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 National Election Watch has put out a report pertaining the chief ministers of the five states going to polls -- Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur.
The parties which gave chief ministers and sent scores of MPs to Parliament, drew a blank this time.
'Emboldened by the BJP victory, the upper castes feel they must assert themselves and regain dominance over the rural power structure.'
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Saturday ordered a Criminal Investigation Department inquiry into the alleged rape of a minor girl by a ruling Bahujan Samaj Party member of Legislative Assembly and his supports in a village of Banda district, about 180 km from Lucknow.
Arun took over as police chief and vowed to bring rowdies to their knees and said rowdy elements would be taught 'in the language they understand.'
Those whose cover has been reduced include Samajwadi Party chief and former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, leaders Shivpal Yadav and Azam Khan, Dimple Yadav and Ram Gopal Yadav, and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has assets worth a whopping Rs 87.27 crore, according to the National Election Watch, which has analysed the affidavits filed by the chief ministers of the five poll-bound states.
The plan to relieve NSG from VIP security tasks has been in the making since 2012 when NSG commanders foresaw an event where simultaneous terror attacks could be witnessed at one time on multiple centres in the country and the commandos will have to be rushed in different directions.
'Mayawatiji no more controls the bahujan vote in UP.' 'In this election more than 40 per cent of the BSP's core voters blessed the SP without the SP even asking for it.'
After walking free from jail, expelled Bharatiya Janata Party leader Dayashankar Singh on Sunday fired a fresh salvo at Mayawati claiming she "auctioned" tickets and dared her to fight against his wife on any unreserved seat in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections next year.
Rumours of a live power line having snapped triggered the stampede. The injured have been rushed to a local hospital, a BSP spokesperson said.
After the 1,200-acre special economic zone at Noida and the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group's gas-based power plant at Dadri, Lanco Kundapalli's 1,000-Mw Anpara C power project in Sonebhadra district of Uttar Pradesh has come under the scanner
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati celebrated her 54th birthday on Friday, but without the trademark pomp, splendour and ostentatious celebrations. Instead, the CM surprised many by announcing welfare programmes for the poor and development schemes worth over Rs 7,300 crore for the state.Her earlier birthdays were celebrated as arthik sahyog diwas (fund raising day) when her partymen allegedly indulged in blatant extortion.
The Election Commission on Saturday said that statues of Chief Minister Mayawati and elephants, the Bahujan Samaj Party's poll symbol, installed at a number of places in Uttar Pradesh would be covered during the state assembly elections. "The commission has decided that statues of the CM and elephants will be draped," Chief Election Commissioner S Y Qureshi told reporters.
The nationwide ban comes into force at 6 am Tuesday, the poll panel said.
Uttar Pradesh deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma has said the issue of the state's next CM is already 'settled' with the BJP top brass making it clear that the coming assembly elections will be fought under the leadership of Yogi Adityanath.
Yogi Adityanath, who has been declared BJP candidate from Gorakhpur will be the second leader to contest from the district as a chief minister after Tribhuvan Narayan Singh, who lost in 1971.
The BJP had registered a one-sided victory on all the 17 SC-reserved seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. But in 2019, out of these 17 seats, it lost Nagina and Lalganj seats to the Bahujan Samaj Party.
The electoral battle in Varanasi, according to locals and political experts, is not about whether the PM will win for a third successive occasion, but if he will increase his share of the votes polled and his win margin.
A BSP functionary said it was a "planned murder" and claimed there was an "intelligence failure." Therefore, the central agency should probe the case.
Sources said the opposition parties would look to avoid the prickly leadership question as of now and emphasise on building a common ground.
Modi was accompanied by Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation chief Mangu Singh during the ride.
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.
In an embarrassment to the Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh, a ruling party Member of Legislative Assembly alleged that corruption during Akhilesh Yadav's regime has surpassed the record set during Mayawati's tenure.
It may still not be official, yet it is now absolutely clear that Akhilesh Yadav will be the next chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.
Union minister Raosaheb Danve has caused a flutter by saying if the Bharatiya Janata Party needs victory in the Aurangabad Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra in 2024, then it must ensure that All India Majlis e Ittehadul Muslimeen leader and sitting MP Imtiaz Jaleel contests the election next year.
'The unusual aspect of this election is that this time there is a triangular fight.' 'Previously, the fight used to be between two parties.'
Polling in 70 constituencies began at 8 am and will conclude at 5 pm, except in nine polling booths in the Maoist-affected Bindranawagarh seat in Gariaband district, where voting began at 7 for security reasons, a poll official said.
Leaders of several like-minded opposition parties are likely to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Karnataka chief minister-designate Siddaramaiah and deputy chief minister D K Shivakumar on Saturday in Bengaluru.
The chief minister will arrive in Agra on Friday night and visit the calamity-hit areas on Saturday morning, Principal Secretary Information Avanish Awasthi said.
Electioneering ended in Madhya Pradesh at 6 pm except in Naxalites-hit districts of Balaghat, Mandla and Dindori, where campaigning drew to a close early at 3 pm.
His reaction comes a day after the UP chief minister while addressing a 'Brahmin Bhaichara Sammelan' in Lucknow, said she had come to know that Congress and BJP had planned to install Digvijay Singh and Rajnath Singh respectively as Chief Ministers in the event of these parties forming the government in the key state.
Out of the candidates announced so far, 65 are below the age of 50 years and 19 are women, he said.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has said she is not the only face of the party for Uttar Pradesh assembly polls and her remarks at a press conference on Friday about being the face of the party were made in a 'slight exaggerated way' in response to repeated queries from the media on the issue.
A myth was nurtured for nearly three decades that any chief minister of Uttar Pradesh who visited Noida in Gautam Buddh Nagar district was doomed to go out of power.
In both of these Hindi heartland states, the straight contest between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the opposition Congress.
Disgruntled Janata Dal-United leader Upendra Kushwaha on Monday resigned from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's party, less than two years after returning to the party, and announced formation of the 'Rashtriya Loktantrik Janata Dal'.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress remain the most dominant political forces in Chhattisgarh, though the state has several regional outfits that have pockets of influence, while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is making a determined bid to challenge its well entrenched rivals and make a mark in polls to the 90-member House.
'The consecration of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya has demoralised them.' 'And, now it is reflecting in their individual reactions as they are losing hope to take on the BJP in 2024.'
