While giving a call to oust the Bahujan Samaj Party government from Uttar Pradesh, Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi on Thursday urged the people to bring the Congress to power in order to see a transformed state.
Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Sunday voiced her prime ministerial ambitions by asking party workers to ensure a "big victory" for it in the next Lok Sabha elections so that she can deliver the Independence Day speech from the Red Fort.
On being asked if she would choose to withdraw her party's support to the Congress-led Union government, Mayawati said, "I have convened a huge rally of the party in Lucknow on October 9, which will be followed by a meeting of our party national executive on the following day. There we will take a final call on the question of continuing our support to the UPA government."
A total of 253 members -- out of the 471 present and voting -- voted against the motion against FDI moved by Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj, implying they were in favour of the foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail.
The Bharatiya Janata Party garnered five seats, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam got three, the Samajwadi Party, the Nationalist Congress Party and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam got two apiece and the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Shiv Sena got one each respectively as all 30 made it to the Upper House after the deadline for withdrawal of nominations drew to close on Thursday evening.
The Uttar Pradesh assembly was paralysed on the opening day of the winter session on Monday, when Bahujan Samaj Party members trained its guns on the Samajwadi Party government headed by Akhilesh Yadav.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said Mayawati government was more sympathetic towards "rich builders" than poor farmers and charged Bharatiya Janata Party, Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party with only serving their respective "vote banks" when in power in Uttar Pradesh and ignoring the common man.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley is expected to table the report of Rajya Sabha's Select Committee on Lokpal in the Upper House on Friday, the second day of the winter session of Parliament. The committee is headed by Congress leader Satyavrat Chaturvedi and such reports are usually tabled by the chairmen of the committees. The government is expected to consider the recommendations made by the Select Committee.
Bracing for an opposition onslaught in Parliament, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will host a dinner for United Progressive Alliance leaders on Friday to firm up a joint strategy on various issues like Foreign Direct Investment that are expected to come up during the session beginning next week.
Can you imagine that in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly election Bharitya Janta Party can get almost 24 per cent votes to come second in the four-cornered contest between ruling Bahujan Samaj Party, Samajwadi Party, Congress and BJP?
Sticking with the Brahmin-OBC combination for deputy chief ministers, Brajesh Pathak and Keshav Prasad Maurya took oath on Friday as deputies of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Launching its campaign in five poll-bound states, Team Anna on Saturday sought to be even-handed by targeting the Centre, Bharatiya Janata Party, Bahujan Samaj Party for bringing a "toothless" Lokpal Bill which is like a "dead body strewn with flowers".
Uttar Pradesh, unlike almost any other Indian state, is ruled and run on caste. There are more than 60 castes in the state and all compete with each other for political patronage and benefits. In some ways, caste is a bigger player in the state than either religion or national issues, says Faisal Kidwai.
Expelled Bahujan Samaj Party minister Babu Singh Kushwaha, currently facing a Central Bureau of Investigation probe for his alleged involvement in the Rs 8000 crore National Rural Health Mission scam, finally came out in the open against his one-time mentor Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Thursday.
In view of inclement weather in Uttarkhand, Bharatiya Janata Party has requested the Election Commission to postpone the polling date in the hill state from January 30 to February 10 as movement of people, vehicles and material was restricted due to heavy snowfall.
Taking on the Bharatiya Janata Party over the induction of tainted former Bahujan Samaj Party minister Babu Singh Kushwaha, Rahul Gandhi on Saturday claimed that he wanted to join the Congress after being sacked by Chief Minister Mayawati, but the party closed the doors on him. Addressing election meetings in Gorapkhpur, the All India Congress Committee general secretary also said the BJP has inducted a person who is part of the "corruption race" in the state.
"Joining of Kushwaha against whom there are serious allegations of corruption, which are being probed by CBI in BJP raises suspicion. It seems that there was a financial deal of crores for his inclusion in the BJP...this should be probed by CBI", Singh told reporters.
State BJP president Surya Pratap Shahi has alleged that the raids on Babu Singh Kushwaha were guided by the central government.
"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.
