Mayawati made it amply clear that her party will not enter into any alliance with the Congress.
As the second phase of polling commenced on Thursday amid heightened security, bigwigs came out to cast their votes for constituting the 17th Lok Sabha. Among those who took to their respective polling booths were former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, actor-turned-politician Rajinikanth, BJP candidate from Bengaluru South Tejasvi Surya, and defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman, among others.
The second list has named 16 candidates from Uttar Pradesh and five from Maharashtra.
Unnao Superintendent of Police Madhav Prasad Verma said the rape survivor, her paternal and maternal aunts along with their advocate met with an accident while on their way to meet her uncle, who is lodged in Rae Bareli jail.
The party will also leave two seats for the Apna Dal, and entered into an electoral agreement with the lesser known Jan Adhikar Party.
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Asked whether the Congress will be a part of this confluence, he said, "I said that there will be sangam of people and thoughts. All answers are included in this."
Adityanath said there was no discrimination in the schemes being run by the central government and they were meant for the welfare of all including Dalits and backwards.
The party office in Lucknow buzzed with activity as enthusiastic Congress workers gathered outside the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee building, even before she returned from an overnight stay in Jaipur.
Referring to her party's pre-poll alliance with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, she said it was based on "mutual respect" and "honest intentions", adding that "the SP-BSP alliance is perfect enough to defeat the BJP, especially in Uttar Pradesh.
The officer, Dr Seema, said she had gone to the village on the directions of the DPRO to review developmental works.
Meanwhile, the Congress said that that it is ready to go it alone in Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha election.
However, the BJP is sceptical about the SP-BSP alliance as they believe Mayawati and Akhilesh will "finish off after fighting among themselves."
Priyanka spent the night at the guesthouse, turning down all requests of the local administration to return.
"I want to peacefully meet the family members of the victims who had fallen to the bullets in the clash. I want to see the orders under which I have been stopped to meet them," Priyanka Gandhi said while sitting on the dharna .
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra visited Bijnor district where she met families of two persons killed in the violence. Internet services have been suspended in several areas till Monday, while prohibitory orders remained in force across the state.
The two constables were arrested and dismissed from the job and a first information report was registered in the matter on the basis of a complaint by Sana Khan.
Newly-appointed chief ministerial candidate Sheila Dikshit and state chief Raj Babbar came out all guns blazing against the SP, BSP and BJP.
Priyanka Gandhi was earlier actively involved in key decision making in the party along with her mother and brother, including the selection of new chief ministers for Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh recently.
Overall, since January 1, as many as 144 encephalitis-related deaths have taken place in the hospital, they said.
All India Congress Committee general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Ghulam Nabi Azad said the party would not react immediately and would come out with a detailed reaction in Lucknow on Sunday.
Launching our new Election Gupshup series: Congress pulls out its Brahmastra to dent the Modi mystique.
Rahul asserted that Sheila Dikshit was "highly experienced" to change UP's face.
The Indian economy was on an impressive growth path through the first decade of this century till it was brought to an abrupt halt by the policy inertia during UPA2 and the Modi government's inability to restore economic and financial momentum. Fascinating glimpses of what went wrong from Puja Mehra's must-read book The Lost Decade: How India's Growth Story Devolved Into Growth Without A Story.
Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee chief Raj Babbar said, "It has been decided that she will campaign for the party in the state elections. She has accepted our request to campaign. Whenever we will get her schedule, we will use her time accordingly".
Her name figures among the 40 star campaigners that the Congress has finalised and forwarded to the Election Commission on Tuesday for the first phase of Uttar Pradesh polls.
A message from KCR on Thursday evening persuaded the Congress to take its MLAs to Hyderabad.
During the meeting, which came in the backdrop of Gandhi's fierce attack on the Prime Minister over demonetisation, top Congress leaders presented a memorandum to Modi on demands of farmers including loan waiver, reducing power bills to half and remunerative MSP for farm produce.
The bypolls were necessitated after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya vacated their seats following their election to the Uttar Pradesh legislative council.
Additional director health Pushkar Anand said these fresh deaths occurred between August 12 and 14.
Seeking to cash in on the Ramzan sentiment, a senior Congress leader has sought to link the increasing power crisis in Uttar Pradesh to the plight of Muslims during the fasting month.
Former Bahujan Samaj Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya has described Congress Uttar Pradesh chief ministerial candidate Sheila Dikshit as discard from Delhi, drawing sharp reaction from her party leaders on Thursday.
'All appointments are from one family. And this is the fundamental difference between the Congress and the BJP'
The meeting comes as reports suggest that she may play a bigger role and canvas for the party all over the state.
The development came on a day Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah arrived on a three-day visit to the state capital.
Surjewala made the case for state-specific alliances while arguing for a larger coalition with like-minded parties in 'national interest'.
Enraged over the heinous crime, the victim's family blocked the Etah-Farrukhabad road, while opposition parties slammed the Yogi Adityanath government for the 'sudden spurt' in rape cases.
Rahul Gandhi pressed Modi to 'say something' on the issue.
He tried to control damage by tweeting later that his remarks had been distorted and he had no intention of hurting religious sentiments.
The Election Commission on Tuesday goofed up the name of the election observer for Amethi (Chhatrapati Sahuji Maharaj Nagar) district and his cadre while trying to clarify that his transfer to Goa had no connection to his action against Robert Vadra. The observer was allegedly transferred for hauling up Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra for taking out a motorcycle poll rally in the district without requisite permission.
