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Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi will contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.
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Few in Varanasi expect the result to be different from 2014 and 2019. The only point of interest is whether Narendra Modi will increase his winning margin against his rivals.
Amid disruptions in the Lok Sabha, opposition parties are protesting the denial of speaking rights to the Leader of Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, during discussions on the President's address. The Congress party draws parallels to a similar incident in 2004 when then-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was prevented from speaking.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi turned 75 on Wednesday, with the Bharatiya Janata Party launching over a fortnight long 'Sewa Pakhwada' to mark the birthday of its preeminent leader.
The Congress party is intensifying its efforts to strengthen its organizational base in Uttar Pradesh, with plans to contest all 403 seats in the 2027 Assembly elections. Senior leaders emphasize grassroots preparations, voter outreach, and public meetings to regain political ground in the state.
The sweeping victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance in the Bihar Assembly elections has caused ripples across the country, but perhaps more pronounced in politically crucial Uttar Pradesh, where Assembly elections are due in 2027.
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Fielding a strong joint opposition candidate from Varanasi in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections was among the proposals discussed at the fourth meeting of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), sources said.
People affected due the flood have taken refuge in safer areas as the administration prepares to shift them to relief camps.
The Congress' Uttar Pradesh chief Ajay Rai's symbolic gesture of hanging 'nimbu-mirchi' (lemon-chillies) on a toy jet, mocking the Centre's alleged inaction in the wake of the Pahalgam attack, has triggered a political storm. The BJP has condemned the act, calling it an insult to the armed forces. Rai, however, maintained that he was merely highlighting the government's delay in utilizing the Rafale jets. The controversy comes amidst a heated debate over the government's response to the recent terror attack.
The Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee is keen to field senior leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra from Varanasi and will soon send a proposal in this regard to the top leadership, said newly appointed party's state president Ajay Rai on Sunday.
A strategist and a quintessential political leader with grassroots connect, Rajnath Singh is credited with expanding the Bharatiya Janata Party's organisational network in the Hindi heartland state of Uttar Pradesh in the 1990s and the subsequent decades.
Chandrashekhar said he would ensure that PM Modi is not re-elected to the Lok Sabha from Varanasi.
'Varanasi has seen elections for ages, but this one is different. Different, in the sense, that it is like an invasion.'
The train was stopped in time by bystanders, preventing a major accident. Bhadauriya was quickly rescued from the tracks by the police and taken to the hospital, according to eyewitnesses.
The Congress on Sunday said it will give a "good fight" to Bharatiya Janata Party leader Narendra Modi on Varanasi seat and did not rule out fielding an outsider.
Is Modi trampling upon senior BJP colleagues while taking decisions? How come Team Modi underestimated the political action-reaction when they were upsetting and uprooting the BJP's founding fathers L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi in the ticket distribution process?
Voting for the seventh and final round will be held on March 7 for Varanasi and its eight adjoining districts.
Gandhi said the party will defeat the saffron party and Narendra Modi in Gujarat just the way it was defeated in Ayodhya.
Ayyakannu, who is also president of the National South Indian Rivers Inter-Linking Farmers Association, said the decision to contest the polls from Uttar Pradesh was to urge the Bharatiya Janata Party to include in their manifesto that their demands, including "profitable prices for farm produce," would be fulfilled.
Wrapping up his two-day visit to Varanasi, Modi said work done in the city is clearly visible.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited his constituency Varanasi on Friday, for the first time since taking charge. During his two-day visit, the PM is also adopted Jayapur village.
Speaking at a rally in Madhya Pradesh's Harda on April 24, Modi praised Chouhan saying the two had served together in the party organisation and also as chief ministers.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday announced Prime Minister Narendra Modi will fight again from Varanasi in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as it named 34 Union ministers in the first list of 195 candidates.
DMK deputy general secretary and Lok Sabha MP A Raja has likened Sanatan Dharma to disease like leprosy that had social stigma.
The prime minister has announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh from PMNRF (PM's National Relief Fund) for the next of kin of each deceased in the road accident in Mirzapur, UP. The injured would be given Rs 50,000, the Prime Minister's Office posted on X.
Puri Shankaracharya Swami Adhokshjanand Devtirath on Thursday said that he would go to Varanasi to ask religious leaders to oppose Narendra Modi, whom he held responsible for the 2002 riots in Gujarat.
A number of high-profile electoral battles, starring veterans and debutants, formidable opponents and unlikely contestants, feature in Tuesday's outcome.
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.
'Since the last ten days our own people were spreading canards and propaganada against me and my family.' 'I was upset by this behaviour and I decided that I should not contest this Lok Sabha election.'
As the results for the Lok Sabha elections 2024 were declared on Tuesday, here is how some of the big faces fared in the contest.
Saturday's voting will mark the end to the marathon polling process that began on April 19 month and has already covered 486 Lok Sabha seats in 28 states and Union territories.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday vowed to thwart alleged attempts to rob Dalits and backward classes of reservations by the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) which he accused of 'enslavement' and performing 'mujra' for Muslim vote bank.
The nomination process began in Varanasi for the most keenly watched Lok Sabha elections, with Congress candidate Ajay Rai, who is pitted against BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and Aam Aadmi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal, filing his papers after offering liquor to Lord Kaal Bhairav as per local tradition.
The country has seen that "people are God" in elections, the PM said.
Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi are likely to contest the Lok Sabha election from Rae Bareli and Amethi seats, respectively, sources said on Thursday.
Accusing the erstwhile Congress governments of pursuing "vote bank politics", PM Modi reached out to the numerically significant Nishad community in Uttar Pradesh
The prime minister said he was also grateful to his opponents who fought against him. At the same time he lamented there was a sense of political untouchability, adding Bharatiya Janata Party workers were being killed for their ideology in West Bengal, Tripura and Kerala.
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