A special MP-MLA court acquitted all six accused, including Ayodhya MLA Abhay Singh, in a 24-year-old Nadesar shootout case involving former Jaunpur MP Dhananjay Singh due to insufficient evidence.
"We have no problem if the students here offer namaaz or worship in the mosque or temple on the college premises. But we do not accept that outsiders are gathering here in the name of offering namaz on the college premises," he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi would have got a tough fight in Varanasi had Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra contested against him as Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) candidate, feel party workers from the temple town.
Earlier in 2018, the Yogi government had renamed Faizabad as Ayodhya.
Devotees attending the Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj are facing transportation challenges, with many forced to walk long distances in search of transport. Thousands of pilgrims returning from the event are stranded at Varanasi Cantt and Banaras railway stations, with some missing their trains due to the rush and others stuck because of cancellations. Officials say the traffic situation in the district has returned to normal, but some pilgrims report difficulties in finding transport and reaching their destinations.
The Congress on Saturday urged the Election Commission to book Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders for alleged violation of the model code by holding a road show in Varanasi without prior permission.
In a major jolt to the Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh, none of the candidates supported by it could ensure victory in the Cantonment Board polls in Varanasi and Lucknow, and managed to win just one seat in Agra.
Students at Udai Pratap College in Varanasi, India, protested demanding the removal of a mosque located on the campus. The protest came after tensions arose when a section of students recited Hanuman Chalisa near the mosque while prayers were being offered. The college administration has denied claims by the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board that the mosque and surrounding land are Waqf property, stating that the mosque was built illegally. The college administration has also accused the mosque of stealing electricity.
The long-term plans for Varanasi will take time to materialise but what has changed is the mood, says Aditi Phadnis
Sources in various parties suggest that two lakh votes of the Patel community, locally known as OBC kurmi, for which mother-daughter led Apna Dal (S) and Apna Dal (K) are competing and over one lakh of OBC Rajbhars would be crucial in deciding the outcome of the assembly seats in Varanasi.
Glimpses of the Bharat Bandh called to protest the Agnipath scheme, June 20, 2022.
Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday arrived in the holy city for a month-long campaign and was greeted with posters that accused him of being a 'deserter', an apparent reference to his resignation as Delhi chief minister within 49 days of taking charge.
A former Bahujan Samaj Party leader's wife and father-in-law were allegedly murdered by their car driver in a loot bid in Gayatri Nagar colony in the Cantt area in Varanasi, the police said on Thursday.
The turnout for these seats was 57.92 per cent in the last assembly polls in 2012.
'Our train was moving in all the wrong directions and went to Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal and Odisha'
Voting for the seventh and final phase of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections covering 54 seats, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi's parliamentary constituency Varanasi, will be held on Monday to decide the phase of 613 candidates.
The curtain came down on rumbustious electioneering over the last two months when assembly polls were also held in four other states - Goa, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Manipur.
Extending the interim bail till April 10, a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala took note of the facts that three FIRs were lodged against Khera.
He slammed the Samajwadi Party for being sympathetic towards terrorists and claimed that the previous government headed by it had sought to withdraw cases against several terror accused as 'a return gift'.
Its allies Apna Dal (S) and Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party bagged nine seats and four seats, respectively, taking the total tally of the combine to 325.
Shivpal loyalists have been denied tickets.
Incidents of arson, firing and vandalism were reported from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Punjab as protesters agitated against the dilution of the SC/ST Act.
