The BJP campaign highlighted Yogi's persona as a tough-as-nails leader and an incorruptible man with no nest to feather; Modi's charisma which was turned on full blast in the penultimate phases; Amit Shah's ground work; a well-oiled party organisation, and the RSS's back-up.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra appears to have shed the maximum sweat among top leaders for over the last 45 days in the seven-phase Uttar Pradesh assembly elections campaign.
According to the Election Commission's website at 5.45 pm on Tuesday, the NOTA votes ranged as high as 2.1 per cent in Chhattisgarh to 0.5 per cent in Mizoram.
While Yadav began to tour different constituencies and address public meetings to mobilise the SP rank and file, he has concurrently started the tedious process of cobbling up an alliance of smaller outfits representing a mlange of castes and sub-castes, reports Virendra Singh Rawat.
With several political stalwarts of Uttar Pradesh no longer on the scene, it will be keenly watched how their children lead at the hustings this time without their formidable presence.
The case pertained to obstructing a public servant from performing his duty during a protest three years ago.
While the last Lok Sabha elections saw Rahul Gandhi making his electoral debut, this time his cousin Varun Gandhi and several other 'Yuvrajs' appear ready to join the race with political stalwarts involved in hectic lobbying to ensure tickets for their wards.
Amid protests against acquisition of farmers' land, work on the Reliance power plant at Dadri in Uttar Pradesh will start from Thursday.
Leaders of several opposition parties including the Trinamool Congress, the Samajwadi Party, the Aam Aadmi Party, the Rashtriya Lok Dal and the Left assembled at Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar's residence in New Delhi on Tuesday and discussed various issues facing the country, amid intense speculation about the possibility of a third front against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
As the Opposition held its first meeting on the Presidential polls and names of Farooq Abdullah and Gopalkrishna Gandhi also cropped up, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party reached out to several parties across the political spectrum to build a consensus choice with senior party leader and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh speaking to Sharad Pawar, Mallikarjun Kharge (Congress), Mamata Banerjee (Trinamool Congress), Akhilesh Yadav (Samajwadi Party) and Naveen Patnaik (Biju Janata Dal).
Ajit Singh-led Rashtriya Lok Dal on Monday joined the NDA fold and announced that the "formidable alliance" would work towards a change in government in the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh.
Lecturer Kavita Rani had alleged in letters before her disappearance on October 24 that she had received threats from various people including Babulal.
A CBI team on Tuesday met the family members of the 19-year old Dalit victim in the gangrape and murder case in Bulgarhi village in Hathras and examined the crime scene, officials said.
"No such alliance has been formed, but the possibilities are always there," All India Congress Committee general secretary Ashok Gehlot told PTI.
The Left continued to reach out to other parties in its bid to topple the UPA Government with CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan meeting RLD chief Ajit Singh in New Delhi on Thursday.
Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, who chaired a meeting of the Cabinet, met Governor T V Rajeshwar and conveyed to him its recommendation for convening a joint sitting of the State Legislature.
An adverse outcome against the BJP in UP can well be taken into its stride by the ruling combine at the Centre, argues Virendra Kapoor.
He, however, expressed confidence that a series of state-specific alliances, where like-minded parties would come together on an anti-BJP platform, was likely for the 2019 general election.
But the Congress said its leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will attend the event.
41 constituencies spread over five districts-- Gopalganj, Siwan, Saran, Nalanda and Patna would go to polls in the last phase of polling on November 19.
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.
Angry protesters allegedly forced the two vehicles to stop and set them on fire.
The five ministers in UP government are: Kokab Hamid, Anuradha Chaudhary, Babu Lal, Thakur Tejpal Singh and Swami Omvesh.
The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Congress and RLD members were up on their feet as soon as the governor rose to read his address and began shouting anti-government slogans.
However, the withdrawal of support would not make any difference to the state government. The Congress has only 15 members in the UP state assembly out of 403, while RLD has 15.
"Our government is prepared to prove its majority on the floor of the house if so warranted," Yadav said addressing a press conference in Lucknow.
The RLD Chief Ajit Singh, who announced his resignations at a press conference, said the alliance with Yadav-led SP and the government is over.
Congress jolted by SP move in Uttar Pradesh.
The ruling Samajwadi Party-Rashtriya Lok Dal combine swept the Zilla Panchayat chairmen polls, elections for which were held Saturday, winning 50 of the 65 seats.
"The Congress has failed despite ruling for so many years," she said.
Actor-turned-politician Jaya Prada on Thursday said she wants to join the Bharatiya Janata Party as she is impressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership.
Despite Babbar being the local parliamentarian, he has failed to set Yamuna on fire and leaders from Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party as also the Baharatiya Janata Party dubbed the party of the suspended SP leader as an 'also-ran.'
UP bypolls: SP-RLD combine wins all 4 bypoll seats.
The poll results will depend much on whether the caste and community coalition worked out by Akhilesh can withstand the onslaught of the Hindutva forces who have increased their efforts to polarise the electorate on communal lines.
Congress on Tuesday said it planned to go it alone in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls and would consider tie-ups only on its "own conditions and interests", a development that could queer the pitch for parties like Ajit Singh-led Rashtriya Lok Dal.
Successive elections have demonstrated that the BJP campaign switches towards polarisation when it is faced with palpable discontent among the electorate, notes Utkarsh Mishra.
There was no official word on the number of MLAs who attended the meeting at Gehlot's home, but party leaders claimed 106 legislators were there.
The party, banking on the legacy of former PM Chaudhary Charan Singh, had no MP and its lone MLA had switched to the BJP.
'Farmers' issues will rule the narrative in the 2019 elections.'
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