New Delhi, Sep 30: As Uttar Pradesh gears up for Assembly election early next year, the emerging dispute between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP) over seat-sharing somewhat resembles the tensions that surfaced within Bihar’s Mahagathbandhan during the 2025 state poll.

In both cases, the Congress chose to seek a larger role, while a stronger regional ally appeared resisting to concede its space.

In Uttar Pradesh, the Congress-SP partnership produced impressive results in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, giving the INDIA bloc a significant boost and reducing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) dominance in the state.

Perhaps encouraged by that performance, Congress leaders have been pushing for an early seat-sharing arrangement where they reportedly want a “respectable” number for themselves.

That number, as per indications, could be “anything above 150 seats” in the 403-member strong uttar pradesh Assembly where other alliance partners would also seek “respectable” allocations.

The SP is believed to be more comfortable with an allocation of up to some 80 seats to its principal partner in the alliance.

The disagreement has already triggered public sparring between leaders of the two parties with reports of leaders on both sides exchanging barbs over respective political stature, organisational strength, and electoral contributions.

But the sparring politicians have mostly admitted that a final call will be taken by the “Central leadership” — implying Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav.

The situation overall bears certain similarities to Bihar, where Congress entered the 2025 Assembly election-negotiations buoyed by a perceived momentum generated by Rahul Gandhi’s new political outreach.

Congress leaders sought to convert what they considered renewed visibility into greater bargaining power within the Mahagathbandhan.

Yet, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav remained unwilling to accommodate all of Congress’ demands.

Congress had continued to press for around 70 seats, the same number it contested in the 2020 Assembly election.

Tejashwi Yadav reportedly reiterated that electoral performance would be a more important criterion than aspiration.

The RJD leadership pointed to Congress’ poor strike rate in 2020, when it won only 19 of the 70 seats it contested, and used that argument to justify limiting Congress’ ambitions.

Friction grew, as did speculations about widening differences.

At one stage, Tejashwi Yadav even declared that the RJD was prepared to contest all 243 Assembly seats, a move widely interpreted as pressure tactics directed at the Congress.

Despite Rahul Gandhi exhibiting more involvement in Bihar politics, the final terms of seat-sharing were implied as to be dictated primarily by the regional heavyweight.

Eventually, the Congress reconciled itself to a marginally lesser allocation of 61 seats, but Tejashwi portrayed a dominant position within the alliance structure.

In the final result, the Congress won only six seats, 13 less than in 2020 polls, while the Opposition challenge was crushed under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) juggernaut.

The Bihar experience also offered the Opposition alliance another lesson in the dangers of excluding smaller partners while larger constituents battle over numbers.

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), an important ally of Congress and RJD in neighbouring Jharkhand, spent months seeking meaningful accommodation within Bihar’s Mahagathbandhan framework.

JMM leaders alleged that assurances were not honoured and accused the Mahagathbandhan leadership of failing to respect its interests.

The tensions escalated to the point where JMM openly threatened to chart its own course.

The party announced plans to contest independently and publicly accused alliance partners of betrayal and marginalisation.

Though it did not, but the episode led to the Opposition alliance winning one and losing the other among the two seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes in Bihar.

Among the four other seats that the JMM intended to contest, the RJD won one while the rest went to NDA constituents.

At the same time, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) repeatedly sought entry into the Mahagathbandhan.

AIMIM leaders wrote to the RJD leadership, and publicly expressed willingness to join the Opposition bloc and even offered to contest a limited number of seats.

However, those overtures were reportedly ignored, as claimed by AIMIM leaders who complained that despite approaching Lalu Prasad Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav for a tie-up, the proposal was not accepted.

The AIMIM formed a separate alliance and contested 28 out of the 79 the third bloc contested, and won five seats in a repeat of its 2020 state poll performance.

But overall, in a stunning show, the NDA broke into the Muslim-dominated Assembly constituencies in Bihar, traditionally seen as the Opposition’s strongholds, securing some 16 of these seats.

About 32 Bihar seats are Muslim-dominated, most of which lie in districts along the Nepal border, called the Seemanchal region that largely witnessed increased turnout in 2025 state polls.

