Vivek Mishra works as an Assistant Editor with Eastern Eye and has over 13 years of experience in journalism. His areas of interest include politics, international affairs, current events, and sports. With a background in newsroom operations and editorial planning, he has reported and edited stories on major national and global developments.
As the results for all 543 seats in the India elections were declared, the opposition's INDIA bloc delivered a significant defeat to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.
The INDIA bloc parties won 43 out of 80 Lok Sabha (lower house of parliament) seats in Uttar Pradesh, according to the Election Commission of India.
The Samajwadi Party (SP) won 37 seats, and the Congress secured six seats. The BJP won 33 seats, with its allies Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and Apna Dal (Sonelal) winning two and one seats, respectively. Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) chief Chandrashekhar Azad won from Nagina.
BJP candidate Rajveer Singh Raju Bhaiya, son of former chief minister Kalyan Singh, lost to SP candidate Devesh Shakya by 28,052 votes in Etah. Narendra Modi (Varanasi) defeated Congress rival Ajay Rai. Defence minister Rajnath Singh (Lucknow), minister Anupriya Patel (Mirzapur), and minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary (Maharajganj) retained their seats.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi (Rae Bareli) and SP President Akhilesh Yadav (Kannauj) also won. Yadav thanked supporters on ‘X’, saying, “Janmat ko pranam, Janmat ko salam!” He added, “The aware people of UP have once again shown the country a new path, awakened new hopes. This is a victory of saving the Constitution, democracy and reservation and ensuring social justice.”
The BSP, led by former state chief minister Mayawati, did not win any seats this time, a stark contrast to their 10 seats in the 2019 elections. Anupriya Patel’s Apna Dal (Sonelal) won one seat, while the RLD secured the Bijnor and Baghpat seats.
In eastern Uttar Pradesh, BJP’s allies from backward castes, Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal (NISHAD) President Sanjay Nishad and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) President Om Prakash Rajbhar, did not perform well for the NDA. Sanjay Nishad’s son Praveen Nishad lost in Sant Kabir Nagar, and Rajbhar’s son Arvind Rajbhar was defeated by an SP candidate in Ghosi.
Along with Rahul Gandhi's win in Rae Bareli, Congress’s Kishori Lal Sharma won the Amethi seat, defeating BJP’s Smriti Irani. Akhilesh Yadav won from Kannauj, his wife Dimple Yadav from Mainpuri, and other Yadav family members also secured their seats.
The BJP lost Maneka Gandhi’s Sultanpur seat and minister Ajay Mishra Teni’s Lakhimpur Kheri seat. BJP candidate Ravi Kishan won in Gorakhpur. Actress Hema Malini and Arun Govil, known for his role as Lord Ram in the TV serial "Ramayan," won from Mathura and Meerut, respectively.
Afghan relatives and mourners surround coffins of victims, killed in aerial strikes by Pakistan, during a funeral ceremony at a cemetery in the Urgun district of Paktika province on October 18, 2025. (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)
PAKISTAN officials will hold talks in Qatar on Saturday (18) with their Afghan counterparts, a day after Islamabad launched air strikes on its neighbour killing at least 10 people and breaking a ceasefire that had brought two days of calm to the border.
"Defence minister Khawaja Asif and intelligence chief General Asim Malik will be heading to Doha today for talks with Afghan Taliban," Pakistan state TV said.
An Afghan Taliban government official also confirmed the talks would take place.
"A high-level delegation from the Islamic Emirate, led by defense minister Mohammed Yaqub, left for Doha today," Afghan Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on X.
But late on Friday (17) Afghanistan accused Pakistan of breaking the ceasefire, with deadly effect.
"Pakistan has broken the ceasefire and bombed three locations in Paktika" province, a senior Taliban official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Afghanistan will retaliate."
Ten civilians were killed and 12 others wounded in the strikes, a provincial hospital official said on condition of anonymity, adding that two children were among the dead.
The Afghanistan Cricket Board told AFP that three players who were in the region for a domestic tournament were killed, revising down an earlier toll of eight.
It also said it was withdrawing from the upcoming Tri-Nation T20I Series involving Pakistan, scheduled for next month.
In Pakistan, a senior security official said that forces had "conducted precision aerial strikes" in Afghan border areas targeting the Hafiz Gul Bahadur Group, a local faction linked to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) -- the Pakistani Taliban.
Islamabad said that same group had been involved in a suicide bombing and gun attack at a military camp in the North Waziristan district that borders Afghanistan, which left seven Pakistani paramilitary troops dead.
Security issues are at the heart of the tensions, with Pakistan accusing Afghanistan of harbouring militant groups led by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) -- the Pakistani Taliban -- on its soil, a claim Kabul denies.
The cross-border violence had escalated dramatically from Saturday, days after explosions rocked the Afghan capital Kabul, just as the Taliban's foreign minister began an unprecedented visit to India, Pakistan's longtime rival.
The Taliban then launched an offensive along parts of its southern border with Pakistan, prompting Islamabad to vow a strong response of its own.
When the truce began at 1300 GMT on Wednesday (15), Islamabad said that it was to last 48 hours, but Kabul said the ceasefire would remain in effect until Pakistan violated it.
Pakistan's defence minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif accused Kabul of acting as "a proxy of India" and "plotting" against Pakistan.
"From now on, demarches will no longer be framed as appeals for peace, and delegations will not be sent to Kabul," Asif wrote in a post on X.
"Wherever the source of terrorism is, it will have to pay a heavy price."
Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah said its forces had been ordered not to attack unless Pakistani forces fired first.
"If they do, then you have every right to defend your country," he said in an interview with the Afghan television channel Ariana, relaying the message sent to the troops.
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