The Constitution (116th Amendment) Bill was defeated in the Lok Sabha by a determined Opposition, helped by the absence of parties supporting the government from outside like the Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal
In a sharp retort to the Congress party's tirade against the flaunting of a currency note garland by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati at a recent Bahujan Samaj Party rally in Lucknow, state Public Works Department minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui on Thursday fished out a photograph of Congress president Sonia Gandhi wearing a currency note garland.
Akhilesh's fielding candidates from a broad spectrum of castes, not just Yadavs, and with the BJP losing in several seats in Purvanchal, suggests that smaller OBC communities shifted from the BJP to the SP in the region.
Thirty per cent of candidates contesting Madhya Pradesh assembly election on the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party tickets have criminal cases against them, according to an analysis of candidates' affidavits released by watchdog Association for Democratic Reforms.
Under attack over violence in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Thursday launched a scathing attack on Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party on the issue of land acquisition.
The Congress on Friday saw a tacit understanding between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party in the induction of tainted former Uttar Pradesh minister Babu Singh Kushwaha in the saffron party saying the two parties were birds of the same feather who flock together.
Behind its high-decibel campaign, powered by well-organised party machinery, the BJP also appears to have made a slight departure from its 'next generation' approach to stay ahead of an aggressive Congress and enhance its prospects of securing a majority of seats.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday sought to re-unite the opposition by apologising on behalf of the seven Members of Parliament suspended for unruly behaviour and demanding that the government express regret for using marshals during the passage of the Women's Reservation Bill. Opposition parties and those supporting the United Progressive Alliance government from outside like Rashtriya Janata Dal, Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party were united against it.
In an interview with CNN-IBN Editor-in-Chief Rajdeep Sardesai, the West Bengal Chief Minister questioned the stability of the Centre saying Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati may bail out the government for now, but people won't bail them out in future.
Aiming to retain power at the Centre for the third time in a row, the Bharatiya Janata Party while banking heavily on its sitting MPs on Saturday released the first list of 51 candidates from Uttar Pradesh for the Lok Sabha elections.
The Bahujan Samaj Party on Monday expelled former Family Welfare Minister Babu Singh Kushwaha, once a close confidant of Mayawati who was removed from her cabinet in the wake of the killing of two chief medical officers and the National Rural Health Mission scam.
With exit polls predicting a hung assembly in Uttar Pradesh, Beni Prasad Verma, Union Minister and senior Congress leader from the state, on Sunday caused a flutter in the party by favouring a tie-up with Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party, a comment from which the party quickly distanced itself.
Ahead of the Monsoon session, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mawayati on Thursday directed her party members of Parliament and legislative assembly to do their "full homework" on issues of land acquisition, corruption and price rise which are expected to dominate Parliament and assembly proceedings.
Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, who was already seen as a potential threat to Mayawati's "dalit vote bank" is all set to have a showdown with the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party on April 14 , the birth anniversary of the party's key Dalit icon Babasaheb Ambedkar in Ambedkarnagar
Parliament was on Wednesday adjourned till noon after ruckus over demand by Bahujan Samaj Party for dismissal of Karnataka government following allegations of illegal mining in the state and Rashtriya Janata Dal claims of a deal between the government and main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party in Sohrabuddin fake encounter case.
"The victory margin will be huge since there is an alliance between Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party. Bharatiya Janata Party did not fulfil its promises and now to divert attention, it is using the security forces. It has been a failed government," Dimple Yadav said.
As leaders in both the BJP and Congress concede, neither has within their parties a leader to match Arvind Kejriwal's charisma in Delhi.
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.
Reacting to Yadav's statement that he wanted her to become the prime minister and that the SP had forged an alliance with the BSP for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls for this, Mayawati, in a tweet in Hindi, said, 'When the SP chief could not fulfil his own dream of becoming the chief minister (of Uttar Pradesh) even after securing the votes of Muslims and Yadavs and forming an alliance with several parties, how can he fulfil the dream of others to become the prime minister.'
Projecting a united face on the eve of vice presidential poll, all constituents of United Progressive Alliance and those supporting it from outside including arch rivals Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati attended a lunch hosted by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.
Singh defeated Bharatiya Janata Party's Dara Singh Chauhan in the bypoll to the Ghosi Assembly constituency in Mau district with a margin of 42,759 votes on Friday.
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