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.
The occasion, which brought Yadav, a former chief minister, and the Bahujan Samaj Party supremo together was a meeting convened to finalise nominees for the State Human Rights Commission. The arch rivals had parted ways following the collapse of their coalition government in 1995 and have been bitter critics attacking each other and rarely acknowledging even the presence of the other at public functions.
The petition also seeks quashing of the first information report against her by the CBI.
Releasing a 16-page chargesheet Ek Saal Mein Badhaal Pradesh Bana Uttar Pradesh, UP Congress president Rita Bahuguna Joshi told media persons that it was a compilation of election promises made by Mayawati and ground realities. She alleged law and order in the state had become bad to worse under Bahujan Samaj Party's rule and atrocities against women, Dalit and poor have gone up drastically.
The Crime Branch of the Criminal Investigation Department, which was entrusted with the probe into the sensational case, took BSP MLA Jitendra Singh 'Babloo' and UP State Ganna Sansthan chairman Intezar Abdi 'Bobby' into custody late Thursday night.
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The Bharatiya Janata party on Monday demanded a thorough probe into alleged dubious financial transactions by companies allegedly owned by Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati's brother and questioned the government's intentions on the issue in view of the support extended to it by her party.
Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Mahendra Singh Tikait's elder son Rakesh Tikait has been taken into custody and moved to an undisclosed location, party sources claimed on Tuesday, a day after large-scale clashes took place between his party's supporters and the police. The party sources claimed that he was arrested at the Guest House and taken to some undisclosed location. However, there was no word from the police on Rakesh Tikait's arrest.
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.
Coming down hard on the Akhilesh Yadav government for the Badaun gangrape case, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Sunday said transferring and suspending officers will not help and the Samajwadi Party to tighten the noose around its own patymen.
The alleged gang-rape and illegal confinement of a minor girl by ruling Bahujan Samaj Party Member of Legislative Assembly Purshottam Naresh Dwivedi in Banda district did cast its shadow on the mega celebrations organised to mark the 55th birthday of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati in Lucknow on Saturday.While the entire BSP machinery was busy with Mayawati's birthday celebrations, the Allahabad high court sprung a surprise.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Saturday said the hearing of the Banda rape case will be held in a fast-track court and the state government will take action against policemen involved in 'harassing' the victim on whom theft charges were slapped as part of an apparent 'conspiracy'. "The charges of theft on the girl appeared to be part of a conspiracy of the member of legislative assembly to hide his misdeed (rape)," Mayawati said.
Talking to reporters in Lucknow on the sidelines of a workshop for Pradesh Congress Committee members, Jaiswal said the UP government had complained that in certain states the laid down security procedures were not being followed for the protection of Mayawati.
"Congress workers should use the Right to Information Act to seek the truth and visit every block to expose the lies of the BSP supremo before the people," All-India Congress Committee general secretary and the party's in-charge of the state Digvijay Singh said.
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.
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Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday accused the previous Bahujan Samaj Party government of taking wrong decisions and committing irregularities in all the departments and spending crores of rupees on stone structures, memorials and statues.
Flaying the Mayawati government's decision to dedicate schemes worth Rs 7000 crore to the Bahujan Samaj Party founder Kanshi Ram, Samajwadi Party on Wednesday questioned the late Dalit leader's contribution to Uttar Pradesh and termed it as an attempt to 'Kanshimarise' state capital Lucknow.
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Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has appealed to the people to maintain communal harmony and peace, in the wake of the verdict of the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court in the Ayodhya title suit. Mayawati told a press conference on Thursday evening that the state government has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on implementation of the high court's order.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has told the Supreme Court that the prosecution of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati in a disproportionate assets case cannot be dropped as it has found cogent, credible and admissible evidence against her.
The bench comprising Justice Pradeep Kant and Justice Rituraj Awasthi on Wednesday stayed the Mayawati government's notification of July 1, whereby Chattrapati Shahuji Maharaj Nagar district had come into being.
However, she declined to divulge the name of the candidate.
Mayawati said she would announce her party's stand in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Tuesday said her party was supportive of the black money issue raised by yoga guru Ramdev but she did not agree with the way he allowed National Democratic Alliance leaders to make speeches from his platform against other political parties.
The Mayawati-led Uttar Pradesh Cabinet decided to refer the 1,200-acre SEZ proposal to New Delhi as it violated the contiguity norms laid down by it.
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.
Asmita Marwa continued with the theme from her spring/summer collection earlier this year, inspired by her imaginary muse Maya on Day One of the LFW.
Opening a new front with the Congress, the Mayawati government on Thursday created a new district named after Dalit icon Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj that would include Amethi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Lok Sabha constituency.
Law Minister Salman Khurshid on Friday said the Supreme Court order quashing the disproportionate assets case against Bahujan Samaja Party leader Mayawati has nothing to do with politics.
Welcoming the Supreme Court order quashing the disproportionate assets case against her, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Friday thanked party workers for standing behind her for the past nine years without getting perturbed by opposition forces.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Monday said UPA-II's report card presented by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has nothing to do with ground realities and the first year of the alliance's second stint in office has been disappointing for the people of the state.
Bahujan Samaj Party president and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati will seek re-entry into the state's Upper House of Legislature.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Varun Gandhi on Wednesday said all statues of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati would be replaced with those of Lord Ram once the party regains power in the state.
In what could amount to as a strange coincidence, the Uttar Pradesh unit of the Bhratiya Janata Party counted among its members from the city persons named Sonia, Mayawati, Manmohan and Rahul.
Tall claims about her government's achievements and heavy bashing of the Congress-led UPA regime at the Centre remained Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati's mainstay at a press meet in Lucknow on Thursday to mark completion of her three years in office.
Singh, who represents the Bikapur assembly constituency in Faizabad district, had said that jobs in the BSP government were up for sale and that there was a price tag on every new appointment. "It is no secret that jobs in the present government go only to those who are ready to shell out money", he told a local gathering in Sohawal town of his constituency on Tuesday evening.
Training her guns at the Central Bureau of Investigation, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati claimed in the Supreme Court that the disproportionate assets case filed against her was untenable on Wednesday.
At least 22 Uttar Pradesh government officials have been suspended for their alleged bungling of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) funds.
The Lucknow police have begun a probe into an alleged financial fraud in the elephants statues installed by the Bahujam Samaj Party government in Lucknow and Noida.