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Hello Jammu News at 10:36:00 PM 0
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi


Lucknow, Feb 5 :  India is eyeing defence export of USD 5 billion in the next five years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday, highlighting the measures taken by his government to boost manufacturing and woo investors to set up a base in the country.

Inaugurating the 11th edition of DefExpo here, Modi said a country of the size of India cannot entirely depend on imports and added the number of defence licenses issued in the last five years has risen to 460 from 210 in 2014, the year he first came to power.

India is building several defence equipment like artillery guns, aircraft carriers, submarines, light-combat aircraft, and combat helicopters, he said.

"Our mantra is Make in India, for India, for world. In 2014 the export of defence equipment from India was about Rs 2,000 crore. In the last 2 years it has gone up to Rs 17,000 crore. In the next five years our target is export of USD 5 billion, which is about Rs 35,000 crore," the prime minister said.

India is not only a major market globally but a vast opportunity for the world as well, he said, asserting that Uttar Pradesh is going to be one of the biggest defence manufacturing hubs in India.

Lack of proper policy initiative in last several decades made India the biggest importer of defence platforms, he added.

Modi cited misuse of technology, terrorism and cyber threat as challenges facing the world and said defence forces are eyeing new technology considering new threats. India is not behind others, he added.

He said a roadmap had been finalised to use application of artificial intelligence in defence sector.

The prime minister said the creation of the post of Chief of Defence Staff and the Department of Military Affairs will boost the overall defence production.

"We are going to enhance our presence in the outer space in coming years," he said, adding that the DRDO is putting up effective protection for India's assets in outer space created by ISRO.

"Our defence preparedness is not aimed at any country as India is a reliable contributor to world peace. It's our responsibility to ensure security of not only India but countries in the neighbourhood as well," he said.

He invited foreign defence manufacturers to "come and invest in India.
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Hello Jammu News at 11:36:00 PM 0
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath


Lucknow, Jan 26 :  Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday reminded people of their constitutional duties.

Addressing the closing ceremony of the Foundation Day programme of the state at the Awadh Shilp Gram here, he said, "The Constitution has given us a lot. Therefore, we should feel proud of it. We talk about our constitutional rights, but not about our duties. Along with the rights, the Constitution tells us about our duties too. India is among the few democratic countries in the world that gave voting rights to every adult citizen immediately after the Constitution came into force."

The welfare of the country and the society would be possible only when the citizens discharged their duties honestly, the chief minister said.

The three-day programme had begun on January 24, a statement issued by the Uttar Pradesh government said.

"This programme was a platform for not only the artisans of Lucknow, but those from different regions of the state," Adityanath said.

Reminding the gathering that Uttar Pradesh was the land of civilisation and culture, he said, "We can give a lot to the country and the world. For this, the 23 crore people of Uttar Pradesh will have to discharge their constitutional duties with honesty. When every person uses his full potential, Uttar Pradesh will be among the leading states in the country.
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Hello Jammu News at 6:18:00 PM 0


Lucknow, Aug 7   :   Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday expressed deep condolences on the demise of former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, saying she was known for a clean and dignified politics.

The standards of clean politics she set were etched in minds of people, he said in New Delhi after paying tributes to the veteran parliamentarian.

The chief minister said, "Sushmaji's departure is a big loss for the whole country. Sushmaji was an inspiration for all of us." 

He said Swaraj made a significant contribution to politics for over four decades and served the country with the same devotion she had on entering the public life.

She performed all responsibilities given to her by the party and it was because of people like her that the respect for women grew, he said.

Adityanath, who visited the BJP office in Delhi to pay tributes to the departed leader, said, "Sushmaji was always ready to share her experiences. She would often tell us as to how to present oneself in Parliament. She was a great orator and guided us on how to address people on different occasions." 

He recalled that despite being unwell, Sushmaji was continuously contributing towards the success of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Varanasi.

"The way she was working for the success of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas from 7 am to 12 pm is truly admirable. Her contribution will always be remembered," he said, according to an official release issued here.                                                      [Agencies]
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Hello Jammu News at 10:42:00 PM 0


Lucknow, Jun 29 :  As many as 35 office-bearers of Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee resigned from their posts on Saturday continuing the spate of resignations in the party following its Lok Sabha election debacle.

The state unit's senior vice president Ranjit Singh Judev, general secretary Aradhna Mishra Mona, vice president RP Tripathi and many others have resigned taking moral responsibility for the party's defeat, an official release of the party said.

Others who quit party posts include media coordinator Rajiv Bakshi, joint media coordinator Piyush Mishra, Onkar Nath SIngh, Amarnath Agarwal and Mukesh Singh Chauhan, Priyanka Gupta and Ashok Singh.

More resignations are likely in the party state unit, a senior party leader said.

