India&#39;s largest state Uttar Pradesh, which is in the midst of a longdrawn local&nbsp;elections, morphed into a battleground on Sunday as contenders adopted a no&nbsp;holds barred policy while attacking each other.

While Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who belongs to the Bharatiya Janata Party, excoriated the ruling Samajwadi Party and its chief minister for being weak, the prepoll alliance of SP and the Congress&nbsp;attacked the BJP for paralysing the citizens due to demonetisation.

Addressing an election campaign in an Uttar Pradesh town Fatehpura, Prime Minister Modi ripped into the SP over religious partisanship, deteriorating law and order and alliance forged with the Congress.

Modi indirectly said the Akhilesh Yadav administration was more keen on appeasing the Muslims.&nbsp;

&quot;If there is electricity during Ramzan (an Islamic&nbsp;festival of fasting), there should be electricity during Diwali (Hindu festival of lights) too,&quot; he said, though the original statement was made in Hindi.

He also spoke about how police were being forced to take orders from the ruling party, calling it a &#39;goondaraj&#39; (the government of the powerful).

&quot;Police stations have become Samajwadi Pary office. Why is the policing system so inefficient in the state?&quot; Modi asked to the large crowd that massed at his rally.

He also looked at the SP-Congress alliance with suspicion, saying that the ruling party of Uttar Pradesh had shed its philosophy by tying up with a party that has &quot;looted&quot; the country.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav rubbished all negative talks about the alliance on Sunday, saying that it is &quot;not an alliance of two parties but an alliance of two young politicians&quot; determined to improve the state.

After casting his vote in Saifai, Akhilesh said, &quot;The voters have made up their mind in favour of the SP-Congress alliance.&quot;

SP leader and Akhilesh&#39;s uncle Shivpal Yadav complained that his supporters were attacked by the &quot;political opponents&quot; in his Jaswantnagar constituency.

On Saturday, Congress&#39; Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party&#39;s Akhilesh Yadav attacked BJP&#39;s Modi and said his &quot;smile had evaporated&quot; at the news of their alliance.

Using a reference from a popular Hindi film &#39;Sholay&#39;, Gandhi called Modi as the villain of the piece -- Gabbar Singh.&nbsp;

He also accused Modi of doing little to alleviate the crippling debts of farmers.

&quot;Now he (Modi)&nbsp;is saying let BJP win and he will get the loans waived. Modiji you are the prime minister. You don&#39;t have to win elections to waive the debts,&quot; he said on Saturday.&nbsp;

Meanwhile, the third phase of the elections is under way today (February 20) as more than 800 candidates contest 69 assembly seats.

(WION)

BJP's Narendra Modi called SP's reign as being ineffective, while the SP-Congress combo dished out equally blistering attacks

India's largest state Uttar Pradesh, which is in the midst of a longdrawn local elections, morphed into a battleground on Sunday as contenders adopted a no holds barred policy while attacking each other. While Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who belongs to the Bharatiya Janata Party, excoriated the ruling Samajwadi Party and its chief minister for being weak, the prepoll alliance of SP and the Congress attacked the BJP for paralysing the citizens due to demonetisation. Addressing an election campaign in an Uttar Pradesh town Fatehpura, Prime Minister Modi ripped into the SP over religious partisanship, deteriorating law and order and alliance forged with the Congress. Modi indirectly said the Akhilesh Yadav administration was more keen on appeasing the Muslims. "If there is electricity during Ramzan (an Islamic festival of fasting), there should be electricity during Diwali (Hindu festival of lights) too," he said, though the original statement was made in Hindi. He also spoke about how police were being forced to take orders from the ruling party, calling it a 'goondaraj' (the government of the powerful). "Police stations have become Samajwadi Pary office. Why is the policing system so inefficient in the state?" Modi asked to the large crowd that massed at his rally. He also looked at the SP-Congress alliance with suspicion, saying that the ruling party of Uttar Pradesh had shed its philosophy by tying up with a party that has "looted" the country. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav rubbished all negative talks about the alliance on Sunday, saying that it is "not an alliance of two parties but an alliance of two young politicians" determined to improve the state. After casting his vote in Saifai, Akhilesh said, "The voters have made up their mind in favour of the SP-Congress alliance." SP leader and Akhilesh's uncle Shivpal Yadav complained that his supporters were attacked by the "political opponents" in his Jaswantnagar constituency. On Saturday, Congress' Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav attacked BJP's Modi and said his "smile had evaporated" at the news of their alliance. Using a reference from a popular Hindi film 'Sholay', Gandhi called Modi as the villain of the piece -- Gabbar Singh. He also accused Modi of doing little to alleviate the crippling debts of farmers. "Now he (Modi) is saying let BJP win and he will get the loans waived. Modiji you are the prime minister. You don't have to win elections to waive the debts," he said on Saturday. Meanwhile, the third phase of the elections is under way today (February 20) as more than 800 candidates contest 69 assembly seats. (WION)

Uttar Pradesh elections: Contenders take jibes at each other as campaign rhetoric raises stakes

Elections in Uttar Pradesh,&nbsp;India&#39;s most populous state, are around the corner but the ruling party has failed to forge an&nbsp;alliance that they were seeking with other political parties.

