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Delhi Confidential: Alliance signal

In a post in Hindi on X on Tuesday, Rahul wished SP president Akhilesh Yadav on his birthday, saying “...we will fight shoulder-to-shoulder for justice and equality”

Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi

There may be voices within the party against an alliance with Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh, but Congress leaders in Uttar Pradesh have got a signal from Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi that the alliance is going to stay. In a post in Hindi on X on Tuesday, Rahul wished SP president Akhilesh Yadav on his birthday, saying “…we will fight shoulder-to-shoulder for justice and equality”. This led to discussions in Congress circles in Lucknow that they needed to be cautious while commenting on the alliance and Samajwadi Party. Uttar Pradesh goes to polls in 2027.

Gathering Pace

With the BJP organisational elections gathering steam, insiders say the entire exercise will be completed by this month. According to party leaders, presidents have been appointed in eight states in the last two days, adding to the 14 state chiefs already appointed. Two more announcements are likely coming on Wednesday and another one the following day, making the total number to 25, more than the required to go for the national president’s election. However, a number of politically crucial states are still to get a chief, most prominent being Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Gujarat.

Kolkata Hackathon

Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav was in Kolkata on Monday for the finale of a 110-hour national hackathon that sought solutions to tackle challenges to biodiversity and climate change. Yadav awarded a cash prize of `1 lakh to the winners. Last year, the ministry had organised a hackathon seeking ideas from students to tackle local environmental issues using technology.