With their high-decibel campaigns so far, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Samajwadi Party may appear to be locked in a direct fight in Uttar Pradesh.
The bleakness of being a Muslim in Uttar Pradesh depresses both its youth and community leaders alike, says Archis Mohan
In 2014 too, the Congress had lost all the 26 seats in Gujarat.
The Congress general secretary in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh said the people of Amethi and Rae Bareli have self-respect and they do not beg from anyone.
The first of the two-phase urban local body polls in Uttar Pradesh will take place on Thursday, a major poll battle in the politically crucial state ahead of the 2024 parliamentary elections.
For foreign dignitaries, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has often chosen gifts that showcase India's rich cultural and artistic traditions, and it was no different this time as he picked a variety of products for the heads of governments at the G7 Summit.
The best-case scenario is that the BJP will top out at around 50 seats in UP -- a drop of 12 from the 62 it had won in 2019. Taken in tandem with Maharashtra and Karnataka, this is what is likely to put paid to the BJP's ambitions of a third term for Modi, argues Prem Panicker.
Former union minister and Lok Janshakti Party president Ram Vilas Paswan, who lost the recent Lok Sabha elections, said in Varanasi on Wednesday that his party would contest the 2010 Bihar assembly elections in alliance with Lalu Prasad-led Rashtriya Janata Dal and also welcomed Congress party to their fold.
'Are we so ready to believe that in this country whose virtues we constantly shout from the rooftops, there is no single person -- other than Modi -- in a minimum of 272 elected MPs with the talent and ability to lead this country?' asks Prem Panicker.
A recap of events that occurred in India in the past 24 hours.
'It's like the BJP is mocking people: Do what you want, we'll still win.'
Modi said India's next general elections will be held in 2024 and he invited G20 delegates to visit the country to witness the "festival of democracy" in the "mother of democracy".
The RJD chief said, "Bihar mandate is a big slap on the Narendra Modi government. PM Modi wanted to fool people of Bihar but they understood his nefarious designs."
"This conference was called for political discussions. But when our jawans have been killed in a terror attack in Pulwama, I feel it would not be right if we have political discussions at this time," Priyanka told reporters at the press conference venue in Lucknow.
The polling body said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not violate the model code or its advisory on armed forces in his speech in Varanasi. It also found nothing wrong in his comments made in Nanded, Maharashtra where he reportedly dubbed the Congress as a 'sinking Titanic'.
'The Modi-Shah duo won't leave the war zone without putting up a tough fight.' 'Modi's slogan for 2019 could well be, "I have done much. Give me one more chance to do even more".' '2019 will be tough for the BJP.' 'But it will be even tougher for the Opposition -- united or otherwise,' says R Rajagopalan.
Accusing the erstwhile Congress governments of pursuing "vote bank politics", PM Modi reached out to the numerically significant Nishad community in Uttar Pradesh
Kejriwal should get some stability and then go to people and ask for votes, says Sharma.
'Both the parties stood by the BJP through thick and thin, while others joined when they smelt power. The Shiv Sena was forced to quit the NDA last year while the Shiromani Akali Dal quit over farm bills'
'If we want real democracy, the economy itself will need to be democratised.'
Right now there are five Hindus occupying the top job in the world. Rishi Sunak will be the sixth.
Some of our leaders were busybusy over the weekend.
"It is heartening to see us, common people, being acknowledged. 'Achha lag raha hai'," Ram Chand Kumar, a mason who hails from Bihar and has been working on the site for the last 5-6 months, hailed the prime minister's gesture.
Yadav, who hails from Mahendergarh district, joined the JJP in New Delhi in the presence of its leader Chautala.
Putting up a stunning show, the Janata Dal-United-led grand alliance was on Sunday well on the road to gaining a thumping majority in the Bihar assembly.
Less than half the ministers in Team Yogi are not long-term BJP members. Many old-timers have been dropped.
After the historic win of Bhartiya Janta Partyin Uttar Pradesh elections on Saturday, the talk about the face of chief minister candidate is the next question.
For Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who continues the Gandhi family legacy of active politics that began several generations ago, the formal entry into politics was two decades in the making.
Yadav had moved the top court challenging the decision of Returning Officer to reject his nomination papers from Varanasi Lok Sabha seat, saying it was intended to "give walkover" to PM Modi.
The Congress was not unduly perturbed by reports that party vice-president Rahul Gandhi's application for proof of residence in Amethi was turned down by the district magistrate, stating emphatically that this would have no impact on his nomination from his Lok Sabha constituency. Anita Katyal explains why
Vellore is one of the two seats that the DMK alliance won by the narrowest of margins in 2019. For the DMK's vote-score to be so low in a constituency with a substantial Muslim population has not missed the BJP strategists' eyes, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
In an indication of its vexation with ally BJP, the Shiv Sena on Friday said it will contest 20 seats in electorally vital Uttar Pradesh, but the BJP downplayed it saying they share "strong and old" ties and are "inseparable".
Union Minister Salman Khurshid on Saturday said the Congress could consider extending support to the Third Front or taking its help, if necessary to form the government at the Centre after the Lok Sabha polls.
Stepping up efforts to clean Ganga at Varanasi, the government has signed a loan agreement of Rs 552 crore (Rs 5.52 billion) with the Japan Bank for International Cooperation for an ambitious project, the Lok Sabha was informed on Friday.
He alleged that the BJP government has lined up a series of programmes to herald the start of the corridor only to deflect people's attention from the PM's 'failure' to double the income of farmers.
'Their vote bank has shifted to the BJP; the Congress is yet to realise it.'
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday ruled out snap Lok Sabha elections before schedule early next year. "At least, there will be no elections this year," Singh told reporters in Varanasi.
