"The BJP has four Bs -- 'Badhta Bharat' and 'Banta Bharat'. Those who are forming an alliance have four Bs -- 'bua' (aunt), 'bhatija' (nephew), 'bhai' (brother) and 'behen' (sister)," Shah said, accusing the opposition parties of dynastic politics.
Bahujan Samaj Party supremo and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati on Tuesday challenged the new chief minister Akhilesh Yadav's diktat, changing the names of each of the eight districts carved out by her as well as that of two institutions named after Dalit icons in the state.
Before pedalling down the streets of the state capital, Yadav told mediapersons at the party headquarters that the BJP government has "failed" in Covid management.
'...if elections were to be held today.' 'The problem is Akhilesh is not very aggressive.' 'Had he started his campaign aggressively six months ago, the picture in UP would have been very different.'
The Bahujan Samaj Party has resisted giving up the bungalow on 13-A, Mall Avenue, saying that it had been converted into a memorial to Kanshi Ram in 2011, and the BSP leader occupied just a small portion of it.
In the backdrop of the Muzaffarnagar police's order asking eateries on the Kanwar yatra route to display their owners' names, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Thursday said it may spread the 'disease of untouchability'.
Hours after Mayawati announced her plans of going solo in future elections in a series of tweets, a senior SP leader accused her of "weakening" the fight for social justice.
To repeated questions, the SP chief asserted that the Congress was 'very much in the alliance'.
After renaming eight districts carved out by his predecessor Mayawati, her bete noire and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday ordered that the name of an Arabic and Persian University in Lucknow also be changed.
In an embarrassment to the Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh, a ruling party Member of Legislative Assembly alleged that corruption during Akhilesh Yadav's regime has surpassed the record set during Mayawati's tenure.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday accused the previous Bahujan Samaj Party government of taking wrong decisions and committing irregularities in all the departments and spending crores of rupees on stone structures, memorials and statues.
Accusing the Opposition of 'misleading' people on the amended citizenship law, Shah on Tuesday threw the challenge for the debate to Rahul Gandhi (Congress), Mamata Banerjee (Trinamool Congress), Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati.
The ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh on Monday said all scams reported during tenure of the previous Bahujan Samaj Party government are being probed and if former chief minister Mayawati is found guilty, legal action would be initiated against her.
The chief minister of Uttar Pradesh has taken steps to show people of the state the difference between him and his predecessor Mayawati. Sharat Pradhan reports
Mulayam Singh and Mayawati fell out after their ruling coalition in Uttar Pradesh crashed in 1995, two years after they came together along with smaller parties to keep the Bharatiya Janata Party out of power.
If Muslims back Mayawati, nothing can stop her from forming the next government in UP.
Facing strident demands for the arrest of Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya booked in the DSP murder case, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday promised to take action against those found guilty.
The Samajwadi Party and Congress have announced that they will contest together under the INDIA bloc.
With a view to undoing his predecessor Mayawati's excesses against farmers of Tappal village who had staged violent protests against the construction of Yamuna Expressway, the Akhilesh Yadav government on Friday decided to withdraw the criminal cases lodged against the farmers
Reversing yet another decision taken during Mayawati regime, the Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday decided to discontinue two schemes in the name of Dalit icon Bhimrao Ambedkar and launch a fresh one in the name of socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia.
'There is one way to defeat the intention behind this directive: To patronise Muslim establishments that have been forced to identify themselves.' 'This is one opportunity for the Congress to show that the 'mohabbat ki dukaan' its leader talks about does exist.' 'Can Akhilesh Yadav, who has asked the court to take note of this directive, order his party members to do this?' asks Jyoti Punwani.
Over 50 people have been arrested after the communal violence in Maharajgaj town, officials said on Tuesday, as markets remained shut and people stayed indoors for a second day in a row amid heavy deployment of police and other security personnel.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday kept the bulk of ministries, including the key Home and Finance, with him.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has claimed that an alleged financial fraud to the tune of Rs 40,000 crore could emerge in the installation of statues of elephants and memorials by the previous Mayawati government in the state. Akhilesh made the claim a day after a search was carried out by the police at the office of Rajkiya Nirman Nigam in Gomti Nagar for alleged irregularities in erection of statues of elephants at parks in Lucknow and Noida.
Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati's dream projects, including memorials and parks in the name of Dalit icons in Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow, would now witness marriages and cultural events with the Akhilesh Yadav government deciding to use the space for public purposes.
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party took a swipe at the Congress, with its leader Ravi Shankar Prasad saying forging a coalition was not in its DNA and it only gives importance to the Gandhi family.
The BSP chief said Uttar Pradesh, which is India's largest state, will decide who will be the next prime minister.
The BSP supremo also ridiculed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for "not taking cognisance" of suicides by Dalit students when his party was in power.
The BJP, which won the Samajwadi Party strongholds of Rampur and Azamgarh in 2022 bypolls, hopes to wrest Mainpuri too.
His outburst came a day after UP Governor Ram Naik asked the state government to take action over the reported damage to the bungalow vacated by the former chief minister, calling it a serious matter involving the taxpayer's money.
'I will make Akash join the BSP movement and give him a chance to learn,' she said in a statement.
SP president Akhilesh Yadav and ally RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary are unlikely to participate in the Yatra due to "preoccupation" with their party programmes, their party leaders said.
'The 16th and 17th Lok Sabha and the 2017 assembly election show that Dalits and OBCs are moving towards the BJP.'
Far from fulfilling his oft repeated proclamations about converting his bete noire former chief minister Mayawati's dream projects -- the multi-billion parks and memorials -- into hospitals and institutions, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav appeared to be following her very footsteps.
Mayawati made it amply clear that her party will not enter into any alliance with the Congress.
She lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Samajwadi Party and the Congress, holding them responsible for the lack of jobs and migration from the state.
The Bihar CM and Rahul, through their emissaries, have been in touch to shape an alliance with the Akhilesh Yadav-led SP faction as its head.
The BSP chief's brother Anand Kumar has been appointed as the party's national vice president and her nephew Akash Anand as its national coordinator.
The former UP CM also expressed his gratitude towards Mayawati, who was once his party's bitterest rival in UP.