The UPCC has nearly 100 members.

After Congress president Rahul Gandhi announced his decision to quit in the wake of the party's dismal performance in Lok Sabha polls, many leaders of state units have followed suit.

Gandhi has reiterated that there is no going back on his decision, despite requests by leaders from his party and outside to continue in the post.

Members from the UPCC who have resgned include Satish Ajmani, Shyam Kishore Shukla, Hanuman Tripathi, spokesman Dwijendra Tripathi, Shiv Pandey, Pankaj Tiwari and Manju Dixit.

Earlier, state unit chief Raj Babbar had quit after the party could win only Rae Bareli seat in Uttar Pradesh and even lost it traditional stronghold of Amethi.

Party MP Vivek Tankha quit as the chairman of the party's legal and human rights cell on Thursday and urged others to do the same to give a free hand to Rahul Gandhi to restructure the party at all levels.

Party general secretary in charge of Madhya Pradesh Dipak Babaria, Goa unit chief Girish Chodankar, Delhi PCC's working president Rajesh Lilothia and Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee working president Ponnam Prabhakar have quit, as also a number of other office-bearers in various states.
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Hello Jammu News at 10:28:00 PM 0


Lucknow, Jun 24 :    BSP president Mayawati Monday asserted that her party will contest all elections in the future on its own, indicating an end of its much talked-about alliance with the Samajwadi Party. 

The announcement comes a day after the BSP supremo held a meeting with party workers to review her outfit's showing in the recent Lok Sabha polls. 

"Everyone is aware that forgetting everything of the past as also the anti-BSP and anti-Dalit decisions like reservation in promotions and bad law and order during the SP rule in 2012-2017, BSP adhered to the 'gatbandhan dharma' with the Samajwadi Party in the interest of the country," she tweeted in Hindi. 

"But SP's behaviour after the elections has forced the BSP to think, will it be possible to defeat the BJP in future, which is not possible," she said. 

"Therefore, in the interest of the party and movement, the party will contest all small and big elections on its own strength," Mayawati said in a series of tweets. 

The BSP entered into an electoral alliance with Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party (SP) and Chaudhary Ajit Singh-led Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) in Uttar Pradesh for the Lok Sabha polls. The alliance, however, failed to make an impact in the politically crucial state.          [Agencies]
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Hello Jammu News at 6:30:00 PM 0


Lucknow, Apr 11 :  Over 24 per cent polling has been recorded till 11 am in the eight Lok Sabha seats of western Uttar Pradesh on Thursday in the first leg of the seven-phased general elections.

Three Union ministers-- V K Singh (Ghaziabad), Satyapal Singh (Baghpat) and Mahesh Sharma (Gautam Buddha Nagar) are in the fray in this phase. 

In a statement issued here, the Election Commission said, 25.60 per cent polling was recorded in Saharanpur; 24 per cent in Kairana; 26.4 per cent in Muzaffarnagar; 25.10 per cent in Bijnor; 21.80 per cent in Meerut; 25 per cent in Baghpat; 22.40 per cent in Ghaziabad and 24.24 per cent in Gautam Buddh Nagar.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is making all-out efforts to retain all the eight Lok Sabha seats while the fledgling Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party-Rashtriya Lok Dal alliance too is going whole hog to upset the saffron party's apple cart.

In the 2014 parliamentary elections, the BJP had won all the eight seats-- Saharanpur, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddh Nagar.

The communally sensitive seat of Muzaffarnagar will see a clash of titans with RLD chief Ajit Singh locking horns with sitting BJP lawmaker Sanjeev Balyan. 



For the saffron party, the Kairana parliamentary constituency holds immense significance as it had tasted defeat in the Lok Sabha by-election last year.

Elaborate security arrangements have been made for this phase and over one lakh security personnel have been deployed to ensure free and fair polls, Additional Director General, Law and Order of Uttar Pradesh Police Anand Kumar said.

In the first phase, 1,50,65,682 voters-- 82,24,835 men, 68,39,833 women and 1,014 third gender-- are eligible to exercise their franchise in 16,518 booths set up inside 6,716 polling centres to decide the fate of 96 candidates.

Prominent among those in the fray include-- Imran Masood (Congress) and Raghav Lakhanpal (BJP) from Saharanpur, and Tabassum Begum (SP) from Kairana.

In Bijnor, Congress candidate and former UP minister (during Mayawati's tenure) Naseemuddin Siddiqui will challenge Raja Bharatendra Singh, while in Meerut, BJP's Rajendra Agarwal will be hoping for a repeat of 2014, while BSP's Hazi Mohammad Yaqub will be trying to checkmate him.

In Baghpat, Union minister Satyapal Singh is pitted against Jayant Chaudhary (RLD), son of Ajit Singh.