Two days after ruling Samajwadi Party called off talks with Rashtriya Lok Dal, or RLD, the regional party was dealt another blow Saturday when talks with the Congress about a pre-poll alliance collapsed due to disagreement over seat-sharing plans.

Prospects of an alliance remained strong till Monday, but cracks appeared when the two parties sat down to thrash out the nitty-gritties of the partnership.

Unnamed sources told WION that the Congress wanted to contest in 110 Assembly seats, whereas the Samajwadi Party, or SP, were willing to concede not more than 99. The sources said the possibility of an alliance were unlikely due to the impasse.

&ldquo;They were even very rigid on seats from Amethi and Rai Barelli,&rdquo; said an unnamed Congress source involved in the negotiations.

Sources also said that the Samajwadi Party was initially willing to give 121 seats to the Congress but later brought it down to 99 seats. &ldquo;Akhilesh Yadav kept on changing goal posts. He told us that he needs to accommodate those who have stood by him,&rdquo; a source told WION.

Trouble started when Akhilesh Yadav, UP chief minister and Samajwadi Party leader, decided to pit his partymen against Congress lawmakers in certain seats.

The formula used by the SP to offer Assembly seats to the Congress was also a sore point. The Samajwadi Party gave seats to Congress in places where they had either fared dismally in previous elections or where the Congress had won.

The two parties for long wanted to unite&nbsp;before the UP polls, the world&#39;s largest elections this year, in order to combat Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi&#39;s party -- the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Meanwhile, WION has learnt that the Congress has readied its list of 350 candidates who they intend to field in the upcoming polls, which begin on February 11. The remaining seats will be given to other parties&nbsp;they have struck a partnership with. In total, Uttar Pradesh has 403 Assembly seats, which means that voters will elect 403 lawmakers in the state.

Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Vadra were personally involved in the dialogue with Samajwadi Party. But the cul-de-sac at the last moment has &quot;outraged&quot; the party, sources close to the Congress leadership said.

But later in the day, Congress president and Rahul&#39;s mother, Sonia Gandhi, stepped in to&nbsp;restore the near-collapse talks with the Samajwadi Party. Gandhi has asked her party&#39;s political secretary Ahmed Patel to renegotiate the tenets of the partnership.

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Sonia Gandhi intervenes. Asks Ahmed Patel to salvage the alliance in UP. Let&#39;s see what happens now. It is a roller coaster now in UP.
&mdash; Kartikeya Sharma (@kartikeya_1975) <a href="https://twitter.com/kartikeya_1975/status/822827525957185538">January 21, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Although it is doom and gloom in the Congress election war-room, party insiders hope that tomorrow&#39;s parlance will be more fruitful than today. Congress hopes that the old adage of a day being an eternity in the world of politics remains true because they remain keen on tying up the incumbent Samajwadi Party.

There remains a tiny window for the Congress to resume talks but SP leader Naresh Agarwal said the possibility of an alliance is &quot;almost over&quot;.&nbsp;

In another news, Congress has named its candidates for the first phase of elections in Uttar Pradesh.

(WION with inputs from agencies)

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But Congress's Sonia Gandhi has stepped in to break the deadlock after today's talks collapsed due to differences in seat-sharing plan

Elections in Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state, are around the corner but the ruling party has failed to forge an alliance that they were seeking with other political parties. Two days after ruling Samajwadi Party called off talks with Rashtriya Lok Dal, or RLD, the regional party was dealt another blow Saturday when talks with the Congress about a pre-poll alliance collapsed due to disagreement over seat-sharing plans. Prospects of an alliance remained strong till Monday, but cracks appeared when the two parties sat down to thrash out the nitty-gritties of the partnership. Unnamed sources told WION that the Congress wanted to contest in 110 Assembly seats, whereas the Samajwadi Party, or SP, were willing to concede not more than 99. The sources said the possibility of an alliance were unlikely due to the impasse. “They were even very rigid on seats from Amethi and Rai Barelli,” said an unnamed Congress source involved in the negotiations. Sources also said that the Samajwadi Party was initially willing to give 121 seats to the Congress but later brought it down to 99 seats. “Akhilesh Yadav kept on changing goal posts. He told us that he needs to accommodate those who have stood by him,” a source told WION. Trouble started when Akhilesh Yadav, UP chief minister and Samajwadi Party leader, decided to pit his partymen against Congress lawmakers in certain seats. The formula used by the SP to offer Assembly seats to the Congress was also a sore point. The Samajwadi Party gave seats to Congress in places where they had either fared dismally in previous elections or where the Congress had won. The two parties for long wanted to unite before the UP polls, the world's largest elections this year, in order to combat Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party -- the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Meanwhile, WION has learnt that the Congress has readied its list of 350 candidates who they intend to field in the upcoming polls, which begin on February 11. The remaining seats will be given to other parties they have struck a partnership with. In total, Uttar Pradesh has 403 Assembly seats, which means that voters will elect 403 lawmakers in the state. Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Vadra were personally involved in the dialogue with Samajwadi Party. But the cul-de-sac at the last moment has "outraged" the party, sources close to the Congress leadership said. But later in the day, Congress president and Rahul's mother, Sonia Gandhi, stepped in to restore the near-collapse talks with the Samajwadi Party. Gandhi has asked her party's political secretary Ahmed Patel to renegotiate the tenets of the partnership. Sonia Gandhi intervenes. Asks Ahmed Patel to salvage the alliance in UP. Let's see what happens now. It is a roller coaster now in UP. — Kartikeya Sharma (@kartikeya_1975) January 21, 2017 × Although it is doom and gloom in the Congress election war-room, party insiders hope that tomorrow's parlance will be more fruitful than today. Congress hopes that the old adage of a day being an eternity in the world of politics remains true because they remain keen on tying up the incumbent Samajwadi Party. There remains a tiny window for the Congress to resume talks but SP leader Naresh Agarwal said the possibility of an alliance is "almost over". In another news, Congress has named its candidates for the first phase of elections in Uttar Pradesh. (WION with inputs from agencies)

