Appealing to party workers to treat Bahujan Samaj Party's victory in Uttar Pradesh assembly elections as her birthday gift, Chief Minister and party supremo Mayawati on Sunday released a list of candidates for all 403 seats in the state.
From royalty to a tea vendor-turned-politician's wife and from a first lady to a Bengali actress, the 18 Muslim women who treaded the hallowed corridors of power in the Lok Sabha are an eclectic mix, with each of them having an interesting backstory, but one common thread -- their path to power was always strewn with struggle and hurdles.
"We don't agree with the ideology of the Congress. But we will support it to keep the BJP out of power," Mayawati said.
Polling for the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections for 94 seats will take place today, covering 11 States and Union Territory.
With major political parties shying away from giving them tickets for Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, lesser-known political outfits have become a hot favourite of listed gangsters and those having a criminal past.
Announcing it on X, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said she has taken the decision in the interest of the party and the movement and till the time Anand gains "full maturity".
The Crime Branch of the Criminal Investigation Department, which was entrusted with the probe into the sensational case, took BSP MLA Jitendra Singh 'Babloo' and UP State Ganna Sansthan chairman Intezar Abdi 'Bobby' into custody late Thursday night.
Prominent Bhartiya Janata Party leaders on Friday came out openly against their party leadership's decision to induct tainted and ousted Bahujan Samaj Party minister Babu Singh Kushwaha into the party fold.
The 13 who have been disqualified were the ones who first broke away from the BSP to lend support to the Mulayam Singh government.
The ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday retained the Handia assembly seat by defeating its Bahujan Samaj Party rival by a comprehensive margin of more than 26,000 votes.
The Bahujan Samaj Party will not enter into any alliance for Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand assembly polls, party chief Mayawati said.
On the eve of the counting of votes in Rajasthan, both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress have started reaching out to independent candidates, including rebels, and smaller parties.
The Congress on Monday claimed that it will play a crucial role in the formation of the next government in Uttar Pradesh and dismissed as personal views Union Minister Beni Prasad Verma's suggestions for a tie-up with the Bahujan Samaj Party.
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Mayawati, a former Uttar Pradesh chief minister, said she is hopeful her nephew will emerge as a "mature" leader.
Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party has emerged as the third largest party in the Rajya Sabha, relegating the CPI(M) to fourth position in yet another bad news for Marxists ahead of the Assembly polls in West Bengal and Kerala.
Mayawati said both the BJP and the SP indulged in empty talks to win the votes of Dalits and Brahmins, but neither safeguarded their interests when in power.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Thursday admitted that people were "disappointed" with the party and appeared to be hitting out at party chief Nitin Gadkari as he said the campaign against corruption had been hurt due to induction of an ousted Bahujan Samaj Party leader facing graft charges.
Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi on Tuesday asserted that Congress will not form alliance with Bahujan Samaj Party, Samajwadi Party or Bharatiya Janata Party in the event of a hung assembly in the state.
The Bharat Rashtra Samithi has fielded 114 crorepati candidates followed by the Congress (111), the Bharatiya Janata Party (93) and 30 by the Bahujan Samaj Party.
The focus now shifts to smaller parties and Independents who will play an important role in government formation.
The old alliance between the BJP and the SAD broke last year when the Shiromani Akali Dal quit the National Democratic Alliance over the farm laws.
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Sunday declared her nephew Akash Anand as her 'uttaradhikari (heir)', a party office-bearer said.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Friday took 'serious note' of certain objectionable remarks made by BJP member Ramesh Bidhuri in the House and warned him of 'strict action' if such behaviour is repeated in the future, officials said.
Four Samajwadi Party MLAs who cross-voted for the Bharatiya Janata Party in the February 27 Rajya Sabha elections have been allocated Y-category security, a senior government official said on Sunday.
Her official Twitter handle is @SushriMayawati.
Polling for the fifth phase of the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections will take place on May 20, 2024, with 49 seats going to the polls across 8 states.
In the chair was Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, a Bharatiya Janata Party leader of the old school with friends across parties unlike the duo who currently run the BJP.
'Everybody knows Mayawati sells party tickets and even her party members take pride in telling this'
Despite Mayawati's pre-poll claims that her Bahujan Samaj Party would spring a surprise in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, the party was leading in only three of the 403 seats in the state, trends showed Thursday.
Kankar Munjare, a former MLA and MP, said he would return home after polling day on April 19.
Earlier this month, there were speculations that Nath might switch over to the BJP, but he refuted such reports as "creation of media."
Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini has reached out to the SCs and the poor with the accelerated implementation of various schemes, especially the B R Ambedkar housing scheme.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar is a "senior leader and MLA of the party", Supriya Sule said on Thursday when asked about the status of the former in the Nationalist Congress Party.
Polling for the fourth phase of the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections will take place on Monday, May 13, 2024, with 96 seats going to the polls across 10 states.
The BJP got the benefit of a split in Muslim votes in some seats of western UP, and its candidates registered wins from Muzaffarnagar, Kairana, Meerut, Bulandshahr, Baghpat and Aligarh Lok Sabha seats.
Election Commission data shows 15.88 crore (158.8 million) voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the second phase on Friday.
The Congress has proposed AAP should contest five seats while the Samajwadi Party and Left parties could contest one seat each.
