Political observers say that neither Mulayam Singh Yadav nor Mayawati have any intention of toppling the UPA government, as neither stand to gain from it. Sharat Pradhan reports
Mayawati's eventful tenure in Uttar Pradesh seems to be heading for a change in the upcoming assembly elections, expected to be held in February-March next year.
Azad said electoral laws make it clear that the ruling party should have no advantage during elections and both the Opposition and the ruling side should be on an equal footing.
The United Progressive Alliance government on Monday had a smooth sailing in Lok Sabha with key ally Trinamool Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party walking out and the Samajwadi Party withdrawing its amendments to the President's address, notwithstanding the hype surrounding their opposition on issues like the National Counterterrorism Center.
Hours after Mayawati announced her plans of going solo in future elections in a series of tweets, a senior SP leader accused her of "weakening" the fight for social justice.
Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati's dream projects, including memorials and parks in the name of Dalit icons in Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow, would now witness marriages and cultural events with the Akhilesh Yadav government deciding to use the space for public purposes.
Conceding that the RJS is the "big brother" in Bihar, the Congress said that Rahul was "the face of anti-NDA forces" in the country.
With the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam pulling out of the United Progressive Alliance, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday said the party is ready for the general elections as the continuation of the central government is not in the interest of the country.
Muslims have been given tickets in 36 of the 100 seats.
Sharing the dais for the first time in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and daughter Priyanka on Tuesday lambasted the Mayawati regime for lack of development alleging large-scale corruption in implementation of central schemes worth Rs 1 lakh crore.
Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati and Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh remained Congress star campaigner Rahul Gandhi's main target, as he went on a full-throated campaign in different constituencies falling under the first phase of the five-phased Uttar Pradesh state assembly elections. Sharat Pradhan reports.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav are and 10 political leaders who were on Thursday elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
The Congress general secretary said that the Bahujan Samaj Party, Samajwadi Party and Bharatiya Janata Party was responsible for corruption in the state and flayed them for pilfering funds sent by the Centre. Sharat Pradhan reports
Unruly scenes were witnessed in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday after the opposition members raised the issue of alleged phone tapping of senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley, leading to a brief adjournment of the House.
Scores of Samajwadi Party workers were arrested in Allahabad on Monday while staging a demonstration as part of the party's statewide stir against the Bahujan Samaj Party government even as the Leader of Opposition in the state Legislative Council was kept in "preventive detention."
Claiming that there was constitutional crisis in Uttar Pradesh due to poor law and order, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati today met Governor B L Joshi and asked him to recommend President's rule in the state.
The Bahujan Samaj Party on Thursday claimed that Election Commission decision of covering statues of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati and party symbol elephant is one-sided and unjustified and was a violation of Article 14 of the constitution.
A couple of policemen have been caught on camera allegedly accepting largesse from a ruling Samajwadi Party member of Legislative Assembly in Uttar Pradesh, upon his release from jail where he was lodged in connection with a bomb attack on a cabinet minister in the previous Bahujan Samaj Party government.
'There is a famous saying here that 'the way to Delhi passes through Lucknow'.' 'If the BJP loses UP in 2022, Modi's premiership in 2024 will be in doldrums.'
Far from fulfilling his oft repeated proclamations about converting his bete noire former chief minister Mayawati's dream projects -- the multi-billion parks and memorials -- into hospitals and institutions, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav appeared to be following her very footsteps.
Both the Houses of Parliament were adjourned on Monday following uproar by Samajwadi Party and Bharatiya Janata Party members on incidents of firing on lawyers by state revenue officials in Uttar Pradesh and the appointment of Lokayukta in Gujarat.
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.
Sixteen top officials of the Uttar Pradesh Construction Corporation were suspended by the Samajwadi Party-led state government for their alleged involvement in the multi-crore scam in the construction of the Kanshi Ram Memorial during Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati's regime. The suspended officials include four general managers and a dozen project managers of the Uttar Pradesh Nirman Nigam.
'Outside the core voter base of upper caste Hindus, there is a large section unhappy with the performance of the BJP.'
Janata Dal-Secular's H D Kumaraswamy on Wednesday took the oath of office at a mega-gathering, attended by Congress president Rahul Gandhi, his mother Sonia and strong regional leaders like Mamata Banerjee, Mayawati and Sharad Pawar. The event was planned in such a way that it would serve as a giant display of opposition unity against the Bharatiya Janata Party. Is the BJP watching?
If her mother anoints her as the Congress's chief ministerial candidate for the UP assembly election, it could be Game On! in Lucknow.
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on the Samajwadi Party government over law and order in Uttar Pradesh, saying it would not be wrong to term the prevailing situation as "anarchic".
Sitting Bahujan Samaj Party member of Parliament Dhananjay Singh was on Wednesday suspended from the party by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati for reportedly rendering support and meeting expelled Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh in jail.
Bhartiya Janata Party will not support either Bahujan Samaj Party or Samajwadi Party, says veteran BJP leader Lalji Tandon in an interview to Faisal Kidwai.
Janata Dal-United on Friday targeted ally Bharatiya Janata Party in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh saying the saffron party like several of its political rivals had succumbed to the contagion of corruption.
In the recent past, Adityanath and the RSS seem to have come closer. The warmth is more on the part of the RSS. And even now, not all requests from the RSS are accommodated by the UP government, points out Aditi Phadnis.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
Bracing up for an Opposition onslaught in Parliament, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will host 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.
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.
Former Bahujan Samaj Party minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui, indicted in the memorial scam, on Tuesday questioned the legal status of the Uttar Pradesh Lokayukta as Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav asserted law would take its own course in the matter.
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