Giving a new twist to the race for power in Uttarakhand, Bahujan Samaj Party, whose three MLAs can tilt the balance, on Thursday said it was in touch with both Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party as the two rival contenders for power claimed they will form the next government.
Mayawati must not be shattered right now. Had she not done what she did, she would have lost the Dalit votebank -- that would have been the end of her political career. As someone told me during the elections, the BSP was not fighting this election for power. It was fighting this election to save its core, says Shivam Vij.
The gangster-politician was booked in 65 criminal cases ranging from murder to extortion and was elected an MLA five times on the tickets of different political parties.
Sensing defeat, the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party have launched a new game plan for a fractured mandate in Uttar Pradesh so that they can have bargaining power, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday.
Arrested ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA Shekhar Tiwari on Friday confessed that he had beaten and tortured PWD executive engineer Manoj Kumar Gupta until he succumbed to his wounds in the early hours of December 24 in Auraiya in central Uttar Pradesh.
The Uttar Pradesh police on Monday arrested two gunmen engaged in the personal security of Bahujan Samaj Party legislator Shekhar Tiwari, who is behind bars for allegedly murdering PWD engineer Manoj Kumar Gupta in Auraiya on December 24. "We suspect Tiwari's gunners Pal Singh and Gajraj Singh, so we arrested them today," UP Additional Director General of Police (law and order) Brijlal said on Minday evening.
Bahujan Samaj Party candidate Mukul Upadhyay on Saturday became emotional and broke down while addressing a rally in Ramlila ground of Kavinagar area. The incident took place shortly before BSP supremo Mayawati's arrival at the rally venue.
Over 60 per cent voter turnout was recorded on Monday in 49 constituencies in six states and two Union territories in the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections, with Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir recording its highest-ever voting percentage.
Party to contest 160 seats in Madhya Pradesh, 125 in Rajasthan, 55 in Chhattisgarh and 40 in Delhi in coming Assembly polls
BSP's poor show in Delhi assembly elections may cost it national party status.
A day after failing to topple the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government during the trust vote, leaders of the Left parties, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the United National Progressive Alliance met in New Delhi to chalk out their future course of action.The meeting, held at the residence of BSP supremo Mayawati, was attended by Communist Party of India Marxist General Secretary Prakash Karat, Communist Party of India leaders A B Bardhan and D Raja.
"The two parties always had a tacit understanding in Uttar Pradesh," Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh told media persons when asked his views on the BJP and BSP describing party general secretary Rahul Gandhi's 'padayatra' in UP as a political drama.
Ali also said he was hopeful that action would be taken by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla against Bidhuri in line with the traditions of the Lower House and the Constitution.
Those disqualified by Speaker Somnath Chatterjee are Bhalchandra Yadav (Khalilabad), Ramakant Yadav (Azamgarh) and Mohammad Shahid Akhlaque and their seats in the House have been declared vacant. Petitions for their disqualification were filed by the BSP under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution (anti-defection law) on the ground that the three MPs had voluntarily given up the membership of their party and joined the Samajwadi Party.
Out of the 25 seats, five seats each are reserved for Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes.
The ruling Bahujan Samaj Party has finalised its list of candidates for a number of places for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections slated to be held in 2012.
In a relief to Mulayam Singh government in Uttar Pradesh, the Supreme Court Friday stayed an Allahabad high court order and said the breakaway BSP legislators will continue as a separate group in the Assembly.
A bench comprising Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Justice Amitava Roy, while allowing the plea of the Pooja Pal, wife of slain leader, asked the probe agency to conclude the probe in the case preferably within six months.
The committee headed by Bharatiya Janata Party MP Vinod Kumar Sonkar is meeting later on Thursday to adopt its draft report in what is likely to be hotly contested by opposition members of the panel.
"The Bahujan Samaj Party will get around 15% of votes in New Delhi," says the Bhartiya Janata Party's chief ministerial candidate Professor Vijay Kumar Malhotra.
The Budget session of the Uttar Pradesh assembly got off to a tempestuous start on Thursday with opposition Bahujan Samaj Party creating pandemonium during the governor's address to the joint sitting of both Houses, forcing him to cut short his speech.
The Enforcement Directorate on Monday detected cash deposits totalling over Rs.104 crore in an account belonging to the Bahujan Samaj Party and Rs 1.43 crore in an account belonging to party Supremo Mayawati's brother Anand in a branch of United Bank of India in New Delhi, sources in the Enforcement Directorate said.
The Lok Sabha Secretariat on Thursday revoked the disqualification of Bahujan Samaj Party leader Afzal Ansari as a member of the Lower House after the Supreme Court conditionally suspended his conviction in a Gangsters Act case.
Terming the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government as 'anti-Dalit', the Bahujan Samaj Party on Friday demanded that a special session of Parliament should be called in August to clear the Bill for reservation in promotions for Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribe employees.
Mayawati was outmanoeuvred by the BJP in the race for the Rajya Sabha in Uttar Pradesh just days after she helped the Samajwadi Party snatch two Lok Sbaha seats from the saffron party in bypolls.
In an obvious bid to leave everyone guessing on her political heir, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati appointed a second national vice-president of the party, late Tuesday night.
The BSP has released its first list of 96 candidates.
R K Singh Patel, a sitting MLA from Chitrakoot-Karvi, joined SP in the presence of state PWD Minister Shivpal Singh Yadav.
While summoning the MLA, the court also rejected the final report filed by the CBCID where the victims have claimed that the accused are their husbands.
Bahujan Samaj Party on Saturday released its list of 125 candidates with caste names for the upcoming Bihar assembly polls.
'Commentators have said that dealing with allies as equals will make Modi more sensitive.' 'Remember that the people Modi is dealing with are equally autocratic in their own lairs.' 'Further, Modi always has handy the threat of dissolving Parliament and calling for fresh polls.' 'Most of his own party, and certainly his allies and opponents having blown their budgets of efforts and resources in the just concluded elections, have no stomach for this.' 'They are all greatly looking forward to the loaves and fishes of office on offer.' 'That gives Modi an unbeatable advantage in any push-comes-to-shove situation,' explains Shreekant Sambrani.
Former Bahujan Samaj Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya has described Congress Uttar Pradesh chief ministerial candidate Sheila Dikshit as discard from Delhi, drawing sharp reaction from her party leaders on Thursday.
Congress o Tuesday sought to take some credit for Samajwadi Party's victory in Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, saying Rahul Gandhi had made "immense contribution" to creating atmosphere against the "misrule" of Mayawati which benefited Mulayam Singh Yadav.
'Can we force somebody to contest and fight an election when they don't want to contest an election?'
In remarks tinged with sarcasm, the chief minister said she was grateful to the previous BJP-led regime at the Centre for the CBI raids at her residences.
Uttar Pradesh minister Azam Khan on Monday alleged that almost 90 per cent prime properties of the Waqf Board have been "sold to builders by previous Bahujan Samaj Party and Samajwadi party governments" and vowed to bring a legislation to restore them back to the board.
"Our target was the decimation of the Samajwadi Party and we have succeeded in it," Salman Khursheed said, congratulating Mayawati on her party's performance.
In financial year 2020-21, the BJP declared assets worth Rs 4,990 crore, up by 21.17 per cent to Rs 6,046.81 crore in 2021-22.
'The tragedy with Indian Muslims is that they do politics from the heart, not from the head.'
The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has pinned its hopes on the old guard to ensure victory in next month's assembly elections in Chhattisgarh as it gave tickets to 11 sitting MLAs and renominated 13 leaders who lost in the 2018 polls.
