-The Telegraph The Congress national general secretary spoke on women’s empowerment in the state where seven-phase elections are being held Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday said distributing doles does not empower the poor, accusing some political parties of deliberately weakening the masses to ensure they are not in a position to question governments. Addressing a virtual rally meant for Uttar Pradesh, the Congress leader said: “A (cooking gas) cylinder doesn’t empower women. A...

-Moneycontrol.com Uttar Pradesh Assembly election 2022: In all, 135 (22 percent) of 623 candidates in the third phase have criminal cases filed against them, according to an analysis of affidavits by the Association for Democratic Reforms and Uttar Pradesh Election Watch. In Uttar Pradesh, 135 (22 percent) of 623 candidates contesting third phase elections have criminal cases filed against them, according to an analysis of affidavits by the Association for Democratic Reforms...

-TheWire.in BJP has now realised that Hindutva and identity politics by themselves are not enough to win. In post-Mandal India, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s attempt to build electoral alliances tying upper castes and non-dominant OBCs is not new. This is a strategy the party used in the mid-1990s across North India to resist the consolidation of pro-Mandal parties and prevent the formation of large coalitions of “backwards”. Mid-1990s onwards, the BJP distributed...

-The Hindu Only if the Samajwadi Party-led coalition wins by a large margin can it be assured of government formation It is clear that the fierce electoral battle for Uttar Pradesh is mainly between the Akhilesh Yadav-led gathbandhan (coalition) and the Yogi Adityanath-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), even if it appears multi-cornered on paper. The failure of unity among supposedly secular parties against the BJP once again demonstrates not just their half-hearted...

-Hindustan Times Hindu-Muslim polarisation is not as outwardly visible despite being an everyday reality. Many Jats, who once openly voted on the basis of a “Hindu identity”, are fighting the election side-by-side with Muslims due to the Samajwadi Party (SP)-Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) alliance Pichli baar leher thi. Hum bhi leher mein doob gaye. (There was a wave last time. We also drowned in it.) In September 2013, the Muzaffarnagar riots killed 60...