rural areas in the eastern part of the state.
The firing took place outside his MLA son Zeeshan Siddiqui's office.
Speculation has been rife that the Gandhi or his sister Priyanka could be projected as the Congress face in UP.
Robert Vadra indicated that he will also join politics and said there is an atmosphere of change in the country. His entire family is working diligently on this, he added.
Opposition parties said it was a move to appease the party leader.
The Congress party's first list of 194 Lok Sabha candidates released on Saturday night has no major surprises. Anita Katyal reports
A new cabinet in the state will be in place in the next 48-72 hours.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his cabinet colleagues Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Rajnath Singh, chief ministers of Nationalist Democratic Alliance-ruled states and prominent personalities from industry and Bollywood on Thursday attended the grand swearing-in of Devendra Fadnavis as Maharashtra Chief Minister in Mumbai.
Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Asim Azmi was on Wednesday suspended from the Maharashtra legislative assembly till the ongoing budget session ends on March 26, over his remarks eulogizing Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.
The speculation was triggered after Shravan Kumar, a Bihar minister, who is also the Janata Dal-United's in-charge for UP, said there were 'demands' that the party boss enter the fray from the adjoining state.
The Election Commission has defended its Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu in the Supreme Court, refuting allegations of mass deletion of genuine voters as exaggerated and politically motivated.
There are also views within a section of the party that a turnaround in Uttar Pradesh is possible only if either of the Gandhis -- Priyanka or Rahul -- takes the lead in the state polls.
Beleaguered Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's political credibility will be tested by the outcome of the three by-elections. And cries that he must resign will become shriller if the Congress loses them.
Congress general secretary and Uttar Pradesh in-charge Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will flag off three Pratigya Yatras from Barabanki on Saturday to take to the people various resolutions adopted by the party ahead of the 2022 assembly elections.
All India Congress Committee general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Ghulam Nabi Azad said the party would not react immediately and would come out with a detailed reaction in Lucknow on Sunday.
Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, who have extended support to the Congress to form the government in the state, were not present.
The BJP stormed back to power in the crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, trouncing its main rival SP, with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath asserting that people have buried the politics of caste and religion.
The BJP wants to win a state where it has been out of power for 15 years. The Congress wants to make its mark in a state where it has been a bit player for nearly 30 years. And the BSP wants to recapture power it lost 5 years ago.
The last two phases of the elections will be held on March 3 and 7.
The Congress on Thursday renamed the Rahul Gandhi-led Manipur-Mumbai yatra starting on January 14 as the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, which will travel through 100 Lok Sabha segments in 15 states including Arunachal Pradesh, and asserted it will prove to be as 'transformative' as his earlier cross-country march.
