The draft electoral roll for Uttar Pradesh was published  after a Special Intensive Revision exercise, with 2.89 crore voters excluded and 12.55 crore retained out of 15.44 crore listed earlier, Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa said .

Opposition MPs, including Leaders of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, took out a protest march from Parliament House to the Election Commission against the revision of electoral rolls in Bihar and alleged “vote chori” but were stopped midway by the police and detained amid high drama. Read More...

📢 7 Shocking Reasons BJP Slammed Akhilesh's Mosque Visit

🕌 When Faith Meets Fire Politics in India is often a mix of faith, emotion, and power. So when Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav visited a mosque near Parliament Street, it wasn’t just a spiritual stop—it became the week’s biggest political storm.

The BJP slammed Akhilesh’s mosque visit, calling it a violation of religious sanctity. SP leaders say it was peaceful and respectful. But was it really about religion—or election season? Let’s break it down.

⚡ 1. Why Did BJP Slam Akhilesh's Mosque Visit? BJP leaders alleged that a political meeting was held inside a sacred mosque, which they claim goes against Islamic traditions. They also raised concerns about Dimple Yadav’s attire, calling it disrespectful to Muslim sentiments.

👗 2. Dimple Yadav’s Dress Sparked Debate According to BJP’s Jamal Siddiqui, Dimple’s uncovered head and back during the visit were against mosque etiquette. SP, however, denied this, saying no disrespect was intended.

🎙️ 3. Was It Really a Political Meeting? The BJP insists the visit was staged for political gain. SP leader Dimple Yadav responded, “There was no meeting, just prayers.” The mosque's Imam, Mohibbullah Nadvi, was also targeted by BJP for “allowing it.”

🗳️ 4. What Did Akhilesh Yadav Say? Akhilesh hit back, saying, “Faith connects people—BJP wants division.” He added that BJP is using religion to stir emotions instead of focusing on real issues.

❓ 5. Is Religion Being Used for Votes? Many believe the BJP is using this moment to appeal to Muslim sentiments—or to question SP’s credibility. As elections approach, even a simple visit becomes headline news.

🧠 6. The Bigger Picture: Public Perception Matters

SP calls it a spiritual visit.

BJP calls it a violation.

Citizens are left wondering: Why always fight over faith?

Big questions:

Should politicians be banned from religious places during election time?

Should attire inside a mosque be politicized?

Is this yet another distraction from real issues?

🇮🇳 7. PM Modi’s Message on Unity Still Matters PM Narendra Modi has often spoken about unity and brotherhood. His past speeches remind us: India must grow together—regardless of religion. In times like these, his call for peace feels more important than ever.

Share Your Voice 🗣️ What do you think about this controversy? ➡️ Drop a comment below 🔁 Share with friends 📰 Follow #TNHEADLINES24 for more real stories!

BJP slammed Akhilesh Yadav’s mosque visit, calling it a political move, while SP defends it as a spiritual act amid rising political-religious tensions. (AI-generated image for illustration purposes only)

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra thanked the Samajwadi Party leadership over the INDIA bloc’s performance in the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, saying the two parties’ workers unitedly fought the polls and became the sentinels of democracy.

The BJP-led NDA suffered a jolt in UP, where it won just 36 seats as against the INDIA bloc which bagged 43 — a significant contribution to the overall tally of the opposition alliance. In a post in Hindi on X, Priyanka Gandhi congratulated SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, his wife Dimple Yadav and SP Rajya Sabha MP Ram Gopal Yadav. She also congratulated the “hardworking” workers of the SP for the results in UP.

“We all together fought a historic battle under difficult circumstances. On the ground, the workers of the Congress and the SP courageously raised their voice for the issues of the people, social justice and the Constitution. Despite all the threats and repression, they united and became the sentinels of democracy and stood at every booth,” the Congress general secretary said.

“Due to the hard work of all of you, the public has shown confidence in our unity and our commitment towards the issues,” Priyanka Gandhi said, and thanked the SP leaders and workers.

The Akhilesh Yadav-led SP, which leads the INDIA bloc in UP, alone got 37 seats this time, becoming the single largest party in the politically crucial state.

The high-octane campaign for the third phase of Lok Sabha elections that saw the BJP-led NDA and the INDIA bloc fiercely attacking each other on issues like reservations and sexual harassment charges against JD(S) leader Prajwal Revanna concluded on Sunday evening in 92 seats spread over 11 states and Union Territories.

The stakes are significant for the BJP in this round as the party had in 2019 won an overwhelming majority of these seats, including all in Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, that will vote on May 7.

Over 1300 candidates, including around 120 women, are in the fray. Among the bigwigs are Union ministers Amit Shah (Gandhinagar), Jyotiraditya Scindia (Guna),Mansukh Mandaviya (Porbandar), Pralhad Joshi (Dharwad).

Former Madhya Pradesh chief ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Vidisha) and Digvijaya Singh (Rajgarh) have also returned to the Lok Sabha electoral fray this time.

With the BJP bagging Surat unopposed, 25 seats in Prime Minister Modi’s home state of Gujarat will go to polls on May 7, besides 11 seats in Maharashtra, 10 seats in Uttar Pradesh, the remaining 14 of the 28 in Karnataka, seven in Chhattisgarh, eight in Madhya Pradesh, five in Bihar, four each in Assam and West Bengal, and all two in Goa. ​​​​​​​ The Union Territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (2 seats) will also go to polls while election in the Anatnag-Rajouri seat has been put off due to logistic reasons.

Ten parliamentary constituencies of Uttar Pradesh will go to polls in the third phase of Lok Sabha elections on Tuesday, with all eyes on Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav’s family members.

While Dimple Yadav is aiming to retain the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat, which she won in the bypolls following the demise of her father-in-law Mulayam Singh Yadav, Akshaya Yadav, son of Ram Gopal Yadav, the national principal general secretary of SP, will try to reclaim the Firozabad seat, which he had won in 2014.

Aditya Yadav, the son of SP national general secretary Shivpal Yadav, is making his electoral debut from the Budaun Lok Sabha seat, which was represented by his cousin Dharmendra Yadav in 2014. Besides the Yadav family members, polling will be held to seal the fate of Union Minister SP Singh Baghel, Uttar Pradesh’s Tourism Minister Jayveer Singh, Minister of State for Revenue Anoop Pradhan Balmiki. Baghel, Jayveer Singh, and Balmiki are contesting from Agra (SC), Mainpuri, and Hathras (SC) Lok Sabha seats respectively.

As many as 49 Lok Sabha MPs were suspended from the House for disrupting proceedings taking the total now to 141 . MPs suspended include National Conference’s Farooq Abdullah, Congress leaders Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari and Karti Chidambaram and Samajwadi Party MP Dimple Yadav.

Among the other MPs suspended from the Lok Sabha included Supriya Sule of the Nationalist Congress Party, S Jagathrakshakan and DNV Senthil Kumar of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Giridhari Yadav of the Janata Dal-United, Danish Ali who has been suspended from the Bahujan Samaj party and Sushil Kumar Rinku of the Aam Aadmi Party.

On suspension of more than 40 MPs from Lok Sabha, including his own, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor told ANI outside parliament, “…It is clear that they want an Opposition-mukt Lok Sabha and they will do something similar in Rajya Sabha. At this point, unfortunately, we have to start writing obituaries for Parliamentary democracy in India…Today, in solidarity with my colleagues, I too joined the protest and everybody who was present has been suspended for the rest of the session which means they want to pass their Bills without any discussion. I think it is a betrayal of Parliamentary democracy…”