Dolly Sharma of the Congress is contesting against Union minister V K Singh, while in Gautam Buddh Nagar, it is Union minister and BJP candidate Mahesh Sharma versus Arvind Kumar Singh of the Congress.

Politically crucial Uttar Pradesh sends 80 MPs to the Lok Sabha. Of the 80 seats in UP, SP is contesting on 37 seats, BSP on 38 seats, and the RLD will contest on three seats. UP will have seven-phase polling.               [Agencies]
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Hello Jammu News at 3:40:00 PM 0



Lucknow, Mar 24 :   The Aam Aadmi Party Sunday released its first list of candidates in Uttar Pradesh for the Lok Sabha elections.

Rajya Sabha MP and AAP state in-charge Sanjay Singh said the party has fielded Yogesh Dahiya from the Saharanpur parliamentary seat and Shweta Sharma from Gautam Buddh Nagar.

Satish Chandra Sharma is the AAP's candidate from Aligarh, he said.

The party is likely to contest the polls from 25 Lok Sabha seats in the state. 

For rest of the seats, the process to select candidates is in the final stage, Singh said.       [Agencies]
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Hello Jammu News at 3:27:00 PM 0



Lucknow, Mar 24 :  Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav will contest from Azamgarh Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh, which was represented by his father Mulayam Singh Yadav.

While the 79-year-old SP patriarch will contest from "safe seat" Mainpuri this time, his name was conspicuously missing from the list of 40 star campaigners of the party released here Sunday.

The Samajwadi Party also announced that senior leader Mohd Azam Khan will contest from Rampur.

The party, however, sprang a surprise by not mentioning the name of its patron Mulayam Singh Yadav in its long list of its star campaigners.

The list was released by senior SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav.

It included the names of party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Azam Khan, Dimple Yadav and Jaya Bachchan among others, besides Ram Gopal Yadav himself.

At present, the SP patriarch represents Azamgarh constituency. He had represented Mainpuri three times earlier in 1996, 2004 and 2009. 

In the 2014 polls, Mulayam contested from two constituencies, Azamgarh and Mainpuri, and won both.

The SP has so far announced the names of 20 candidates, 19 in Uttar Pradesh and one Madhya Pradesh.

Besides Mulayam Singh and Akhilesh Yadav, other prominent candidates are Akhilesh Yadav's cousins, Dharmendra Yadav and Akshay Yadav.

While Dharmendra Yadav will fight from Badaun, Akshay Yadav will contest from Firozabad.

Dharmendra Yadav, the son of Ram Gopal Yadav, will contest again from the seat that he has won thrice, while Akshay Yadav will contest from Firozabad, from where he had won the last parliamentary elections.

The party has declared Dimple Yadav its candidate from Kannauj. 

The Samajwadi Party, the BSP and the Rashtriya Lok Dal have entered into an alliance in Uttar Pradesh for the April-May Lok Sabha polls.

The Samajwadi Party has entered a pre-poll alliance with the Mayawati-led BSP and will contest 37 of 80 Lok Sabha seats in UP. 

While the BSP will contest on 38 seats, the RLD, which is also a part of the alliance, will fight from three seats. The SP-BSP-RLD alliance had left two seats for the Congress in Amethi and Rae Bareli.

The general election is going to start on April 11 and will continue till May 19. Polling on the 80 seats in the state will be held in seven phases. 

The Samajwadi Party and the BSP will hold a series of joint rallies for the Lok Sabha polls, with the first being on April 7 in Uttar Pradesh's Deoband town.

There will be several joint rallies in the state and besides the SP and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) will be also part of these public meetings, Samajwadi Party chief spokesman Rajendra Chowdhury said.

The first of these joint rallies will be held in Saharanpur district's Deoband town on April 7 and will be addressed by Akhilesh Yadav, BSP chief Mayawati and RLD president Ajit Singh.                                                                                                   [Agencies]
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Hello Jammu News at 5:12:00 PM 0



Lucknow, Mar 23 :   In a bid to ensure a smooth sailing for Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Raj Babbar, the party reshuffled its candidates to accommodate the actor-turned politician.

In the seventh list of candidates for the Lok Sabha polls announced by the Central Election Committee of the Congress Friday, the party declared candidates for nine Lok Sabha seats from Uttar Pradesh.

These include Naseemuddin Siddiqui from Bijnor in place of Indira Bhatti. A close aide of BSP chief Mayawati and earlier considered to be the Muslim face of the BSP, Nassemuddin parted ways with the Bahujan Samaj Party in 2018 and joined the Congress.

Another prominent name in the list announced by the Congress is Praveen Aron from Bareilly. He had won the 2009 Lok Sabha elections from the same constituency.

Imran Pratapgarhiya will be the party's candidate from Moradabad in place of UPCC chief Babbar. The Uttar Pradesh state unit chief has been made the party candidate from Fatehpur Sikri.

