Making a difference in style of governance, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday revived the practice of meeting people to listen to their grievances at his official residence in Lucknow, a step that was ended by his predecessor Mayawati.
Mulayam Singh's bid to get a third front on his side is to get into a position where he can barter for the prime minister's job with the support of either the BJP or the Congress, says Seema Mustafa.
The rift between Samajwadi Party strongman Mulayam Singh Yadav and 'obedient' Akhilesh grew even wider with the father openly backing his son's foes in the party
Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav is caught in an escalating spat between Delhi's Jama Masjid Shahi Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari and Uttar Pradesh Minorities Minister Mohammad Azam Khan, both baying for each other.
Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Sunday attacked Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav saying he was dreaming of becoming the prime minister "day and night", but how will he handle the country, when he was unable to handle a state.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday made a commitment to provide cheap treatment even for the most dreaded of diseases in all government hospitals of the state.
Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav's talk of early Lok Sabha polls to his party cadres shocked Congress leaders engaged in backroom talks for the last two weeks to rope in his party to join the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre for giving it a stability to carry on till 2014.
Janata Dal - United national president and National Democratic Alliance convener Sharad Yadav on Saturday said he was of the opinion that there were no possibilities of mid-term Lok Sabha polls in the immediate future. "It is not right for me to comment on whatever he (Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav) has said, that only he can tell in detail...but according to my point of view, mid-term elections are nowhere visible as of now," Yadav said.
Blaming Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati for the violence over land acquisition in Noida and adjoining areas, Samajwadi Party on Monday alleged that the Bahujan Samaj Party government had ignored farmers' interests while taking over their land.
Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav on Monday ruled out the possibility of joining the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre.
Is Akhilesh actually in command or is it father Mulayam by proxy? That is the million dollar question doing rounds in Lucknow, 24 hours after the euphoria over Akhilesh Yadav's installation as the youngest ever chief minister of the country's most populous state began to fade away.
Amid murmurs of formation of a third front, Samajwadi Party and the Communist Party of India-Marxist on Tuesday sought to bridge the gap between the two following their bitter parting of ways with the SP inviting top Left leaders for the swearing-in of Akhilesh Yadav as Uttar Pradesh chief minister.
Top Samajwadi Party leaders Shivpal Singh Yadav and Mohammad Azam Khan are among those likely to take oath along with Akhilesh Yadav when he is sworn in as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh on March 15.
The Samajwadi Party, which won a spectacular majority in the assembly elections, on Friday did nothing to dispel the raging speculation over who would be the next chief minister with leaders merely saying that the issue will be decided on Saturday.
Samajwadi Party President Mulayam Singh Yadav on Saturday pointedly accused the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government at the centre of attempting to grab Waqf properties across the country through an executive order.
Well before the counting of votes commenced at 8 am on March 6, Mayawati moved out of 4 Kalidas Marg, the UP chief minister's official residence, which she had converted into an inaccessible and impregnable fortress.
It was sweet revenge for Mulayam Singh Yadav on Tuesday five years after Mayawati famously said "why kill a dead man" after the Samajwadi supremo was ousted by her in a crushing defeat.
The expensive giant statues of Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati and party symbol elephant in Uttar Pradesh will remain safe with Samajwadi's star campaigner Akhilesh Yadav saying on Tuesday they will not be pulled down after the change of guard in the state.
Notwithstanding the exit poll that has given Samjawadi Party a fantastic lead, party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, a consummate politician, has sent a feeler to the Congress, say sources in Lucknow.
Having completed a grueling election campaign across Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav is now back in Lucknow eagerly awaiting the verdict of the people. In an exclusive interview with rediff.com's Sharat Pradhan, he shares his strategy and outlines the factors that went in favour of his party in this election
Prashant Bhushan, a member of the Lokpal Bill joint drafting committee, on Sunday said the CD carrying purported telephone conversation between his father Shanti Bhushan, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh was "doctored".
After rolling out a whole lot of sops for the young and old alike in fulfillment of his Samajwadi Party's election promises, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has found a novel way to appease the state's 500-odd legislators.
Rajya Sabha member of Parliament Amar Singh has "admitted" that he facilitated the purported conversation between Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and noted lawyer Shanti Bhushan, which is contained in the controversial CD, the Delhi police has told a court in New Delhi.
Lawyer Shanti Bhushan on Tuesday alleged some minister or a "very powerful" Congress leader could be behind the circulation of the CD containing purported conversations between him and political leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh.
Addressing an election meeting, Amar Singh charged Mulayam with giving protection to the corrupt and criminals and said that Yadav's cycle, SP's poll symbol, "had two wheels (Mualyam and Amar Singh) of which one has been removed and with one wheel left it would only grace a circus after the polls".
While flaying the Mayawati government for rising incidence of rape and murder in Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav declared in Siddharth Nagar on Sunday that if his party were to be voted to power, he would ensure government jobs to every rape victim.
In a bid to project a non-partisan face, Anna Hazare and his team on Sunday shot off a series of letters to leaders, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Rahul Gandhi and Bharatiya Janata Party President Nitin Gadkari, trying to put them on the mat on the Lokpal issue ahead of Assembly polls in five states.
Mulayam is a street fighter of old, and not new to the art of bargaining and pressure politics. He obviously used Mamata's antipathy towards Pranab to go along with her and moot three names, different from the ones suggested by Sonia Gandhi. The idea was obviously to send his own message to an otherwise unheeding Congress party, that they had to take his concerns on board, says Neerja Chowdhury.
Despite implementation of several five year plans, crores of people in the country are deprived of two square meals, Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav on Monday said.
"Ramdev is fighting against black money. It has my full support. We had been against black money and will continue to do so," Mulayam Singh Yadav said after meeting Ramdev at his residence.
"Mulayam Singh is the first choice of party legislators, members of Parliament and senior party office bearers. He has experience of running the government and he will be the CM, if party is voted to power", Akhilesh said in reply to a question
Hitting out at opposition parties for calling his visit to Dalit homes as "madness", Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said he would continue to indulge in such an act all his life.
With the opposition led by Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav getting belligerent over the firing on farmers protesting against inadequate compensation for land acquired for the ambitious Yamuna Expressway project, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has got into a damage control mode.
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Friday complained that Congress has not been treating his party well but despite that he ruled out withdrawal of support to the United Progressive Alliance government.
"We are confident of getting an absolute majority. If that situation (hung assembly) arises then everything depends on election results," Akhilesh Yadav, President of Uttar Pradesh Samajwadi Party, told PTI.
Amid talk about the possibility of two parties forging a tie-up in Uttar Pradesh after the upcoming assembly polls, Yadav said, "We will continue to support the Congress-led government at the Centre. That's because we wish to keep communal forces at bay."
In the backdrop of the hype over Mulayam Singh Yadav attending UPA's anniversary dinner, his Samajwadi Party sought to downplay it and went on to attack the Centre over 2G and other scams.
Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav seemed the happiest at the dinner hosted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to celebrate the beginning of the ninth year of the United Progressive Alliance government.
Sharat Pradhan examines how Mulayam Singh Yadav's foreign-education son is transforming the Samajwadi Party.