Former external affairs minister K Natwar Singh was on Tuesday expelled by the Bahujan Samaj Party for indulging in anti-party activities and was accused of indiscipline and lack of faith in the Bahujan samaj movement, four months after he joined Uttar Pradesh's ruling party. Announcing the expulsion, BSP national general secretary Satish Chandra Misra said it was found that Singh had joined the BSP after leaving Congress in August with some "ulterior motives."
Bahujan Samaj Party National General Secretary Satish Chandra Mishra on Sunday said his party symbol elephant haunts Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in his dreams as the BSP was all set to "reach" the national capital soon.
The youth -- their dreams of government jobs unfulfilled -- are voicing their frustration.
The Supreme Court had last month ruled that any appeal for votes on the ground of 'religion, race, caste, community or language' amounted to 'corrupt practice' under the electoral law.
Mulayam Singh Yadav's son took exception to certain remarks made by a BSP member against his father.
BSP candidate Virendra Singh defeated SP's Anil Rajbhar, son of Ramjit Rajbhar, whose death necessitated the bypoll, by 3,510 votes.
The development is being seen as a blow to the opposition Congress which was planning to forge a grand alliance in Chhattisgrah to unseat the ruling BJP.
Mayawati said that the BSP and the SP would not ally with the Congress party in the upcoming elections.
The ruling Bahujan Samaj Party has won the by-elections to all five constituencies, two Lok Sabha and three Vidhan Sabha seats, which went to polls on April 12. BSP candidate Bhismshankar alias Kushal Tiwari won the Khalilababad Lok Sabha seat by a margin of over 64,000 votes, trouncing his nearest rival Bhalchandra Yadav of SP. BSP nominee Akbar Ahmad Dampi won the Azamgarh Lok Sabha seat defeating his nearest rival Ramakant Yadav of BJP by a margin of over 53,000 votes.
BSP is the first party in the state to release names of candidates for the forthcoming assembly polls. The list of 62 candidates from 31 districts included three women and one Muslim. Party sources said the BSP would try to repeat its success story in Uttar Pradesh. For the purpose, the party has roped in members of different castes, particularly Brahmins and Thakurs of the upper caste.
Jammu and Kashmir BJP chief Ravinder Raina, seeking re-election from Nowshera assembly constituency of Rajouri district in Jammu and Kashmir, is facing a major challenge from his former party colleague Surinder Choudhary.
Hits street with demonstrations across 75 UP districts
BJP will find it tougher to push contentious Bills, especially those that would require Constitutional amendments, without the support of its allies and cooperation from the Opposition.
"Some BSP MPs on the instructions of their leadership tried to misbehave with me, I just resisted it. Ask BSP whose members who don't know the democratic ways. I will file a written complaint against him for such a shameful and unparliamentary behaviour and demand action from the Special Privileges Committee," he told media persons when asked about the scuffle in the House on Wednesday.
Bahujan Samaj Party MLA Krishna Kumar Singh, who had joined the Samajwadi Party, was on Monday disqualified from the Uttar Pradesh assembly by the Speaker, the fourth party MLA to face action under the anti-defection law.
Instead of harvesting the wrath against the BJP and using it to their advantage by opting for a collective form of leadership, the Congress decided once again to bestow their trust in the Hooda family who were given a free hand in the distribution of tickets. This turned out to be the biggest blunder and this faulty selection was the single over riding factor in the Congress defeat, explains Rashme Sehgal.
The withdrawal of the candidature by DPAP leaders on the last day on August 30 is seen as a boost to the NC-Congress alliance.
The best-case scenario is that the BJP will top out at around 50 seats in UP -- a drop of 12 from the 62 it had won in 2019. Taken in tandem with Maharashtra and Karnataka, this is what is likely to put paid to the BJP's ambitions of a third term for Modi, argues Prem Panicker.
Amid a political crisis in the wake of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam pulling out of United Progressive Alliance, Bahujan Samaj Party on Wednesday said it will continue to support the government from outside but will not join it. "We will not be part of the government. We did not join it earlier and even now, we will not be part of it. We will continue to support it from outside," BSP supremo Mayawati told reporters outside Parliament House.
Earlier this month, there were speculations that Nath might switch over to the BJP, but he refuted such reports as "creation of media."
No one will want President's rule imposed in the state and the BJP run the government through the remote control.
Both the parties had been banking heavily on the internal feud in the first family of the state
'It will be a grand alliance where they could get the Muslims, Dalits and Yadavs in one camp and pose a serious challenge to whatever the BJP might conjure up in the run-up to the 2019 election.'
Modi's remarks at an election rally in Mirzapur in the backward eastern region of Uttar Pradesh came amid war of words on supply of electricity in the state.
The SP president and the RLD chief announced the tie-up on social media for the general elections later this year.
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati attacked the Samajwadi Party government over the murder of her party leader, saying that there is total lawlessness in the state and that the Centre should intervene to improve the situation.
The opposition parties on Sunday slammed the move to hire public servants through lateral entry, claiming it will snatch reservations from SCs, STs and OBCs, but the Bharatiya Janata Party hit back stating the National Democratic Alliance government was bringing transparency to this mode of recruitment started by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance.
Sources said the committee is also expected to underline its unhappiness at the conduct of some opposition members during its proceedings and make a mention of it in its recommendations to the House.
A statement from the Congress said the party's disciplinary committee decided to suspend Kumbhani after a thorough discussion, adding it had come to the conclusion that the nomination form was rejected due to gross negligence on his part or "in connivance with the BJP".
Political parties and leaders wait with bated breath for the Haryana and Jammu-Kashmir assembly poll results on Tuesday.
Shinde welcomed the former Rajasthan minister to the Shiv Sena and said Gudha left the ministerial position for the cause of people.
Local Congress workers, led by city unit's working president Dinesh Savalia, staged a protest outside Kumbhani's locked house in Puna Gam area, calling him traitor and accusing him of giving a walkover to the BJP.
Jumping into the Lok Sabha electoral fray in the national capital, Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party has declared candidates for four constituencies. One of the candidates is a billionaire, who unsuccessfully contested the Delhi assembly polls in 2008.
"Will wait and watch for results, as of now not thinking of alliance with anyone," BSP sources told ANI.
The ruling Congress, voted to office in 2018 after 15 years in opposition, and the Bharatiya Janata Party are the main contenders for power in the state, where the Aam Aadmi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and some regional outfits are also in the fray.
Slogan shouting Congress and BJP members on Monday forced four adjournments of Rajya Sabha demanding dismissal of SAD-BJP government in Punjab over alleged atrocities against Dalit youths.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has referred MPs' complaints on the issue involving BJP member Ramesh Bidhuri's use of objectionable words against BSP's Danish Ali to the Privileges Committee, sources said on Thursday.
About 82 per cent of the total income from unknown sources declared by national political parties in 2022-23 came from electoral bonds, according to a poll rights body.
SP legislator from Swar Tanda (Rampur), Nawab Kazim Ali, and Ram Sewak Singh Patel, BJS MLA from Binawar (Badaun) joined the BSP in Lucknow.