Babbar was elected from Agra as its Lok Sabha MP twice -- in 1999 and 2004. However, following delimitation in 2008, the Lok Sabha seat became reserved for the scheduled castes. Babbar got re-elected to Lok Sabha from Firozabad in bye-elections held in 2009.

Bal Kumar Patel, the younger brother of dacoit Shiv Kumar Patel alias Dadua, has been made the party candidate from Banda. Patel, former Samajwadi Party MP from Mirzapur, had joined the Congress recently in Delhi.

Dadua was killed in police encounters in 2006 in Uttar Pradesh after then chief minister Mayawati cracked the whip against the dacoit gangs.

The party has also fielded Trilokiram Diwakar from Hathras (SC), Preeta Harit from Agra (SC), Virendra Kumar Verma from Hardoi (SC) and Girish Chand Pasi from Kaushambi (SC).                                                                                           [Agencies]
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Hello Jammu News at 4:10:00 PM 0



Lucknow, Mar 22 : The BSP Friday announced its first list of 11 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, fielding JD(S) turncoat Kunwar Danish Ali from Amroha.

Ali, who was general secretary of the Janata Dal-Secular, quit the party and joined the Bahujan Samaj Party only last week.

The BSP also declared Haji Fazulrahman its nominee from Saharanpur, Malook Nagar from Bijnore and Girish Chandra from Nagina, a party release said here.

Hazi Mohammad Yakoob has been fielded from Meerut, Satbeer Nagar from Gautam Buddh Nagar, Yogesh Verma from Bulandshahr, Ajit Baliyan from Aligarh, Manoj Kumar Soni from Agra, Rajveer Singh from Fatehpur Sikri and Ruchi Veera from Aonla.

Mayawati's BSP is contesting 38 of the 80 Lok Sabha constituencies in Uttar Pradesh under the seat-sharing arrangement with Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal.                       [Agencies]
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Hello Jammu News at 3:26:00 PM 0


Lucknow, Feb 28 :  BSP chief Mayawati Thursday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his proposed address to BJP workers through a mega video-conference, terming it "ridiculous and betrayal of national

sentiments" amid escalating tension between India and Pakistan.

Under the BJP's 'Mera Booth Sabse Mazboot' programme, Modi is slated to have direct dialogue with about a crore BJP workers, volunteers and others through the "world's largest video conference" at noon on Thursday.

"At a time when India is facing hostility of war and country needs firm leadership, PM Narendra Modi instead of concentrating on the matters of national security trying to serve political interest by addressing his BJP workers is ridiculous besides betrayal of national sentiments (sic), Mayawati wrote on Twitter.

"Indian forces foiled Pakistani attack yesterday it is a matter of big relief but an IAF pilot is under Pak custody is a matter of great concern. India should try to do its best at all levels to ensure safe return of the pilot only then the country will feel relief (sic)," she added.

An IAF pilot was captured by Pakistan after an air combat Wednesday during which the two sides said they shot down each other's warplanes that followed an unsuccessful attempt to target Indian military installations in retaliatory strikes that sparked fears of war.

IAF sources identified the pilot as Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman.

Twenty-one opposition parties Wednesday expressed "deep anguish" over what they alleged was "blatant politicisation" of the sacrifices of armed forces and urged the government to take the nation into confidence on all measures to protect India's sovereignty, unity and integrity.               [Agencies]
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Hello Jammu News at 6:50:00 PM 0


Lucknow, Feb 24 :  Stepping up its efforts to retain power at the Centre, the BJP will launch a beneficiary outreach programme-- Kamal Jyoti Sampark Parv-- on February 26 across the country, a party leader said Sunday.

The saffron party will showcase the various welfare and developmental works undertaken by its governments at the Centre and the states with party chief Amit Shah likely to participate in a programme to be held in Ghazipur district of eastern Uttar Pradesh.

"The programme will be held across the country on February 26, with BJP chief Amit Shah likely to participate in the programme in eastern UP's Ghazipur district," UP Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) media coordinator Rakesh Tripathi told.

The programme will be held from 5 to 6 pm and more than one crore lamps in shape of lotus flower (the election symbol of the BJP) will be lit, he added.

The lamps will "signify the light and brightness in the life of the beneficiaries of various welfare schemes of the government", he said.

"Through these lamps (named Kamal Deepak by partymen), the beneficiaries will be told that the prosperity, which has ushered in their lives, is due to the broad, holistic and inclusive policies of the BJP," Triapthi said.

The ruling party plans to light lamps in the houses and localities that have benefitted from a number of schemes of the BJP governments at the Centre and in states.

It has put the number of these beneficiaries at 22 crore.

