Modi has been established by this election as the "clear and favourite winner" for the 2019 elections.
Singh targeted the Congress using a 'snakes and ladders' analogy, saying the party will fall to zero from 99 after being bitten by a snake -- referring to the grand old party winning 99 seats in the Lok Sabha polls.
A local court in Ajmer has issued notices to the dargah committee, the Ministry of Minority Affairs, and the Archaeological Survey of India on a plea seeking to declare the shrine of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti a temple. The petition, filed in September, has sparked a heated debate, with politicians and community leaders weighing in on the potentially volatile issue. The dargah committee has declined to comment, but the Anjuman Syed Zadgan, a body representing the caretakers of the dargah, described the petition as a deliberate attempt to fracture society along communal lines. The petition comes just days after four people were killed in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, following a local court ordering survey of a Mughal-era shrine. The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, which fixed August 15, 1947, as the cut-off date for status quo on the character of religious places, is at the centre of much of the debate. Several politicians, including Union minister Giriraj Singh and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, have weighed in on the issue. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has called the civil court's decision to entertain the petition unwarranted and has asked the Supreme Court to immediately intervene.
Apna Dal-K leader Pallavi Patel made it clear that the party was no longer an ally of the SP which is a member of the INDIA bloc.
While Azad, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, has been made in charge of Uttar Pradesh, Nath will look after Punjab and Haryana, party General Secretary Janaradan Dwivedi said.
The decision was announced by Ghulam Nabi Azad in New Delhi at a press briefing.
In a statement, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh questioned the motive behind the inauguration of the "incomplete" temple by the leaders of the BJP and the RSS.
About 40 per cent of sitting MPs have criminal cases registered against them out of which 25 per cent have declared serious criminal cases under charges of murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping and crimes against women, according to poll rights body Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
The poll is scheduled for July 17 and the counting of votes will take place on July 20.
Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said in case a situation arises in Uttar Pradesh that there is a hung assembly, the AAP will enter into a post-poll alliance to keep incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party out of power in the state.
Addressing the centenary year celebrations of the All India Presiding Officers Conference organised in the Himachal Pradesh State Assembly, Harivansh suggested various reforms to make law making legislatures more dynamic.
Anil Singh, the Unnao MLA, said, "I am with Maharaj-ji (Adityanath)."
Hindu follows the path of truth. Hindutva robs under the guise of religion, Rahul Gandhi said.
Akhilesh Das, who was recently dropped from the Union Council of Ministers recently, on Tuesday resigned from the party as well as the Rajya Sabha after blaming the "coterie" around Rahul Gandhi
The Sirsa-headquartered sect chief, who is serving a 20-year jail term for raping two of his disciples, walked out of the Sunaria prison in Haryana's Rohtak on Saturday after being granted a 40-day parole and reached Barnawa Ashram in Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat.
Chandrashekhar, in one of his letters, had also alleged that he had met AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and that he was asked to arrange Rs 500 crore for AAP's expansion in southern states.
Last month, Bhatt said Kalashnikov AK-203 rifles for Indian armed forces were under manufacturing and testing stage at an Indo-Russian joint venture at Korwa in Uttar Pradesh.
A voter turnout of over 40 per cent was recorded till 1 pm on Monday in the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections in 96 constituencies spread over 10 states and Union Territories amid incidents of violence in Andhra Pradesh and reports of poll boycott in some villages of Uttar Pradesh.
Uttar Pradesh Udyog Vyapar Pratinidhi Mandal president and Rajya Sabha MP Banwari Lal Kanchal said said the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce was studying the impact of big malls on small retailers and is expected to submit its report to the central government soon. He is one of the committee members. Kanchal claimed that, in the last five years, an estimated 20 million traders had been rendered jobless due to the sprouting of big shopping malls in the country.
The Supreme Court has sought details from the Allahabad High Court regarding controversial statements made by Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav at a VHP function. The development comes amid calls for action against the judge for his remarks, which have been labeled as hate speech by some. The judge's statements were made at a VHP function on December 8, where he spoke about the Uniform Civil Code and the law working according to the majority. Several individuals and organizations, including lawyer Prashant Bhushan and CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat, have called for an inquiry into the judge's conduct and for his removal from judicial duties.
The BJP's top leadership will drop its MPs found to be facing anti-incumbency, according to its internal surveys -- a pivotal tactic to ensure the party achieves its target of winning 370 seats.
The AAP on Thursday said if it is voted to power in UP, it will provide 300 units of free electricity to domestic consumers, waive 'inflated' bills and ensure 24-hour power supply.
This comes after Gandhi on Tuesday replied to the Lok Sabha Secretariat's notice to vacate his official bungalow, and said he will abide by the notice.
"The people have the right to know as to how Das was able to amass huge wealth during a short span of 10 to 12 years," Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee spokesman Swadesh Kumar Kori said. Das had resigned from the Congress as well as from his Rajya Sabha membership on May 6 alleging that a coterie around the party's general secretary Rahul Gandhi was running the organisation.
The Reliance Industries vice-chairman would be supported by Samajwadi Party.
"Farmers' organisations in western UP have expressed their willingness to support the Shiv Sena and we may ally with smaller parties. In Goa, efforts are on to explore a formula like MVA. Let's see if we succeed," Shiv Sena's Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut said.
Is it about how to end the wrestlers' stand-off?
Gehlot was made the chief minister of Rajasthan after the party formed government in the state.
Amid criticism that the Congress had given a walkover to Irani in Amethi, sources said, the party in its wisdom believed that Rae Bareli's historical, emotional and electoral importance for the Gandhi family was higher than that of Amethi.
Rahul Gandhi said both Rae Bareli and Wayanad "will get two MPs".
Aiming to retain power at the Centre for the third time in a row, the Bharatiya Janata Party while banking heavily on its sitting MPs on Saturday released the first list of 51 candidates from Uttar Pradesh for the Lok Sabha elections.
Protests by members over Joint Parliamentary Committee report on spectrum scam, price rise, Telangana and the death of children in Muzaffarnagar relief camps disrupted Parliament on Monday leading to repeated adjournments.
Polling was by and large peaceful in the bypolls for three Lok Sabha and seven assembly seats spread across five states and Delhi on Thursday barring an incident of stabbing of a policeman in Tripura, where polling was the highest at 76.62 per cent.
Voters include 8.4 crore men, 8.23 crore women and 11,371 from third gender. There are as many as 35.67 lakh first time voters, besides 3.51 crore young voters in the age group of 20-29 years.
The move to set up a development board for Bundelkhand region allegedly without taking Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh governments into confidence paralysed proceedings in Parliament on Monday. The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha were adjourned within minutes as the Bahujan Samaj Party and Bharatiya Janata Party members were on their feet demanding that the Bundelkhand issue be taken up straight away suspending the Question Hour.
The notable names in the BJP's first list include Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh from Lucknow, Hema Malini from Mathura, Ajay Mishra Teni from Kheri, Smriti Irani from Amethi, Lallu Singh from Faizabad (Ayodhya) and Mahendra Nath Pandey from Chandauli among others.
The session, which is likely to have around 20 sittings, would conclude ahead of Christmas.
Top on the government's agenda would be getting Parliament's approval to the budgetary proposals and presentation of the budget for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
Both the BJP and the Congress have banked on new and young faces, some of whom have been nominated by the parties for the first time.
Maurya resigned as the party's national general secretary on February 13, accusing the leadership of discriminating against him and not defending him over his controversial statements on the Ramcharitmanas and the Ayodhya temple consecration ceremony.