Uttar Pradesh elections: Alliance talks falter as Samajwadi Party plays hardball with Congress

The ruling party of India&#39;s largest and most populous state Uttar Pradesh, has ruled out an alliance with a regional party, as the state gears up for elections next month.

Samajwadi Party Thursday ruled out forging an alliance with Rashtriya Lok Dal or RLD, though their talks with the Congress has entered the home stretch.

&ldquo;We will forge an alliance only with the Congress. We will not ally with the RLD. No talks are going on with them. We will contest from over 300 seats (out of 403) and the Congress will be there for the rest of them,&rdquo; The Indian Express quoted Kironmoy Nanda, the vice president of the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP), as saying.

Earlier, rumours were abuzz that SP would stitch a &#39;grand alliance&#39; with the Congress and the RLD to take on the challenge provided by the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party, a blueprint the so-called secular parties followed successfully in the state of Bihar in 2015. That time, six parties converged under the Janata Parivar umbrella to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party, a right-wing political group that had swept to power in India a year before that.

However, the Bihar formula will not be replicated in Uttar Pradesh as was previously believed after Thursday&#39;s announcement.&nbsp;

But SP has been keen on tying up with the Congress for the upcoming elections. Nanda, the party&#39;s national vice president, said they are looking to contest 300 of the 403 election seats and the remaining would be handed to the Congress, but added the final tally would be announced by Akhilesh Yadav, the chief minister of the state and leader of SP.

RLD said they fell out with the SP after they failed to reach a consensus on the seat-sharing aspect because the party wanted to fight for 30 seats. &quot;We wanted the seats of our choice but there was no agreement on it,&rdquo; RLD spokesman Anil Dubey later said.

The fallout might hurt the Samajwadi Party as the RLD enjoys considerable support in the western parts of the state, particularly among the Jat community.

Uttar Pradesh elections will be held from February 11 to March 8 in seven phases.

(WION)

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Disagreement over seat-sharing for the upcoming polls was the reason behind the fallout

The ruling party of India's largest and most populous state Uttar Pradesh, has ruled out an alliance with a regional party, as the state gears up for elections next month. Samajwadi Party Thursday ruled out forging an alliance with Rashtriya Lok Dal or RLD, though their talks with the Congress has entered the home stretch. “We will forge an alliance only with the Congress. We will not ally with the RLD. No talks are going on with them. We will contest from over 300 seats (out of 403) and the Congress will be there for the rest of them,” The Indian Express quoted Kironmoy Nanda, the vice president of the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP), as saying. Earlier, rumours were abuzz that SP would stitch a 'grand alliance' with the Congress and the RLD to take on the challenge provided by the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party, a blueprint the so-called secular parties followed successfully in the state of Bihar in 2015. That time, six parties converged under the Janata Parivar umbrella to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party, a right-wing political group that had swept to power in India a year before that. However, the Bihar formula will not be replicated in Uttar Pradesh as was previously believed after Thursday's announcement. But SP has been keen on tying up with the Congress for the upcoming elections. Nanda, the party's national vice president, said they are looking to contest 300 of the 403 election seats and the remaining would be handed to the Congress, but added the final tally would be announced by Akhilesh Yadav, the chief minister of the state and leader of SP. RLD said they fell out with the SP after they failed to reach a consensus on the seat-sharing aspect because the party wanted to fight for 30 seats. "We wanted the seats of our choice but there was no agreement on it,” RLD spokesman Anil Dubey later said. The fallout might hurt the Samajwadi Party as the RLD enjoys considerable support in the western parts of the state, particularly among the Jat community. Uttar Pradesh elections will be held from February 11 to March 8 in seven phases. (WION)

Uttar Pradesh elections: Ruling party SP drops alliance talks with Ajit Singh's RLD

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Uttar Pradesh elections: Contenders take jibes at each other as campaign rhetoric raises stakes

Uttar Pradesh elections: Alliance talks falter as Samajwadi Party plays hardball with Congress

Uttar Pradesh elections: Ruling party SP drops alliance talks with Ajit Singh's RLD