Efforts will also be made by the party workers to disseminate information among villagers especially in those villages, which were electrified under the regime of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Party workers were also of the view that since Uttar Pradesh was politically crucial for the saffron party, several organisational events of the party should be launched in the state.

Elaborating on the possible schedule of the senior BJP leaders of the state, Tripathi said, "UP BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey will be in Ghaziabad, while Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was likely to be in Etah." 

"Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya will be Phaphamau (Prayagraj district) and deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma will be in rural Lucknow," he added.

Similarly, Govardhan Jhadapia will be in Barabanki district, while Union minister Santosh Gangwar will be in Bareilly.

Speaker of UP Legislative Assembly Hriday Narayan Dixit is likely to be in Unnao, and Suresh Khanna will be in Kaushambi, Tripathi said.             [Agencies]
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Hello Jammu News at 5:01:00 PM 0


Lucknow, Feb 22 : The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) has arrested two alleged Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists from Deoband in Saharanpur district, Director General of Police O P Singh said on Friday.

The two men arrested are Shahnawaz Ahmad Teli from Kulgam and Aquib Ahmad Malik from Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir. 

Both were involved in recruiting members for the JeM, the DGP told reporters. 

Asked whether the two men were involved in the February 14 Pulwama terror attack, Singh said, "It's difficult to tell whether they came here before the Pulwama attack or after that. The probe is on.  
         [Agencies]
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Hello Jammu News at 4:46:00 PM 0


Lucknow, Feb 21 :  The Samajwadi Party will contest 37 seats and the Bahujan Samaj Party 38 in Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha polls, the two parties said Thursday while releasing a list of seats.

While announcing the alliance earlier, the two parties had said they will contest from 38 constituencies each out of the 80 in the state.

The two parties named the seats distributed among them in a statement signed by SP president Akhilesh Yadav and BSP chief Mayawati.

The 37 seats in the SP quota include Kairana, Moradabad, Sambhal, Rampur, Mainpuri, Firozabad, Badaun, Bareilly, Lucknow, Etawah, Kanpur, Kannauj, Jhansi, Banda, Allahabad, Kaushambi, Phulpur, Faizabad, Gonda, Gorakhpur, Azamgarh, Varanasi and Mirzapur.

The BSP will contest from Saharanpur, Bijnor, Nagina, Aligarh, Agra, Fatehpur Sikri, Dhaurahara, Sitapur, Sultanpur, Pratapgarh, Kaiserganj, Basti, Salempur, Jaunpur, Bhadohi and Deoria, among other constituencies.                   [Agencies]
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Hello Jammu News at 5:24:00 PM 0


Lucknow, Jan 16 :  Union minister J P Nadda on Wednesday exuded confidence that the BJP will win 74 Lok Sabha seats out of 80 in Uttar Pradesh and downplayed the SP-BSP alliance in the state for the general elections.

At a meeting with senior office bearers of the party here, Nadda, who is on his first visit to the Uttar Pradesh capital after being appointed the BJP's election in-charge for the state, said the party will register a handsome win in the Lok Sabha polls and all records will be broken.

"We shall increase our tally of Lok Sabha seats from the state by winning 74 seats, one more than last time," he told reporters later.

In the 2014 general elections, the BJP had won 71 Lok Sabha seats in the state and two other went to its ally - the Apna Dal.

Asked about the party's strategy for the polls this time, Nadda said, "Strategy is not meant to be disclosed and will be unveiled at the battleground only." 

"The people of Uttar Pradesh and the country will shower tremendous blessings on the BJP and their will be an all-time record victory. Not 73, but our tally will be 74 seats (in UP)." 

"The reasons for this is the inclination and affection of the people towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the various welfare works done by the Central government in the past four-and-half years. Apart from this, BJP president Amit Shah's strategy will also lead us to victory," Nadda said.

He asserted that the party's electoral plank will be that of development and not caste-based politics.

Asked whether there is any threat from the newly-forged SP-BSP alliance, Nadda said, "We knew that this (SP-BSP alliance) is going to happen, and this is a recognition of the BJP. The strength of the BJP itself speaks about it." 

"Our strategy is to get more than 50 per cent of the votes and that is how we are moving...We were anticipating that this is going to happen, and this shows the strength of the BJP." 

On allegations by rival political parties that the BJP has been unable to fulfil its poll promises, Nadda said, "As far as Mayawati and Akhilesh are concerned, they are giving their own records. Statistics are clear, and we are ready to discuss it on any forum along with statistics.

"Their life and political culture has been of commission, corruption, lawlessness and division. They are presenting their own report card, and we should understand this. The BJP believes in Sabkaa Saath, Sabkaa Vikaas." 

On various caste conferences organised by the BJP, Nadda said the BJP's poll plank is development and the way to take the country forward.

