Modi, Yogi watch Hemaji play Mirabai...
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.
With the BJP denying a renomination to Naqvi to the Upper House, and no Rajya Sabha renomination either for Sayyed Zafar Islam or MJ Akbar -- both of whom are also completing their tenures soon -- the party now has no Muslim member of Parliament from either House.
Counting of votes for the bypolls in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Tripura, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand will be taken up on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Congress said that that it is ready to go it alone in Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha election.
The rules for the CAA are likely to be issued before the MCC comes into effect, sources privy to the development said.
Some candidates in these two states have been provided security till the poll process ends.
Sule, citing Railway Ministry documents, said the largest number of Shramik Special trains -- 1033 -- were operated from Gujarat, followed by Maharashtra (817) and Punjab (429).
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.
The immediate challenge for the Centre and the home ministry is to ensure the conduct of assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir and restoration of its statehood.
'Unlike in the sporting arena, where sports federations moved from partisan to impartial referees, in Indian democracy's biggest festival, it appears we are moving backward from unbiased and objective to one-sided and partisan,' observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
A Delhi court on Friday ordered framing of charges against former Wrestling Federation of India chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in a sexual harassment case lodged by six female wrestlers.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's son Vaibhav will contest from Jodhpur and Manvendra from Barmer.
Taking note of complaints of indiscipline and anti-party statements, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge approved Nirupam's expulsion from the party for six years with immediate effect, an official communication from the party said.
Sachin Tendulkar performs Jal Abhishek at the Kashi Vishwanath temple.
A win for SP could provide some consolation for Akhilesh Yadav after the defeat in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections early this year and the loss of Azamgarh and Rampur Lok Sabha seats to the BJP in June bypolls.
Raut said such friendly fights should happen on all 48 seats in Maharashtra as well as in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Exigencies of electoral politics and individual ambitions often stoke family feuds and sibling rivalries.
Dealing a body blow to the ruling BJP, opposition parties emerged victorious in 11 out of 14 bypolls.
The Congress would also take inspiration from history as it was from Karnataka that an embattled Indira Gandhi had revived her dwindling political future by winning a Lok Sabha bypoll from Chikmagalur.
The decision was announced by Ghulam Nabi Azad in New Delhi at a press briefing.
Sources said senior leaders of the party have been told to reach out to other leaders of the alliance and talks with some parties have begun.
A 23-year-old Dalit woman was found dead in Mainpuri, Uttar Pradesh, with her family alleging she was killed for refusing to vote for the Samajwadi Party in the Karhal assembly bypoll. Two individuals have been arrested in connection with the woman's death. The incident has escalated into a political controversy, with the BJP accusing the SP of creating an atmosphere of terror and the SP alleging that the Election Commission is turning a blind eye to the BJP's alleged misuse of government machinery. The bypoll in Karhal is being contested by the SP's Tej Pratap Singh and his 'fufa' Anujesh Pratap Singh, with the BSP also fielding a candidate.
Looking at the history of women representation in Lok Sabha, the percentage remained about 5 till the 1970s and it was only in 2009 that it could reach a double-digit figure.
Swami Prasad Maurya, who recently stirred controversy over his remarks on Ramcharitmanas, and veteran leader Azam Khan are also among the 14 national general secretaries.
To a question on whether deciding against contesting in the constituency would send a wrong signal, she said, "No I don't think so... I had said from the start that I will do what my party says...my party decided this and I am happy to follow the instructions."
Farmers' protest over land acquisition in Uttar Pradesh derailed proceedings in Parliament on Monday with both the Houses adjourning twice over the issue which saw Bharatiya Janata Party, Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Lok Dal, Shiv Sena and Janata Dal-United members storming the well in the Lok Sabha.
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.
UP and Bihar contributed 105 seats to the BJP's tally in 2014. It has now lost 8 Lok Sabha by-polls in the last four years, including three successive losses in UP and two seats in Rajasthan.
The duo is unlikely to visit the neighbouring parliamentary constituency of Amethi, from where Congress president Rahul Gandhi lost the Lok Sabha polls.
The extensive campaigning tours and related events undertaken by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal indicate that he does not appear to be suffering from any serious or 'life threatening' ailment, a Delhi court has held while denying him interim bail.
Former Uttar Pradesh-cadre Indian Administrative Service officer Anup Chandra Pandey was appointed as an election commissioner.
Akhilesh Yadav confirmed in a television interview that the press conference is on the alliance in Uttar Pradesh, while parrying questions on the Congress.
The prime minister has been unveiling a slew of development projects running into lakhs of crores of rupees at various places as he turns the spotlight on his government's development and welfare agenda in the run-up to the general elections expected to be held in April-May.
Akhilesh's fielding candidates from a broad spectrum of castes, not just Yadavs, and with the BJP losing in several seats in Purvanchal, suggests that smaller OBC communities shifted from the BJP to the SP in the region.
The Uttar Pradesh police had on March 26 also taken Ahmad from the Sabarmati jail in Gujarat's Ahmedabad city to Prayagraj in UP to produce him in a court.
For now, Modi's government appears singularly focussed on demonstrating that it is not in any way inhibited by the BJP's loss of a majority, and will continue along its patented path of bulldozing all opposition and doing just as it likes, asserts Prem Panicker.
In a setback to the main opposition Samajwadi Party, the BJP wrested both Rampur and Azamgarh Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh.
The Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party on Wednesday termed the list of candidates released by its alliance partner Samajwadi Party for the Uttar Pradesh legislative council elections as "disappointing".
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