Polling was held on Sunday for 59 Lok Sabha seats in the sixth and penultimate phase of Lok Sabha polls. Elections are being held in 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh, 10 seats in Haryana, eights constituencies each in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal, seven seats in Delhi and four in Jharkhand. Take a look at the famous faces who exercised their democratic right.
The Uttar Pradesh Police had said on Saturday that it would invoke the stringent National Security Act and Gangster Act against those accused in the killing of the 46-year-old man.
'It was disappointing on two counts. One is on the leadership issue and second is how the Congress must win elections.'
'These guys did not even issue an apology to me and were taken back into the party.' 'They were reinstated on the grounds that they will contribute to the Congress campaign.'
The chief minister pointed out that prompt action had been taken by the Punjab Police and the accused had been caught without delay, unlike in the Hathras incident. "That was why Rahul Gandhi had to rush to Hathras, to secure justice for the victim's family, and did not need to visit Hoshiarpur," he said.
Here are some of the political leaders' who await their fate.
Sibal, who quit the Congress last year, said the party's Kanyakumari to Kashmir Yatra "optically" seems to have succeeded and gotten the support of non-Congress elements as well.
Under Election Commission guidelines, campaigning has to end 48 hours before the close of polls for each phase.
She was unhappy at the reinstatement of some party workers in Uttar Pradesh who had "misbehaved" and "threatened" her during her press conference in Mathura a few days ago.
Uttar Pradesh government officials on Monday morning used a bulldozer to remove encroachment done by absconding politician Shrikant Tyagi outside his Noida residence.
A young leader, Tyagi suffered an attack soon after a TV debate and fell unconscious at his residence in Vaishali. He was immediately rushed to the Yashoda Hospital in Ghaziabad, where doctors tried to revivehim, but could not.
Rahul Gandhi replied on Twitter, saying, 'Thank you for your greetings @narendramodi ji. I appreciate them.'
Amid a series of deliberations over a strategy for upcoming general and assembly elections by poll strategist Prashant Kishor, a group of senior leaders of the Congress has given its recommendations to party president Sonia Gandhi and left it to her to take a call on them and initiate organisational changes.
Vora was admitted to the Escorts Hospital in Okhla a few days ago with a urinary infection. He also had a lung infection and was put on ventilator support, his family said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not respect farmers and wants to tire out those protesting against the Centre's new agriculture laws, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged.
The Congress, which wanted to contest as many as 121 seats, has reportedly now settled for 105 seats.
Two of the accused were arrested on Tuesday, while the priest is on the run, police said, adding that the woman's leg was fractured and there were injuries in her private parts.
Reacting to criticism over the death of 100 infants at Kota's JK Lon Hospital, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday said the issue should not be politicised and his government was sensitive to it. His remarks came amid criticism by the Bharatiya Janata Party and Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati, who accused the state government of being insensitive.
The grand old party faces the onerous task of rebuilding its moribund organisation, which is struggling to overcome a leadership crisis and regain credibility with the voters.
To beat BJP, you either deny them a critical mass of Hindu vote or build a regional leader and party strong enough to protect their turf, observes Shekhar Gupta.
As Narendra Modi files his nomination in Varanasi, Praful Bidwai believes 'a straight contest against Priyanka would have put Modi on the defensive and forced him to concentrate on Varanasi.'
Political strategist Prashant Kishor, who played a key role in victories of Narendra Modi-led BJP in general elections and the Janata Dal-United-Rashtriya Janata Dal-Congress alliance in Bihar, on Wednesday attended a meeting with Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi to craft the party's strategy for Uttar Pradesh polls.
Reacting to TMC's jibe, West Bengal Congress president Adhir Chowdhury said "agents of BJP" should not advise the party how to fight against the saffron camp.
After the meeting, Rahul Gandhi alleged the UP government has 'gone to war against its own people' and urged the NHRC to act decisively to protect the 'Constitutional rights of our citizens'.
Also, with Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra not in the running for the party president's post, a non-Gandhi would be at the helm after over 24 years following the polling on Monday and counting on Wednesday.
Till 5 pm, Agra recorded 56.61 per cent polling, Aligarh 57.25 per cent, Baghpat 61.35 per cent, Bulandshahr 60,52 per cent, Gautam Buddh Nagar 54.77 per cent, Ghaziabad 54.77 per cent, Hapur 60.50 per cent, Mathura 58.51 per cent, Meerut 58.52 cent, Muzaffarnagar 62.14 per cent and Shamli 61.78 per cent, an EC report said.
The opposition parties also alleged that the gangster was killed to protect the UP government.
Priyanka Maurya, was the face of the 'Ladki Hoon, Lad Sakti Hoon' campaign of Congress in Uttar Pradesh.
'What should surprise BJP supporters is Modi's call for 'stability' at the manifesto launch, a theme that he and his team members had not touched ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in 2014 and 2019.' 'The last time the party called for 'stability at the Centre' was in 1998 and 1999,' recalls N Sathiya Moorthy.
'He is not acting solo.' 'The plot may have people within the Congress and outside.'
'There is a big communication gap between leaders and party workers in the Congress.'
Heavy police force was deployed in the vicinity of the residence of former BJP MLA Rajvir Singh Pehalvan, located around 8-9 kilometres from the victim's village. One of the organisers of the meeting and Pehalvan's son Manveer Singh denied that the gathering comprised members from the upper castes and said they were from 'different sections of society'.
'Rahul is misguided by a handful of family retainers who don't want him to show unrestrained initiative in forming allies.' says Sudhir Bisht.
'You are one of the drops that make that ocean, but when you leave it makes no difference to the ocean.'
The second part of journalist Rajdeep Sardesai's interview to Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com.
The exams were scheduled to be held from May 4.
They may not see eye to eye on a number of issues, but some sworn political rivals have converged in the same constituency in Uttar Pradesh on Valentine's Day. While Congress president Sonia Gandhi joined her daughter Priyanka to campaign in Rae Bareli, her parliamentary constituency, son Rahul will be criss-crossing neighbouring Hardoi before moving on to Agra to address more rallies there.
Mallikarjun Kharge was on Wednesday elected the Congress president after defeating Shashi Tharoor in an electoral contest, the sixth in the party's 137-year-old history.
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