"We represent all the sections of the society... Our responsibility is to reach out to all the sections of the society and it is an essential aspect for us. But, our aim is not to contest elections on the basis of caste or encourage casteist feelings," the Union minister said.

Asked to comment on the losses suffered by the BJP in the recent bypolls in the state Nadda said, "We have all the (magic) lamps (of Alladdin)... As our party president said 'Elections is not Physics, it is Chemistry'. Under this Chemistry, the people of the country will shower their blessings on the BJP and Modiji." 

Nadda asserted that the allies are with the BJP.

"There is no bickering (in the NDA). There is very cordial relations. Sometimes, there may be an issue of understanding, but that has been taken care of," he said when asked to comment on the resentment among the BJP's smaller allies like Apna Dal(S).

On a question that the Opposition claiming that there is no Modi-wave this time, Nadda said, "Why are they saying that this is not the case (this time). It is a battle of strategy. Even in 2014, they never agreed, but we did it. The grassroot reality to bring Modiji is much much more. It is a question of our strategy, which will be unfolded." 

"The strength of Modiji has been recognised by the forging of the alliance. And, this tells that you (rival parties) do not have any thought process, ideology, agenda. The only agenda is to remove Modiji. This will not benefit UP or the country, and we will expose this agenda." 

Nadda, who holds the health portfolio, also said that there has been no technical glitches in the implementation of Ayushman Bharat, and the government's endeavour is to stabilise this programme so that it can benefit maximum number of people.                                PTI
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Hello Jammu News at 3:26:00 PM 0


Lucknow, Jan 13 :  A day after it was virtually left out being part of an anti-BJP alliance formed by the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party, the Congress on Sunday declared it will contest all the 80 Lok Sabha seats from the state on its own.

However, the grand old party of India has kept the doors of a possible alliance open saying if any secular party which is competent to fight the BJP and willing to go with it (Congress), then it will be accommodated.

Speaking to reporters here, party general secretary and UP in-charge Ghulam Nabi Azad said, "The Congress will contest on all the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, and defeat the BJP." 

Azad also expressed hope that the Congress will double its tally of seats, which it had secured in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.

During the parliamentary elections, the Congress had bagged 21 seats in the politically crucial state.

To a question whether his party will not forge a coalition with any political party, Azad said, "If any political party is willing to accompany the Congress, and the Congress feels that it can fight the BJP, then it will be definitely accommodated." 

On Congress being left out of the SP-BSP alliance, the Congress general secretary said: "We wanted that Congress should have been a part of the grand alliance (against the BJP) in UP. But, if someone does not want to walk along, then nothing could be done." 

On the post-poll alliance with the SP and BSP, Azad said that at the national level, the Congress welcomes all the secular regional parties. 

Replying to another question on SP-BSP alliance, Azad said, "The Congress workers are not at all disappointed on being left out of the alliance. On the contrary, they are saying that the party would have had to contest on 25 Lok Sabha seats, but now they would be contesting on all the 80 Lok Sabha seats of the state." 

On possibilities of an alliance with the Rashtriya Lok Dal, Azad said that he would not like to peak to the media on this issue.                 PTI
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Hello Jammu News at 5:50:00 PM 0


Lucknow, Jan 12 :  Call it political compulsion or an eye on maximum number of seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, the coming together of Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party only proves the adage that in politics, there are no permanent friends or foes. 

Once-arch rivals Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Saturday announced their tie-up in Uttar Pradesh for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, sharing 38 seats each and keeping the Congress out of the alliance.

The parties, however, said they would not field candidates in Amethi and Rae Bareli, represented by Congress president Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. They also left two seats, out of 80, for smaller allies.

The parties seem to have forgotten their two decade-old antagonism for a "political revolution" which they hope would "last long".

"I am moving ahead of the 1995 guest house incident in the interest of the country and to serve the people, who are upset with the BJP's 'anti-people' policies," BSP supremo Mayawati said Saturday at a press conference here which was also attended by SP chief Akhilesh Yadav. 

"The SP-BSP tie-up is a natural alliance. Yeh lamba chaleyga, aagey bhi chaleyga, Lok Sabha chunav ke baad, UP Assembly mein bhi yeh sthayee chalega (This will last long, even beyond LS polls and in UP Assembly elections)," she said, adding it was a "political revolution".

In 1993, SP-BSP had formed an alliance to stop the BJP's winning spree after the Ram temple movement.

Then SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and BSP founder Kanshi Ram had joined hands and succeeded in leaving a mark in the state politics by winning 167 Assembly seats. The BSP had got 67 seats and SP 109. 

The alliance, however, did not last and ended in 1995 after the infamous Meera Bai Marg guest house incident wherein SP workers misbehaved with Mayawati. 

An unruly mob of SP workers had stormed into the Meerabai Guest House here where Mayawati was huddled in a meeting with her MLAs.

