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.
The party, however, has retained state president Naresh Uttam.
Even as both the ruling Samajwadi Party and its bte noire, the Bahujan Samaj Party may swear in the name of secularism, neither of the two critical players in Uttar Pradesh politics is willing to go for a united nominee against their common political foe, Narendra Modi, who seemed cocking a snook at them from Varanasi. Sharat Pradhan reports
The turnout for these seats was 57.92 per cent in the last assembly polls in 2012.
Addressing an election rally, BJP chief Amit Shah said, "As soon as the BJP forms the government in UP on March 11, we would search (Gayatri Prasad) Prajapati even from the hell and send him to jail."
The fifth-term Lok Sabha member is the mascot of the party's Hindutva-wrapped agenda of development as the BJP makes a final push in its bid to capture power in the state
An all out war has broken out after SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav replaced son Akhilesh with his brother Shivpal as the party's state unit chief.
Despite the hype over the possible candidature of All India Congress Committee General Secretary Digvijaya Singh for the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat, the Congress has narrowed down its choice to local legislator Ajay Rai and former party MP Rajesh Mishra, with the former emerging as a front runner.
The list carries names of Sigbatullah Ansari, who is the brother of jailed gangster Mukhtar Ansari, and Atiq Ahmed who faces over 40 criminal cases including of murder and attempt to murder.
According to an insider, "Winning is all that matters to the BJP. The leaders were warned that he was an undesirable character but they said look at his victory margin."
Nazarwala, who predicted a triple century for the BJP in the UP elections, lists the challenges that await the new chief minister.
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.
Patna blasts' suspect Meher-e-Alam, who was detained by the National Investigation Agency from Darbhanga on Wednesday, has escaped from custody.
The EC has asked both factions to show strength of MLAs, MPs and MLCs supporting them through signed affidavits.
The choice of candidates for 175 seats by Shivpal has apparently not gone down well with his defiant nephew Akhilesh who, according to party insiders, is understood to have prepared his own list of preferred candidates for all the 403 UP assembly seats and sent it to his father and party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Kicking off Uttar Pradesh poll campaign, Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah on Saturday took a dig at infighting in the Mulayam Singh Yadav family and targeted the ruling Samajwadi Party as well as the Bahujan Samaj Party, saying neither party is bothered about development of the state.
Around 1.72 crore voters, including 94.60 lakh men and 77.84 lakh women, are eligible to cast their votes in this round to decide the fate of 635 candidates.
Unhappy with the veteran leader's performance in the city, political pundits, academicians and the common man say the call to field him from Kanpur instead was a blessing in disguise for him. Sharat Pradhan reports.
Opportunistic face of SP has come before the people: Yogi Adityanth.
Dr Kaushal Kishore Mishra, the prime accused in the assault case against Somnath Bharti, says he never attacked the AAP leader. He then explains the polarisation politics of Varanasi.
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.
Describing himself as a "son of soil", Congress candidate Ajay Rai says the poll battle in Varanasi will be mainly a contest with "outsider" Narendra Modi and dismisses any challenge from "deserter" Arvind Kejriwal.
The 90-minute meeting is being seen as an attempt at reconciliation between Shivpal, a Cabinet minister, and Akhilesh after intervention of the latter's father Mulayam.
Akhilesh told his ministers and legislators that they should not worry about tickets.
Our work in last five years and the problems people are facing due to demonetisation will lead us to victory, he said.
Apparently hinting at Amar Singh, UP CM says 'we will not let outsiders drive a wedge between us'.
On the eve of the sixth and penultimate phase of the marathon Uttar Pradesh elections, Rediff.com's Aslam Hunani reports on what's at stake.
The Congress campaign is muted in Varanasi, but the party is hoping that anti-Modi votes and caste combinations will help Ajai Rai, the only local candidate in the fray. A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com reports from the Congress campaign headquarters.
Bharatiya Janata Party is making hectic preparations ahead of the visit by BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, who will undertake a "grand road show" before filing his nomination on Thursday for the mega battle in this holy city where he is challenged by AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal and others.
In March 2012, UP made Akhilesh Yadav the state's youngest CM. In March 2017, he finds himself in the opposition. At this turning point, we look back at the Samajwadi Party leader's political trajectory.
In an open rebellion that could split the ruling Samajwadi Party, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday night "declared" his own candidates for 235 seats against the official list announced by his father and SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav for the upcoming assembly polls.
Stoking a controversy, the Shiv Sena on Sunday demanded that voting rights of Muslims should be revoked as the community has often been used to play vote bank politics.
Akhilesh was always seen as someone working under the shadow of his father and uncles. However, overtime, he started asserting his authority.
'Hindu middle class doesn't like anti-Muslim rhetoric'
Even as Akhilesh Yadav has emerged stronger in Uttar Pradesh politics, the Samajwadi Party has become weaker due to family feud, reports Virendra Singh Rawat.
Sensing defeat, the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party have launched a new game plan for a fractured mandate in Uttar Pradesh so that they can have bargaining power, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday.
Although the Opposition has been making a hue and cry over demonetisation, the BJP's programmes have been attracting crowds.
Sumit Bhattacharya paradrops into the eastern Uttar Pradesh temple city to find it enjoying its moment in the national sun.
A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com records a heated discussion on NaMo at one of Varanasi's best-known locations.
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