Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah on Wednesday dubbed the Congress, the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party as "KASAB", adding yet another acronym in the Uttar Pradesh poll campaign, and said development will elude the state till "Kasab is laid to rest".
In a sensational turn of events which could seriously affect the United Progressive Alliance's chances in the July 22 trust vote, Samajwadi Party Rajya Sabha MP Shahid Siddiqui, a close aide of Mulayam Singh and Amar Singh, has quit and joined the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party.
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati and other senior politicians on Sunday cast their votes in the third phase of Uttar Pradesh elections and claimed that their parties will form the next government.
The Uttar Pradesh chief minister also accused the Congress-led coalition of treating SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav with kidgloves despite a similar case pending against him and his family, and wondered, "What is the political pressure behind this?"
At a time when the BJP's stars are at the top on the eve of the Lok Sabha polls, the Puri-Joshimath Sankaracharyas may have kick-started a row whose efforts might be to divide Hindus, not in the name of castes, but on what passes for greater belief, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
As the Opposition held its first meeting on the Presidential polls and names of Farooq Abdullah and Gopalkrishna Gandhi also cropped up, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party reached out to several parties across the political spectrum to build a consensus choice with senior party leader and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh speaking to Sharad Pawar, Mallikarjun Kharge (Congress), Mamata Banerjee (Trinamool Congress), Akhilesh Yadav (Samajwadi Party) and Naveen Patnaik (Biju Janata Dal).
Capping its impressive showing in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, the Bahujan Samaj Party also swept the three Lok Sabha bypolls for Mirzapur, Robertsganj and Bilhaur.
Nandi had defeated, by a margin of more than 14,000 votes, Keshri Nath Tripathi who was a five-time MLA, and had served thrice as the Uttar Pradesh assembly speaker and was the BJP's state unit president at that time.
The ruling Bahujan Samaj Party has won the by-elections to all five constituencies, two Lok Sabha and three Vidhan Sabha seats, which went to polls on April 12. BSP candidate Bhismshankar alias Kushal Tiwari won the Khalilababad Lok Sabha seat by a margin of over 64,000 votes, trouncing his nearest rival Bhalchandra Yadav of SP. BSP nominee Akbar Ahmad Dampi won the Azamgarh Lok Sabha seat defeating his nearest rival Ramakant Yadav of BJP by a margin of over 53,000 votes.
R K Singh Patel, a sitting MLA from Chitrakoot-Karvi, joined SP in the presence of state PWD Minister Shivpal Singh Yadav.
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) defeat in the Bhadohi Assembly by-election in Uttar Pradesh last month was a big blow. Not only was this the first major setback for the Mayawati-led BSP, but also showed the flaws in the first-Lucknow-next-stop-Delhi project.
Results coming out of Lok Sabha polls show that parties like Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party and Tamil Nadu's Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam managed to corner a large number of votes but failed to convert them into seats, while parties with lesser vote share have got seats to show in their kitty.
The crowd at the mosque was larger than usual, unsurprisingly because it happened to be the last "Jumma" (Friday) of the holy month of Ramzan.
While many exit polls have given either the Bharatiya Janata Party or Congress a majority in Uttarakhand, several of them have predicted a close fight between the two major players or a hung assembly -- a scenario in which the role of winning independents and candidates of regional outfits like the Aam Aadmi Party, the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal will become significant in government formation.
While Brijlal Khabri, former BSP MP from Jalaun, is UP Congress Committee chairman, former UP cabinet minister and Mayawati's once close confidant Naseemuddin Siddiqui heads the party's state media department. Completing the ex-BSP troika, Nakul Dubey, former UP cabinet minister in the Mayawati dispensation (2007-12), is one of the six UP Congress regional presidents. He is reckoned among the most active of the three.
UP bypolls: SP-RLD combine wins all 4 bypoll seats.
Joining hands with smaller parties with a political base in different castes was a part of the BJP strategy as it won big in Uttar Pradesh in the 2017 assembly polls and 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
With this, the Congress's strength in the house has come down to 89 now.
"All you have to do is to put the picture of (UP Chief Minister) Yogi (Adityanath) in front of you and Priyanka Gandhi's picture and you won't need to ask any more questions," said Khurshid, who is the chief of the party's manifesto committee for the state.
Gandhi's name was the only name discussed when 18 opposition parties met to decide on their candidate for the vice presidential poll, the sources said.
The number of policemen injured in them was 1,443 and 13 were killed, the data showed.
In the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly, the actual strength of the house at present is 228 as two seats are lying vacant. With the resignation of 16 more MLAs, the strength of Congress has come down to 92 from 108.
Mulayam, who was accompanied by his trusted aide Amar Singh is understood to have discussed with Ajit Singh a plan to topple the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition government in UP.
The seat had fallen vacant after a court held the earlier held null and void the earlier election.
Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM, which is going to contest next year's Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls on the promise of creating leadership among Muslims, has created unease in the political parties that so far considered the members of the minority community as their core "vote bank".
Mishra's assertion came amid a growing perception that the BSP could again join hands with the saffron party if the 2022 assembly elections throw a hung House.
Three MLAs abstained, while 20 legislators, most of them from Congress and the NCP, including Congress's Ashok Chavan and Vijay Wadettiwar, both former ministers, were absent during the trust vote.
He is learnt to have discussed the formulation of a joint opposition strategy on the issue of Lakhimpur Kheri violence and the detention of prominent leaders including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
An India TV-C Voter exit poll showed the SP securing 23 to 27 seats, the BJP 13 to 17, the BSP 11 to 15 and the Congress two to six seats from today's voting.
The closure of Reliance Fresh outlets in Lucknow is a boost for the Samajwadi Party.
Chandrashekhar said he would ensure that PM Modi is not re-elected to the Lok Sabha from Varanasi.
Ansari said the Muslim community is now shedding the 'illusion' created by opposition parties like the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress.
Ahmed, who has been declared a proclaimed offender in Bahujan Samaj Party MLA Pal's murder case by a trial court in Allahabad, said he feared for his life.
'By naming Tejashwi as the next CM candidate, he has put us in a dilemma.' 'Who will lead us in 2025?' 'What will happen to the party after 2025?'
An official said the Prayagraj Development Authority is trying to identify the homes of the 37 people and action 'according to the law' will be taken if their building plans have not been approved.
'Which path should Muslims take politically as they have been completely marginalised?'
Mayawati's failure to contest the election as also her not organising large election rallies, as she once did, have led political pundits to conclude, rightly or wrongly, that she is 'out of the race', Sunil Gatade and Venkatesh Kesri point out.
The SP chief said they will now "consult" the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Gondwana Gantantra Party for the Madhya Pradesh polls.
The chief minister also stated in unambiguous words that while dealing with the complaints the government would proceed in accordance with the law and irrespective of the caste, creed and political affiliations of the guilty.
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