Mayawati's room was vandalised, she was abused and allegedly beaten up. When the BSP MLAs failed to protect her, BJP MLA Brahm Dutt Dwivedi took her out of the guest house to safety. It was then that the BSP joined hands with the BJP to form the government in the state.

The incident had left an indelible mark in the relationship between the two parties. It was said Kanshi Ram made numerous efforts to revive the coalition, but Mayawati held the fort in her opposition to a possible tie-up.

However, 23 years later, it seems Mayawati has moved on. 

The BSP-SP came close during the parliamentary by-polls in Gorakhpur and Phulpur recently wherein the BSP supported SP candidates who succeeded in winning both the seats - Gorakhpur vacated by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Phulpur by his deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the SP had won five seats, while the BSP failed to win any seat. 

In the 2017 assembly polls, SP and BSP got 22 per cent votes each.

Come to 2019, if both the parties continue to have a say in their traditional vote bank, the combine can create hurdles for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

In the politically-crucial Uttar Pradesh, there are about 22 per cent Dalits, 45 per cent OBCs and 19 per cent Muslims, whose vote share will be decisive in the general elections this year. 

"The SP-BSP alliance will certainly clear the dilemma of Muslim voters who are anti-BJP and with no division of their votes between SP and BSP, our alliance will get their votes in the major chunk," a senior SP leader said.

Commenting on how the new alliance will be a show stealer, SP president Akhilesh Yadav said, "The path of Delhi's power traverses through Uttar Pradesh and our alliance will be able to stop the BJP for sure. 

"The alliance with BSP was founded in my heart when the BJP conspired and got BSP candidate Bhim Rao Ambedkar defeated during the Rajya Sabha biennial polls. I had said that if I had to take two steps backward for the alliance, I will do it," he said, thanking Mayawati.

Although Akhilesh Yadav's estranged uncle Shivpal Yadav, who recently floated the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia), claimed that he would emerge as a "strong force" in the polls, Mayawati asked people "not to waste their vote on his (Shivpal's) party funded by the BJP". 

"BJP's money will go down the drain as it is running Shivpal's party," she said. 

Akhilesh, however, did not comment on Shivpal's claim.               PTI
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Hello Jammu News at 2:23:00 PM 0


Lucknow, Jan 12 : Once-arch rivals Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) announced Saturday their tie-up in Uttar Pradesh for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, sharing 38 seats each and keeping the Congress out of the alliance.

The parties, however, said they would not field candidates in Amethi and Rae Bareli, represented by Congress president Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. They also left two seats, out of 80, for smaller allies.

Making the announcement at a joint press conference with SP president Akhilesh Yadav here, BSP chief Mayawati said, "This...will rob 'guru-chela' -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah -- of their sleep." 

"I have full confidence that just as our alliance defeated the BJP in the Lok Sabha bypolls, we will crush the saffron party in the general elections," she said, referring to the BJP's defeat in Phulpur, Gorakhpur and Kairana parliamentary bypolls.

Explaining why the Congress was not included in the alliance, she said that during the Congress rule over the years, poverty, unemployment and corruption grew and there had been scams in various defence deals.

She also said that in case of a tie-up with the Congress in the past, the party did not benefit.

"In the past I have seen that our votes get transferred to the Congress, but not vice-versa. We do not gain from alliance with Congress, whereas vote transfer is perfect in SP-BSP tie-up," Mayawati said.

Drawing a parallel between the BJP and the Congress, Mayawati said the Congress had imposed the Emergency while the BJP is responsible for an undeclared Emergency.

The joint press conference was held at a posh hotel here after top leadership of both the parties had met in New Delhi recently to discuss broad parameters of the alliance to take on the BJP unitedly in the Lok Sabha elections.

In 2014, the BJP had won 71 seats in Uttar Pradesh while its ally Apna Dal bagged two. The Samajwadi Party won 5 seats and the Congress two, while the BSP drew a blank. 

Reacting to the development, senior BJP leader and Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, "The SP and BSP have allied neither for the country nor for Uttar Pradesh, but for their survival. They know they cannot fight Modi on their own and their opposition to him is the sole base of their alliance.             PTI
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Hello Jammu News at 2:18:00 PM 0



Lucknow, Jan 11 : The Congress is ready to go it alone in Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha elections, a senior state leader said on Friday as speculation about an SP-BSP seat sharing alliance spiralled with the two parties announcing a joint press conference of their chiefs.

The Congress already has 45 seats in the Lok Sabha, more than any other regional player, said the party's media coordinator Rajiv Bakshi.

His comments came as the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party announced that their leaders, Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati, would jointly address a press conference on Saturday, signalling a 'gathbandhan' excluding the Congress. 

"We are a political party and are ready to fight the coming elections alone in Uttar Pradesh," Bakshi told PTI.

