In both of these Hindi heartland states, the straight contest between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the opposition Congress.
In the name of development, Chief Minister Mayawati can only boast of statues of herself or Dalit icons across Uttar Pradesh, but the common man in the state who is yet to savour the pleasure of having basic civic amenities, will most naturally think for whom he or she should vote for, or may even opt for a total Bahujan Samaj Party poll boycott.
Wooing voters in the name of late Kanshi Ram who hailed from Punjab, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Saturday asked the electorate to give the Bahujan Samaj Party a chance to fulfil the party founder's dream to have a government in his native state.
In an obvious afterthought, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Friday was at pains to dispel the common impression that the statewide protest demonstrations organised to mark the day as "sharm karo" (feel ashamed) day had anything to do with the Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi's birthday.
Apparently Mahatma Gandhi's goodwill with 'untouchables' of those days and All India Congress Committee General Secreatary Rahul Gandhi's attempts to reach out to dalits continues to bug Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, to whom both seem absolutely unpalatable.
Another cabinet minister of the Mayawati government has come under the scanner of the Uttar Pradesh Lokayukta for alleged misuse of office.
Even as Bahujan Samaj Party president and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati will complete three years in office on Thursday, the usual anniversary bash would be missing this time. "There is no celebration planned for the day", a senior official of her personal secretariat told mediapersons in Lucknow.
Statistics from PropEquity, a firm that compiles and analyses real estate data across India, show that by 2014, Noida will have 190,123 new houses and apartments -- almost 40,000 more than what Gurgaon, Navi Mumbai, Gachibowli (Hyderabad) and Hinjewadi (Pune) collectively offer.
BKU leader Mahendra Singh Tikait, accused of making casteist remarks against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, was granted bail after he surrendered in the district court in Bijnore. Tikait, whose arrest attempt by police had sparked violence in Sisauli, the headquarters of the BKU on Monday, later regretted his comments and said it was a slip of tongue.
Tension prevailed in Sisoli village in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh after supporters of Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Mahender Singh Tikait clashed with police trying to arrest him for allegedly making derogatory remarks against state Chief Minister Mayawati, leaving a dozen policemen injured. Uttar Pradesh government has sounded an alert in all the districts of Western Uttar Pradesh and paramilitary forces rushed to the area to avoid any untoward incident.
A day after opposition members disrupted assembly proceedings over a CD allegedly containing objectionable references towards the characters in the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata, the Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday recommended a CBI inquiry into the matter.
If sheer attendance at their respective rallies were to be the criterion, Rahul Gandhi clearly stole the show over the Bahujan Samaj Party in Ambedkarnagar.
In what was seen as a desperate emotional appeal to hold her stock together, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati said in Lucknow on Sunday that she chose to remain single because she did not want to lose focus from her devotion to the cause of dalits and other downtrodden castes.
Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav was on Tuesday not allowed to unveil the statue of Ram Manohar Lohia in Lucknow following which he had a scuffle with the police personnel.
Roemer also said that the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill, 2010 would benefit both US and India."The passing of the bill by the Indian parliament would mean a win-win situation for both the countries", he said, while adding, "generating employment as well as giving India abundant clean energy." He said, "I am sure it is a very good story for both the countries."
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati may have spent thousands of crores from the state government's exchequer to fund the massive memorials, statues and parks paying tribute to her mentor Kashiram and herself, but she has no plans to offer any monetary compensation to the families of those killed in Thursday's stampede at an ashram in Pratapgarh.Most victims of the stampede, which claimed 63 lives, belonged to families living below the poverty line.
Thirteen people were killed on Saturday and eight others injured when a bus fell into a river near Kalikadham village near Varanasi, said the police. The bus carrying 21 passengers plunged into Varuna River after hitting the railing along the river, District Collector Ravindra said.Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has announced an ex-gratia of Rs one lakh to the kin of each of those killed. She also announced free treatment for the injured in the mishap.
Ruling Bahujan Samaj Party MLA Purshottam Naresh Dwivedi, charged of raping a minor OBC girl in his constituency, was finally arrested in Banda, about 180 km from Lucknow, on Thursday evening.