Whether the Congress and SP can avoid repeating the Bihar story in Uttar Pradesh may ultimately determine not only the Opposition’s prospects against the ruling BJP in India’s most politically consequential state, but its political future as well.

Jaipur, Sep 30: Rajasthan Police arrested three men from Madhya Pradesh in connection with the alleged recording and circulation of an objectionable video of an Israeli woman in Ajmer.

According to police, the incident took place on September 9, 2026, when the woman was allegedly filmed without her consent while bathing at the Ajaypal Baba Ajaysar Kund. The video was later circulated on social media.

Acting on the directions of Ajmer Superintendent of Police Harshvardhan, special police teams used technical evidence and social media monitoring to trace the suspects. Police said the arrests were made as part of an investigation into the circulation of the video and efforts to identify those responsible. The case came to the attention of the Ajmer District Social Media Cell after the video surfaced online.

A joint team was formed under the supervision of Additional Superintendent of Police (City) Himanshu Jangid and Circle Officer (Dargah) Harshit Sharma, with Ganj Station House Officer Narendra Singh leading the operation.

Investigators examined social media accounts, Instagram IDs and mobile phone details linked to the suspects. Police said technical evidence, along with CCTV footage, helped them trace the accused to Machalpur in Rajgarh district of Madhya Pradesh. A police team subsequently conducted a raid in the area and arrested three suspects.

The arrested men have been identified as Arjun (30), a resident of Gadiya Majara Khoyara; Dayaram (30), a resident of Kundi Beg; and Jujhar (25), also a resident of Kundi Beg, according to police.

Police said that during interrogation, the accused allegedly admitted to recording the video near Ajaypal Kund and circulating it through their Instagram accounts.

The allegations are subject to the ongoing investigation and legal proceedings. A case has been registered against the three accused under Case No. 246/26 under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including Sections 75(2), 75(3), 77, 79, 296(b), 352 and 3(5).

The arrests come a day after Ajmer Police took action in a separate case involving the alleged harassment of a foreign tourist at a marble dumping yard in Kishangarh, in which four youths were arrested.

The successive investigations highlight the police’s focus on incidents involving the safety and privacy of tourists, including foreign visitors, in the Ajmer region.

Kolkata, Sep 30: A three-year-old tigress from Bihar’s Valmiki Tiger Reserve was airlifted to Hasimara Air Force Station in north Bengal on Wednesday morning as part of an ambitious effort to restore the tiger population in Buxa Tiger Reserve in the state.

The tigress, captured after a week-long search operation, was flown from Gorakhpur airport in a specially designed cage with full medical support. An Indian Air Force helicopter carried the animal to Hasimara, where it landed at around 4:45 am.

Forest department officials said a team of nearly 70 tiger rescue personnel had been searching for the tigress in Valmiki Tiger Reserve for several days despite difficult weather conditions. She was finally tranquilised with sleeper darts before dusk on Tuesday.

After the capture, the tigress underwent health checks before being transported by road from Valmiki Tiger Reserve in Bihar’s Champaran district to Gorakhpur airport, around 125 km away. Following the airlift, two wildlife veterinarians and tiger experts examined her physical parameters for more than an hour at Hasimara.

The tigress was then transported by road to Buxa Tiger Reserve, about 37 km from Hasimara. Security arrangements were strengthened along the route, with additional police personnel deployed to ensure a smooth transfer.

The animal entered Buxa through the Rajabhatkhawa gate at around 6:45 pm and was taken to a special forest department facility at 25 Miles. She will remain there temporarily before being moved to a 2.2-hectare natural enclosure.

Officials said the tigress will be released into the natural enclosure on October 2, coinciding with Gandhi Jayanti.

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav are scheduled to attend the release programme.

The relocation is part of a broader initiative to revive the tiger population in Buxa. The reserve has been preparing for the reintroduction programme, with forest authorities making arrangements for the animal’s acclimatisation and monitoring after its release. The movement of the tigress involved coordination among forest, wildlife and defence authorities.