"We alone have 45 seats in the Lok Sabha and it is any day many more than the regional players... a 'mahagathbandhan' in the Lok Sabha elections need to be built around the party having a national face," Bakshi said, 

"We are ready to take along like minded parties and they can come together with us," he said.

Discussing the Congress' poll preparedness, Bakshi said the party has an organisation and is getting ready for an election. 

"Where there are glitches, we are revamping it. We will be all set for the polls soon," he added.

Another senior leader added that talk on a 'mahagathbandhan' had been going on for a while but Congress members in the state were of the opinion that the party should it go alone as it has an independent identity among the people.

"A decision on who to join hands with always rests with the party high command, but we will apprise them that workers and supporters want the Congress to go alone in Uttar Pradesh where it still has its own identity which is different from these parties," he said.

In the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, when, too, the situation seemed against the Congress, the party got 21 seats in the state, paving the way for the return of the UPA government at the Centre, he said.

Party leaders here said the Central leadership did not respond to the statements of Akhilesh Yadav or Mayawati during the recent Assembly elections in five states, making it clear that it might prefer to go it alone.

They also said party president Rahul Gandhi had made it clear that the Congress cannot be underestimated.

In an interview to Gulf News ahead of his visit to UAE on January 11, Gandhi said the Congress idea is very powerful in Uttar Pradesh. "So, we are very confident of our ability in Uttar Pradesh and we will surprise people," he was quoted as saying.

Gandhi's comments were the first indication of the party's plan B after the regional players seemed to have deserted it. 

Sources in the Congress said Gandhi will soon meet UPCC president Raj Babbar and AICC in-charge of party affairs in the state Ghulam Nabi Azad to deliberate on the matter.

"There are chances that Gandhi will set up a committee to finalise issues concerning elections," a party leader said.          PTI
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Hello Jammu News at 1:22:00 PM 0



Lucknow, Jan 11 : Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav and BSP chief Mayawati will address a joint press meet here Saturday, amid talks of seat-sharing for Lok Sabha polls from which the Congress seems to be almost out. 


The joint press conference at a posh hotel here was announced Friday by SP national secretary Rajendra Chaudhary and Bahujan Samaj Party national general secretary SC Misra. 

The top leadership of both the parties had met in New Delhi recently to discuss broad parameters of an alliance to take on the BJP unitedly in the Lok Sabha elections. 

The joint press conference will be the first after the parties gave contours of an electoral alliance ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. 

The two party chiefs had given their "in principle" approval to the alliance, which has virtually shut its doors to the Congress in the state. 

Sources said that both the SP and the BSP are planning to contest on 37 seats each out of the 80 on offer in Uttar Pradesh and plan to leave just two, Rae Bareli and Amethi, the bastions of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi for the Congress. 

Smaller parties like the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and the Nishad Party are also likely to be in the alliance. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP and its allies had won 73 of the 80 seats in UP. 

Congress leaders like PL Punia, who delivered Chhattisgarh to the Congress as its state in-charge, and UPCC chief Raj Babbar are reportedly of the view that the Congress should not "be sheepish in alliance negotiations any more" and should seek its pound of flesh.

They cite the example of 2009 when the Congress romped home with 22 Lok Sabha seats in UP, surprising many prophets of doom.

They also say that with party chief Rahul Gandhi getting more "combative, direct and effective" in taking on the Modi juggernaut, the Congress stood better chances in going alone.

Over the week, Yadav and Mayawati also put out press statements that specifically referred to the word "gathbandhan". 

Mayawati's press statement was in solidarity with Yadav amid reports that the CBI might question him on investigations into a mining scam that allegedly took place when he was chief minister. "Don't be shaken," she advised him.

Yadav returned the favour when he put out a press release to condemn Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks at a rally in Agra on Mayawati, "forgetting" an attack on her by Samajwadi Party workers in 1995 for "political gains". "The PM is scared of the alliance," said Yadav.

In Agra, Modi sought to drive a wedge between the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party when he said that the two parties which could not see eye to eye were joining hands.

Last year, Yadav and Mayawati decided to bury their differences and pool in their resources to contest three bypolls and won all. It gave them hope that if they team up, they can pull voters away from the BJP. 

The mahagathbandhan arithmetic had worked in the bypolls as a consolidation of OBC, Dalit and Muslim votes powered joint opposition candidates to victory in Gorakhpur, Phulpur and Kairana last year. 

If they try to replicate their success in the 2019 national polls, it might upset the apple cart of the BJP, which recently lost three major state elections, feel analysts.

A senior BJP leader, when contacted, sought to play down the SP-BSP tie-up as "opportunistic" politics and expressed confidence that the saffron party will come out with flying colours on the plank of development as it believed in 'sab ka saath, sab ka vikas'.             PTI
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