Author: Rohan Dua

Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo Akhilesh Yadav, who was in Varanasi ahead of the seventh phase polls, spoke to The New Indian’s Executive Editor Rohan Dua on the prospects of his party in 2022 Vidhan Sabha elections, in which he has aligned with smaller parties like Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and Apna […]

LUCKNOW: The fifth and sixth phases of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections witnessed higher voter turnout of women than male voters, a close look at the polling data reveals, suggesting that BJP government’s women-centric schemes may lure them out to polling booths in the seventh phase on Monday as well. A total of 118 assembly […]

GORAKHNATH TEMPLE (GORAKHPUR): Gullu is restless. Kalu is tirelessly playful. The two black labradors are the pets that CM Yogi Adityanath, an otherwise tough administrator known for his resolute handling of Uttar Pradesh’s criminals, has had for some time at Gorakhnath temple where he serves as the head of the influential Nath Hindu monastic movement and […]

GORAKHNATH TEMPLE (GORAKHPUR): Shortly before sunrise, Kailash Prajapati, a cook, is wide awake to prepare a strict vegetarian meal, with not a single stodgy item on the frugal menu that comprises only porridge and some cut fruits. Maharaj is busy reciting the ritual hyms of Durga aarti and ved shlokas before he sets out for a walk to feed […]

PRAYAGRAJ (UTTAR PRADESH): In the leafy boulevards of Prayagraj’s Court Road, Prof Alok Rai, a retired faculty from IIT Delhi and University of Pennsylvania, wears the strong influence of his grandfather and master of Hindi literature, the great Munshi Premchand. For a bit, Rai turns joyful at Dhoop Chaaon —  his splendid bungalow is called that […]

As the team of the New Indian’s Executive Editor Rohan Dua reaches Barabanki’s Kursi assembly constituency that goes to polls in the fifth phase, Shreya Verma, the Samajawadi Party’s National vice president of women wing bursts with dynamism and energy. An alumna of the prestigious Welham Girls School in Dehradun and Ramjas College, this economics […]

SIRATHU(KAUSHAMBI): Tucked away inside an uneventful corner of Sirathu village, 73-year-old Dhanpati Maurya rubs her eyes in disbelief how her son, who once dutifully helped his father Shyamlal sell tea or worked as a newspaper hawker, has become a prominent figure in UP. For Dhanpati, the life is still about drying her sarees on a […]

UP law minister Brajesh Pathak, who was once part of Bahujan Samaj Party as a Member Parliament from Unnao, before he was handpicked by then party president Amit Shah ahead of 2017 Utttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha elections. Pathak was in 2021, ahead of 2022 polls, was inducted into the prestigious national executive body of the […]

Jalesar (Etah): Overlooking heavy blocks of coal that will be fired up to alloy copper and zinc into glistening bronze, craftsmen Daudayal and Iqbal sit together, with five dozen such workers, inside a factory-cum-residence to prepare priceless bells. Much like the towering gate at the entry of Jalesar that welcomes visitors with a message  — Ghungroo Town […]

The memories of Bollywood cine stars gyrating to their own hip-shaking numbers in the rural settings of Saifai, the home turf of Mulayam Singh Yadav’s family, are thing of a past when Samajwadi Party’s Man Friday Amar Singh or Azam Khan and Abu Azmi would help them connect with the Mumbai film industry. This time […]