Statues of Bhimbaro Ambedkar were vandalised by unidentified persons at three places in Uttar Prdaesh's Azamgarh district, triggering protests from Bahujan Samaj Party workers who blocked roads and staged demonstrations.
While the 'most wanted' Amit Jani, founder president of the organisation, was picked up along with his second-in-command Rajendra Singh Chaudhary 'Ferrari' from their hideout in Delhi, Qasim, a newly-inducted member, was arrested from his residence in Lucknow.
Despite heavy snowfall in Srinagar, the rally to mark the culmination of Bharat Jodo Yatra went ahead, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other prominent leaders of opposition parties addressing the march.
The opposition strategy seems to be to get these amendments incorporated into the final bill that will then be put to vote. This will mean that the Congress may be forced to vote against the final bill, since it may not be in agreement with some of the amendments forced by the opposition.
Finance minister P Chidambaram assured a select gathering in New Delhi on Tuesday that Union Budget of 2013 will be presented on schedule. He expressed hope, that like it happened in 2004, it will not be passed without debating.
Flaying the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government at the centre, and holding it responsible for the unabated price rise, BSP leaders made it a point to stress that, "none other than Mayawati can bring down the prices in the country."
The race for the next state assembly in Uttar Pradesh may be largely four cornered. But it is increasingly evident that the electoral battle slated for February in the country's most populous state is bound to largely remain Mayawati vs. the rest, reports Sharat Pradhan.
Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Wednesday kept up the suspense on continuance of outside support to the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre, saying a decision on the issue will be taken soon. She also asked party cadres to be ready for snap polls which "can take place any time" in view of the "instability" at the Centre.
The ruling Bahujan Samaj Party has strongly refuted All India Congress Committee general secretary Digvijay Singh's sweeping allegations about massacre of farmers by the Uttar Pradesh police in Greater Noida's BhattaParsaul village, where a violent clash had ensued between cops and protesting local farmers earlier this month.
Predicting an early Lok Sabha election, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Tuesday called upon her supporters to get into the poll gear and start working towards expanding the party base to ride on to power at the Centre.
With the Rajya Sabha taking up the controversial quota in promotion bill after a high drama, the Congress on Thursday complimented its floor managers for finding a way out of the tussle between the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party on the measure.
Whether it is the Samajwadi Party or the Bahujan Samaj Party, both will need the Congress's helping hand," said a Cabinet minister.
Did you miss out on the debates in Lok Sabha on FDI in retail? Read the debate texts here
'I declared myself a Sikh. We want freedom from caste discrimination.'
Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Friday kept up the suspense on her party's stand on voting on the Foreign Direct Investment in retail issue in Rajya Sabha, saying it will be declared on the floor of the House.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and Bahujan Samaj Party on Monday disrupted proceedings in the Rajya Sabha demanding inclusion of life of freedom fighter Rani Avantibai in the school curriculum leading to two adjournments.
Apart from the 18 members of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), including the Bharatiya Janata Party, seven non-National Democratic Alliance parties will attend the ceremony, going by their stated position on the issue which has snowballed into another political flashpoint between the ruling and opposition camps.
Opposition Bahujan Samaj Party on Tuesday created noisy scenes in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly over alleged "massive irregularities" in the procurement of wheat in the state and walked out expressing dissatisfaction of the government's response to the matter.
Samajwadi Party and Shiv Sena on Thursday thwarted an attempt in the Rajya Sabha to take up for passage the contentious Bill providing for quota in promotion for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes in government jobs.
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.'
The Bahujan Samaj Party and Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party forced adjournment of the Rajya Sabha on the opening day of the monsoon session of Parliament, protesting delay in introduction of new law on land acquisition and scams, including 2G spectrum.
National Democratic Alliance Convenor Sharad Yadav, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, BSP member Dara Singh Chauhan and RJD leader Lalu Prasad claimed that the inclusion of caste in census at the biometric stage amounted to befooling the people.
Despite being criticised over the currency garland controversy, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Wednesday defied the authorities by appearing again with a second currency garland.
Rising from the shock and dismay of the devastating defeat at the March state assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati is trying to put her party back into gear."We must show the Samajwadi Party its place in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, in which we must retain our last tally of 20 seats at all costs," Mayawati told a gathering of her party leaders in Lucknow last week.
A statue of Bahujan Samaj Party supremo and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati in the heart of Lucknow was attacked by vandals on Thursday. The statue was attacked with a hammer, beheaded and its hands were chopped off.
In a major blow to the Samajwadi Party, Ranjana Bajpai, chief of the SP's women's wing, joined hands with the party's avowed rival Bahujan Samaj Party on Saturday.The move comes in the wake of SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav's decision to withdraw her ticket as the party nominee for the Sitapur Lok Sabha seat.Attributing her decision to the 'neglect of Brahmins in the Samajwadi Party', Bajpai pointedly accused SP general secretary Amar Singh of having "hijacked the party."
Welcoming Das into the party, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister announced that the veteran Congress leader will be the party's candidate from Lucknow parliamentary in the next year's Lok Sabha polls. Mayawati also appointed the forty-six-year-old leader as the BSP's national general secretary.
Three women, including a Bahujan Samaj Party leader, who levelled some allegations against two ministers and staged a demonstration in front of Uttar Chief Minister Mayawati's cavalcade during her surprise visit in Aligarh, have been arrested, a senior police official said.
The inimitable 52-year old dalit leader who had already got two imposing statues of herself installed in Lucknow, has now decided to "gift" three more of her statues to the state capital.
A yoga guru has been detained by the Delhi crime branch in connection with the murder of Bahujan Samaj Party leader Deepak Bhardwaj, officials said in Indore.
Around twelve people have been questioned in connection with the murder of local Bahujan Samaj Party leader Deepak Bhardwaj with police on Wednesday saying that it was probing whether any contract killers from Haryana's Sonepat area were involved.
The Congress on Thursday attacked Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati for dubbing Rahul Gandhi's dharna in Greater Noida as "mean theatrics", saying she was acting out of "frustration".
A statue of Dr B R Ambedkar was found desecrated in Gyanpur district on Tuesday morning, leading to tension in the area, police said.
With the SP leadership already known to be looking for an opportunity to shake hands with Congress, Mayawati's decision was bound to propel the Congress leadership to respond at last -- even though the withdrawal was not likely to even remotely affect the fate of the UPA government. Political compulsions are bound to bring the two adversaries to a negotiating table since both have a tougher task ahead of them -- to tackle the visibly increasing might of the BSP.
Uttar Pradesh's Chief Minister-designate Akhilesh Yadav has said he will seek an election to the state's Legislative Council instead of contesting an Assembly by-poll.
The Samajwadi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party appeared to take early leads in Uttar Pradesh where counting of votes began after a seven-phased elections concluded on Saturday.
A torrent of issues ranging from price rise to demand for dismissal of Mayawati government and immediate execution of Ajmal Kasab and Afzal Guru drowned the second day of the Monsoon session of Parliament on Tuesday.
Opposition parties on Wednesday opposed the 'one nation, one election' proposal by calling it impractical and a 'cheap stunt' by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
In a frontal attack on the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party, the Congress on Saturday pointedly blamed the Mayawati government for the prevailing backwardness and poverty in Bundelkhand area.
More politicians are getting "Z-plus" security and the new entrants include Union Minister Beni Prasad Verma and Bahujan Samaj Party MP Brajesh Pathak months after the list of VIPs in this category was pruned during P Chidambaram's tenure as home minister.