India Narrative

  As the voting for the penultimate round of the seven-phase polling in Uttar Pradesh gets underway, Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath contesting from Gorakhpur Urban seat makes his debut in the assembly elections. Yogi Adityanath who has contested Lok Sabha polls from Gorakhpur five times between 1994 to 2014 was elected to the UP Legislative Council after he took over as the Chief Minister of the state in 2017. Even as Yogi Adityanath's victory is being viewed as a foregone conclusion, all eyes are on the performance of the Bahujan Samaj Party in the sixth phase. The majority of the 57 seats going to polls today are dominated by the backwards caste besides Dalits and Muslims. BSP is expected to put up a strong fight in almost all the 10 districts which include Siddharthnagar, Kushinagar, Balrampur, Maharajganj, Sant Kabir Nagar, Basti, Ambedkar Nagar, Deoria, Ballia and Gorakhpur. Of the 19 seats, BSP won in the 2017 assembly elections, five were from this belt. The saffron spin d

With 48 hours to go for the first phase of the crucial elections in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP in Lucknow released its much-awaited election manifesto named 'Lok Kalyan Sankalp Patra'. Home Minister, Amit Shah, chief minister, Yogi Adityanath were among the BJP  heavyweights who released the manifesto at Indira Gandhi Pratishthan at Gomti Nagar in Lucknow.  While keeping an eye on the farmers, the manifesto did not lose sight of its core Hindutva constituency  The manifesto promised "free electricity" for the farmers, but also offered a 'Ramayan University" at Ayodhya and "stricter Love Jihad Law." The BJP manifesto rolled out 10 years jail term and an Rs one lakh fine for an accused arrested under the "Love Jihad" law.  The party also promised the renovation of the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple.  The 13-month long farmers' unrest in states has somewhat disturbed the BJP's applecart in UP.  The party, which won a triumphal majority in 201

The first two of the seven phases of elections in Uttar Pradesh are expected to set the tone. While it's a do- or- die for the  Samajwadi Party, stakes could not have been higher for the BJP. The UP polls will also test the popularity of the BJP and the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi after he announced the repeal of the contentious farm laws. If BJP wins UP it would not only put the party in an invincible position but would decimate whatever Opposition remains at this juncture. But if the results go against the party, it could have a major impact  and reignite the entire Opposition. For BJP, the first two phases (February 10 and 14) are going to be the most challenging as these would cover the regions hit by 13 month-long farmers' agitation. Also read:    BJP begins carpet bombing in western UP Now, with nearly a week to go for the crucial first phase of highly charged Uttar Pradesh elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to make another foray in western Uttar Pradesh, wh

  Eastern Uttar Pradesh also called Purvanchal is like a chameleon. It keeps changing its colour. In 2007, Purvanchal changed to Mayawati's blue, in 2012 to Samajwdi's red and in 2017 it embraced BJP's saffron. " In 2017 of the 164 seats, BJP along with its ally Apna Dal and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) demolished the Opposition by winning 115 seats in the region. Even as the BJP looks poised to retain its grip in eastern UP, recent exodus of the OBC leaders from the party has somewhat shaken the saffron caste cauldron. A host of OBC leaders including Swami Prasad Maurya, Dara Singh Chouhan (Nonia) and Dharam Singh Saini  and the SBSP joined hands with the Samajwadi Party. The SP also stitched up alliances with smaller backward outfits like Janvadi Party(Socialist) and Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) led by Krishna Patel. The SBSP being viewed as the emerging Dalit brigade holds sway over nearly 18 per cent of the Rajbhar community in eastern UP. With Janvadi Party in i

  Infrastructure and connectivity are important parameters that decide the economic weight of any state. Infrastructure initiatives in productive capacity building by bridging connectivity gaps and reducing logistics costs, ensure seamless flow of goods and services. Uttar Pradesh is positioning itself as a multi-modal logistics and transportation hub in northern India. The sheer number of infrastructure projects that have been recently completed and are on-going in the state is evidence of this fact. The diverse nature of infrastructure projects - a combination of road, rail, air and waterway initiatives - makes it more progressive. In 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced plans to make Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh a multi-modal logistics and transportation hub, by investing Rs 3,883.80 crores. It is a suburban district in western Uttar Pradesh and a part of the Delhi National Capital Region. It is a part of three infrastructural proposals worth Rs 7,725 crores for the settin

  The Congress did not seem to have learnt any lesson from the humiliating results in the Bengal polls. The party along with the Left allied with a radical Muslim cleric, Abbas Siddiqui of the Indian Secular Front. The combination-Samyukt Morcha had managed to win only a seat in the West Bengal polls. Desperate to woo the Muslim vote bank, the Priyanka Gandhi led Congress in Uttar Pradesh yet again joined hands with a politician and Islamic cleric, Tauqeer Raza Khan, who was earlier booked for issuing threats against the Hindu community and derogatory remarks against the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. Raza joined the party on Wednesday. This particular move has not gone down well with a section of senior Congress leaders. A senior Congress functionary said that the move would  "only provide more firepower to the BJP against the Congress." The Congress had been desperately trying to get a slice of vote of Muslims and backwards, particularly Dalits. Priyanka Gandhi has also bee