All stories by Sharat Pradhan
Yogi Adityanath marks BJP's return to aggressive Hindutva line
Rediff.com3 Sep 2014Is the Bharatiya Janata Party back to its hackneyed Hindutva agenda? The question is being raised following the party's decision to entrust the leadership of the party's campaign for the forthcoming state bye-election in Uttar Pradesh to the saffron clad rabble-rouser Mahant Adityanath.
Flood fury grips Uttar Pradesh as death toll rises to 90
Rediff.com21 Aug 2014Around 1,500 villages across Uttar Pradesh are trying to struggle to stay afloat after flood fury hit them hard due to the release of overflowing water from dams in Nepal last Sunday.
My task will remain incomplete until a BJP CM is installed in Lucknow: Amit Shah
Rediff.com19 Aug 2014Bharatiya Janata Party national president Amit Shah not only urged his party men to reclaim the government in Uttar Pradesh in the 2017 assembly elections, but also advised them not to cross the line. Sharat Pradhan reports
'I didn't come to do politics'
Rediff.com19 Aug 2014What did Amar Singh and Mulayam Singh Yadav discuss at breakfast?
Floodwaters from Nepal kill 21 people; thousands marooned in UP villages
Rediff.com17 Aug 2014At least 21 persons have died and thousands were marooned in villages across eight districts of Uttar Pradesh where release of water from dams in Nepal have caused major floods, even as large parts of the state were heading towards a drought-like situation due to scanty monsoon rain.
Why Maya-Mulayam cannot go the Lalu-Nitish way
Rediff.com13 Aug 2014After all, unlike the barriers between Nitish and Lalu, the forge between Mulayam and Mayawati has not been limited to just political differences, it has been a personal war, says Sharat Pradhan/Rediff.com
Meerut gangrape victim confusing cops?
Rediff.com8 Aug 2014The victim of the alleged 'gangrape' in Meerut has been giving twists to her case with her changing narration of events.
Damage control: Akhilesh starts a call centre for public grievances
Rediff.com1 Aug 2014Besieged by accusations of failing to provide good governance in the state, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has suddenly risen to the occasion and started a government call centre to attend to public grievances.
Gaza conflict: Lucknow maulanas want India to help Palestinians
Rediff.com31 Jul 2014Expressing concern over the plight of Palestinians in Gaza, maulanas in Lucknow want Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take up their cause.
What caused the violent Shia-police clash in Lucknow?
Rediff.com25 Jul 2014With the traditional proximity between Lucknow's Shias and the BJP being no secret, speculation is rife that the issue over which tension was heightened by the Shia community leader and cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawaad, was uncalled for at a time when the Id festival is just round the corner.
Did Mulayam Singh's comment make cops change stand to 'no rape'?
Rediff.com20 Jul 2014Activists and family members of the 30-year-old victim cry foul as the police claim that the woman wasn't gang-raped and that a single man murdered her with his helmet after she fought back. Sharat Pradhan reports.
CBI goes for exhuming bodies of Budaun rape-murder victims
Rediff.com19 Jul 2014Incessant rain and floodwaters of the rising Ganga are posing a challenge for the Central Bureau of Investigation to exhume bodies of two teenaged girls who were allegedly gang raped and hung from a tree on May 27, in a village in Budaun district of Uttar Pradesh, which has been rocked by a spate of heinous crimes against women over the past few months.
Badaun RERUN: Woman raped and murdered in UP
Rediff.com18 Jul 2014A 30-year-old woman's body was found near a village school in Uttar Pradesh's Mohanlalganj area. Sharat Pradhan reports that the victim was brutally stabbed and then left to bleed.
Was Clinton's UP village visit just a fund raising exercise?
Rediff.com17 Jul 2014Villagers and social workers who witnessed the event felt that it was aimed at raising funds for the Clinton Foundation
Lucknow village works overtime to welcome Clinton
Rediff.com16 Jul 2014Officials of the Akhilesh Yadav government are working overtime to spruce up an otherwise sleepy Jhabrauli village on the outskirts of Lucknow which is awaiting a visit by former United States president Bill Clinton on Thursday.
CM Akhilesh's hush-hush trip: Was he in Brazil?
Rediff.com14 Jul 2014Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav returned to Lucknow on Monday night after a 6-day trip to an unknown destination with speculation rife that the CM was watching the FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
Moradabad crisis: SP, BJP playing vote bank politics?
Rediff.com5 Jul 2014The ruling Samajwadi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh seem to be making the most of the prevailing crisis in Moradabad to serve their political ends.
CAG exposes UP govt's false claims on Kumbh Mela success
Rediff.com2 Jul 2014The Uttar Pradesh government's oft-repeated claims about the success of the 2013 Kumbh Mela have fallen flat, with the Comptroller and Auditor General pointing out various failures and pitfalls in the mega event.
BJP, SP raise eyebrows over UP governor's outreach
Rediff.com27 Jun 2014Newly-appointed UP Governor Aziz Qureshi's decision to throw open the gates of Lucknow Raj Bhavan to the common man has clearly irked ruling Samajwadi Party and staunch rival BJP. Sharat Pradhan reports
Now a 7-year-old gang raped in Muzaffarnagar
Rediff.com23 Jun 2014The Uttar Pradesh police are busy trying to cover up the gang rape of a helpless seven-year-old girl in a village of Muzaffarnagar district.