The BSP supremo is looking forward to the support of Dalits and Muslims to seize the throne in Lucknow, writes Amit Shankar.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati's birthday on Thursday escalated political activity in the state as both ruling party and opposition activists took to the streets to stress their respective points. It was a day of unique demonstrations by each of the four key political parties -- the Samajwadi Party, Bhartiya Janata Party, the Congress and to top it all the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party.
The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to entrust the anti-dowry case registered against Arjun Singh and his family members to the CBI.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Friday opened a new front with the Congress when the administation cancelled an interaction by Rahul Gandhi with students of the Chandrashekhar Azad University in Kanpur on Friday. Rahul Gandhi drove straight from the airport to the university where he found the doors of the auditorium, where he was scheduled to hold the interaction, locked.
Parents of the girl murdered inside a police station in Lakhimpur on Wednesday demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the incident, hours after Chief Minister Mayawati said she has no objection to a such an inquiry if the victim's family wants it. The father and mother of the 14-year-old girl gave in writing to local Congress Member of Parliament Zafar Ali Naqvi their request for a CBI inquiry into the alleged rape and murder of their daughter.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Monday announced the state would revise the salary of an estimated 721,000 employees on the lines of the pay panel recommendations. The state commission, headed by Jagmohan Lal Bajaj, will submit a report on pay revision by December. The additional financial burden is estimated at Rs 5,189 crore (Rs 51.89 billion) per annum excluding arrears payment, which is pegged at Rs 14,775 crore (Rs 147.75 billion).
Unfazed by the criticism against "overspending" on parks, statues and memorials, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has once again allocated nearly Rs 500 crore towards her dream projects in the Rs 5,461 crore supplementary budget, which was tabled before the state assembly on Tuesday.
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.
During the hearing, the bench asked the counsel for EC as to what action they have taken against Mayawati and Yogi Adityanath for alleged hate speeches.
K Natwar Singh wore many hats as he straddled the worlds of diplomacy, politics and writing but what remained consistent across decades was his sharp-wit and plainspeaking.
As if the 5000- crore allocated over the years towards Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati's dream projectsmemorials and statueswere not enough , she has raised a fresh demand for Rs. 556 crores in the Rs. 7559 crore supplementary budget tabled before the state assembly in Lucknow, on Monday. This comes in sharp contrast to the demand of a paltry Rs. 250 crores for the prevailing drought that had nearly engulfed the entire state.
The investigating agency filed an affidavit in the apex court saying it will shortly file a chargesheet in the disproportionate assets case registered against the Bahujan Samaj Party supremo in 2003.
R K Singh Patel, a sitting MLA from Chitrakoot-Karvi, joined SP in the presence of state PWD Minister Shivpal Singh Yadav.
As soon as Lok Sabha assembled, Bahujan Samaj Party members trooped into the well protesting the Home Ministry proposal and shouted slogans. They alleged that such moves were part of 'a conspiracy' to get the leaders killed.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has accused Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati of being responsible for the delay in filing its chargesheet in the disproportionate assets case registered against her and also for making "baseless" charges of harassment and humiliation. In a 12-page affidavit, the CBI has informed the Supreme Court that on its part it had completed its probe in the DA case against the Bahujan Samaj Party supremo and her relatives.
The usually belligerent Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati appears to be coming to terms with harsh realities. And that was well demonstrated in Lucknow on Friday evening when she chose to surprise all by withdrawing the bill -- as well as a parallel ordinance -- for raising a special security force to guard her dream memorials and statues being erected in Lucknow and Noida at a whopping cost of nearly Rs 6,000 crores.
Complying with the Supreme Court's directions, the CBI submitted the material -- including the report of its Superintendent of Police under whose supervision the case was investigated -- before the Lucknow court.
The National Commission for Scheduled Castes has decided to summon BKU leader Mahendra Singh Tikait for allegedly making casteist remarks against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati at a rally in Bijnore district on March 30. The Commission had issued a notice to the BKU leader on the basis of the FIR report as the district administration failed to provide the full text of Tikait's speech.
In an obvious bid to recast the tarnished face of the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Sunday chose to pass the buck to the Opposition for entry of "criminals" in her party.
In less than a week after bailing out the UPA-II during cut motions in Lok Sabha, Bahujan Samaj Party on Saturday announced programmes to "expose" the Congress-led coalition on May 22 when it completes one year in office.
Addressing media persons in Lucknow, party supremo and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati said: "By supporting the cut motion we are not strengthening the secular forces."
