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Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said over-confidence and inability to understand the understanding between SP and BSP were the prime reasons for the BJP's shocking loss The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) received a severe setback in the Uttar Pradesh and Bihar Lok Sabha and Assembly by-elections, losing four of the five seats in the bypolls, including the all-important Gorakhpur and Phulpur seats in Uttar Pradesh. Especially worrisome for the BJP was the fact that it was trounced by the BSP-backed Samajwadi Party in the high-stakes Gorakhpur and Phulpur bypolls which could boost the chances of a 'mahagathbandhan' of anti-BJP parties before the 2019 general elections. After sweeping the Lok Sabha elections in 2014 and the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections last year, the BJP faced a last-minute alliance stitched by the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in the bypolls. BSP supremo Mayawati had announced her party's backing for S...

An angry Ghosh claimed that 'goons were deployed' to disturb the meeting A day after the  Jana Andolan Party   activists protested against his visit in Kalimpong, West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh was on Thursday heckled, his party workers were roughed up and his meeting had to be aborted midway in hill town Darjeeling. An angry Ghosh claimed that "goons were deployed" to disturb the meeting, and blamed the Binoy Tamang faction of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha for "roughing up" BJP activists. He also hinted that the instigation for the "attacks" could have come from "Kolkata" in an indication to the Mamata Banerjee government. There were two incidents of protest against the BJP leader, who was first shown black flags and 'go back' posters by another hill-based outfit Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) on his way to Darjeeling. Later, there were protests and demonstrations at the Bijoya Sammilani which he at...

Assam: How BJP learnt from past mistakes and Rahul Gandhi let it slip In Assam, the Congress might blame its defeat on a 15-year anti-incumbency. However, it was worsted as much by the effective strategy of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the nonchalance of its Vice President Rahul Gandhi in retaining talent. A more audacious leader could have tried harder to keep Himanta Biswa Sarma and his group of rebel legislators in the party. After he quit the Congress last year, Sarma bitterly spoke about how   Rahul Gandhi   would show more interest in petting his dog than focus on the discussion at hand when Sarma met him over several meetings in 2014-15. In contrast, the BJP leadership had an eye on the Assam Assembly polls ever since it won seven of the 14 seats and 37 per cent vote share in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. BJP chief Amit Shah underlined the importance of the victory on Thursday. He said it was a huge achievement for the party as Assam is a border state,...