'Judges have transmitted a terrible message to citizens across the nation. All right-thinking individuals will be disturbed by what the Delhi high court judges have done.'
The Union Minister of State for Home Affairs did not speak to the media, neither while going into the polling booth at a school in Banwaripur nor when he came out after casting his vote.
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.
The Supreme Court has sought a report from the Uttar Pradesh Police regarding allegations that Ashish Mishra, son of Union Minister Ajay Mishra, influenced witnesses in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case. The court directed the Lakhimpur Kheri superintendent of police to file the report after a complaint was made by advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the complainants. Bhushan claimed to have an audio recording of an attempt to influence witnesses and alleged that Mishra attended a public meeting in violation of his bail conditions. Mishra, through his lawyer, denied the allegations and stated that he was being targeted unnecessarily. The court has also asked for the authenticity of the material presented to be verified.
Here are glimpses of famous faces who got their fingers inked.
This appears to be a common refrain in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri Lok Sabha constituency where farmers want better prices for their produce and respite from the stray cattle menace and others want political leaders to talk about job creation instead of issues like the Ram temple and Article 370.
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.
BJP heavyweights Smriti Irani, Arjun Munda, Ajay Mishra Teni and Kailash Chaudhary were among the 13 Union ministers who tasted defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, as stunning losses in three Hindi heartland states forced the BJP to rely on allies to form the government.
The opposition has renewed its demand for the minister's dismissal after a special investigation team told a local court that the Lakhimpur Kheri violence in which eight people, including four farmers, were killed was a "pre-planned conspiracy".
Facing increasing pressure from Opposition parties to quit over his jailed son, accused of running over farmers in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri, Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra Teni on Thursday joined office and held department related meeting with officials.
The stalemate between the opposition and the government over the issue of suspension of 12 MPs continues.
The BJP, which romped to power in 2019 on the back of an unequivocal mandate from UP, winning 62 of its 80 seats, was cut to size this time and had to be content with only 33 seats.
The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) gave a huge blow to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance by winning 43 seats out of total 80 Lok Sabha seats of Uttar Pradesh, as per the Election Commission.
The stalemate between the opposition and the government over the issue of suspension of 12 MPs continues.
A division bench of Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Renu Agarwal had on November 9 completed the hearing and reserved the verdict.
A couple of scenes outside Parliament as the Houses adjourned for the summer.
The Justice Krishna Pahal bench said Ashish is politically so influential that he could influence the witnesses and affect the trial.
According to the Morcha, the demands which Delhi Chalo has been called include: MSP should be guaranteed as per C2+50 percent formula and, as promised, a law should be made to guarantee it; all the farmers should be made debt free, and all agricultural loan must be waived.
The farmers' body said that after these remarks of the court, Teni has "no excuse left for him" to continue as the minister.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday declared 13 candidates from Uttar Pradesh for the Lok Sabha polls including actor Arun Govil, who played Lord Ram in popular TV serial Ramayan, from Meerut, while replacing sitting MP Varun Gandhi from Pilibhit with state minister Jitin Prasada.
On October 3 last year, eight people were killed in Lakhimpur Kheri during violence that erupted when farmers were protesting against Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya's visit to the area.
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.
Khattar talked about "tit for tat" during a meeting of the BJP's Kisan Morcha in Chandigarh when he told the gathering to form groups of 500 to 1,000 and be prepared to even go to jail.
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.
Justices Ramesh Sinha and Saroj Yadav of the Lucknow bench of the HC passed the order on Thursday on an application moved by the complainant who had lodged an FIR in the matter in 2003.
The bill seeks to authorise taking measurements of convicts and other persons for the purposes of identification and investigation in criminal matters and to preserve records and related matters.
A court in Lakhimpur Kheri on Tuesday framed charges against Ashish Mishra and 13 others in connection with the October 2021 violence in Lakhimpur Kheri's Tikunia in which four farmers were killed.
A statement issued on Monday by the umbrella body of farmers' unions protesting against the central farm laws, reiterated earlier 'ultimatum about October 11 being the deadline for the sacking and arrest of Ajay Mishra Teni'.
The Lakhimpur violence, in which the son of senior BJP leader and Union minister of state Ajay Mishra Teni are accused of trampling four protesting farmers to death, has opened another front for the CM to deal with, after the mysterious death of Akhara Parishad president Mahant Narendra Giri last month and the death of a Kanpur-based trader in Gorakhpur recently.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha has suspended its November 29 tractor march to Parliament and it will hold a meeting next month to decide its future course of action, farmer leaders said on Saturday.
The BJP on Wednesday rejected as 'unfounded' the opposition's demand for the resignation of Union minister Ajay Mishra 'Teni' and all but ruled out a discussion on the Lakhimpur Kheri issue as the matter is sub-judice.
Union Minister Ajay Mishra's son Ashish Mishra along with others accused in the case were also sent into judicial custody from police custody on Monday, the officials said.
The duo has been victorious multiple times from Sultanpur and Pilibhit. In the recent rejig of the BJP national executive committee, the two were also dropped from that list.
Aside from the 36 MPs, the meeting was also attended by BJP president J P Nadda and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, they said.
The Congress on Sunday wrote to the Rashtrapati Bhavan seeking an appointment with President Ram Nath Kovind for a 7-member party delegation led by Rahul Gandhi to meet him and present a detailed memorandum of facts in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri incident that claimed the lives of eight people earlier this month.
'Had they agreed to our demands that we raised two years ago, we would have never started our agitation again.'
The Supreme Court on Tuesday said the trial in the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, in which Union minister Ajay Kumar Mishra's son Ashish is among those facing prosecution, is not "slow paced" and directed the concerned sessions judge to keep apprising it about the future developments of the trial.
Union minister of state (MoS) for home affairs Ajay Mishra Teni's son Ashish Mishra, who has been accused in Lakhimpur Kheri incident, has been sent to three-day police remand with conditions on Monday.
Sacking Ajay Mishra would further antagonise Brahmins in UP already upset with Yogi's government.
In a video apparently of a speech made to his supporters, Mishra dismissed allegations levelled against him.