Top Uttar Pradesh bureaucrat Shashank Shekhar Singh, who was sent by Chief Minister Mayawati to Aligarh, has managed to defuse the crisis that erupted there after three agitating farmers were killed in firing by policemen on August 15. The farmers were protesting against the inadequate compensation for agricultural land acquired to build the high-speed Yamuna Expressway between Noida and Agra.
There seems to be no place for the poor or middle class gentry in the top echelons of India's politics, which has become the exclusive fiefdom of crorepatis. Rediff.com takes a look at the richest chief ministers of India and their breathtaking assets (financial ones, that is).
Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Tuesday slammed Narendra Modi for his statement vowing to cleanse Parliament from criminal elements, saying it was a case of the pot calling the kettle black.
There seems to be no place for the poor or middle class gentry in the top echelons of India's politics, which has become the exclusive fiefdom of crorepatis. Rediff.com takes a look at the richest chief ministers of India and their breathtaking assets (financial ones, that is).
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday expressed his shock and dismay over the poor growth of information technology under his predecessor Mayawati.
At a massive rally in Lucknow, the Bahujan Samaj Party supremo came down heavily on Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son -- Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh. Offering hope to the ruling coalition at the Centre she said that she is opposed to FDI in retail, but is willing to be convinced of its merits.
Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Wednesday renewed her demand for splitting the state into four parts, besides creation of Gorkhaland and Vidarbha.
Sahara India Group, led by Subroto Roy, has been served with a notice over 'illegal construction' at its Sahara Sahar township in Gomti Nagar area of Lucknow.
A case was registered against the Congress leader for violating the permission granted by the administration for his road show. Sharat Pradhan reports
Lalit Srivastav, chairman of the Noida, Greater Noida and Taj Express Way Authority, was given additional charge as CEO of Greater Noida and Taj Express Way Authority.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati welath ahs grown in leaps and bounds since she took over as Uttar Pradesh chief minister, her declaratioin made while filing her nomination seeking a fresh term in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council shows her to possess assets of 88 crore (880 million).
"The BJP has four Bs -- 'Badhta Bharat' and 'Banta Bharat'. Those who are forming an alliance have four Bs -- 'bua' (aunt), 'bhatija' (nephew), 'bhai' (brother) and 'behen' (sister)," Shah said, accusing the opposition parties of dynastic politics.
The newly-installed Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh has withdrawn with immediate effect nearly 450 Home Guards deployed in the security of various dream projects of former chief minister Mayawati. "The Home Guards had been deployed at these memorials, statues and parks in addition to the Suraksha Vahini raised specially for the security of these projects by the earlier government and they have been withdrawn," said a minister.
The Bahujan Samaj Party has resisted giving up the bungalow on 13-A, Mall Avenue, saying that it had been converted into a memorial to Kanshi Ram in 2011, and the BSP leader occupied just a small portion of it.
Additional District Judge of SC/ST court Ajay Kumar granted bail to Singh on two surety bonds of Rs 50,000 each, government counsel Chedi Lal Gupta said.
At a hurriedly convened press conference, the former Uttar Pradesh said, "All deposits are as per norms and party rules and the money was collected before note ban. Should we have thrown it?"
After many cases of irregularities in old-age pension disbursement surfaced in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Mayawati has directed authorities to lodge FIR against officials indulging in corrupt practices.
Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Monday demanded that the Centre bring a Constitutional amendment bill during the current session of the Parliament to provide for reservation to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe government employees in promotions.
After Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, Bihar Member of Rajya Sabha Ejaj Ali was garlanded with currency notes by his supporters in Patna on Wednesday, soon after his arrival from New Delhi.
Mayawati's comments come a day after SP leader Mohammad Azam Khan accused her of calling Muslims "traitors" even after they had shown her respect and referred to her as 'behenji'.
"The BSP has no intention to join the UPA nor there will be any such intention in future," she said in a press release in Lucknow.
She launched a frontal attack on her arch rival, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, and left no stone unturned to woo the state's 17 per cent Muslim electorate.
In remarks tinged with sarcasm, the chief minister said she was grateful to the previous BJP-led regime at the Centre for the CBI raids at her residences.
The seats had fallen vacant following deaths of Bahujan Samaj Party member B R Verma and Samajwadi Party member Vikramaditya Pandey recently.
Govenor T V Rajeshwar administered the oath of office and secrecy at a special ceremony at Raj Bhavan in Lucknow.
Under attack from opposition parties over the corruption issue and to present a clean image before voters, the Bahujan Samaj Party has denied tickets to nearly half of its sitting MLAs for the coming Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.
Yet another minister in the Uttar Pradesh government, on Monday, was sacked by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati. The UP CM has been on a firing spree since the past ten days. The number of sacked UP ministers went up to 11 on Monday.
Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav on Friday blamed Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati for the first information report registered against his man Friday Amar Singh and his bosom pal superstar Amitabh Bachchan in Kanpur on Thursday.
Firing a fresh salvo at Mayawati, Rahul Gandhi today accused her of trying to mislead people by removing "corrupt ministers" when only a month was left to Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh.
Taking strong exception to the central government's decision to return the proposal for division of the state into four parts, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Tuesday flayed the United Progressive Alliance regime for what she termed as "total apathy" towards the issue.
With a significant number of Opposition leaders present at the swearing-in ceremony of the Congress government in Karnataka, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Sunday said Opposition unity requires much more than optics of this nature and stressed the need for meeting of minds, a common agenda and sacrificing partisan interests.
Rapping the Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh for spending a whooping Rs 2,500 crore on memorials for Kanshiram and other Dalit leaders in Lucknow city, the Supreme Court on Tuesday said it would examine the constitutional validity of such memorials for political leaders, including ex-Prime Ministers, at taxpayers' money.
Slamming the Congress manifesto as a "bundle of hollow promises", Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Wednesday accused the party of using the dalits as a votebank and trying to divide the community under a "planned conspiracy" by promising them sub-quota.
The Supreme Court on Friday rejected the plea of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, who had sought permission to undertake maintenance and certain other works at the controversial Rs 2,600-crore Ambedkar site in Lucknow. A bench of Justices H S Bedi and J M Panchal felt that there was 'no change of circumstances' to grant any such relief to the state government, which was earlier restrained by it from carrying out further activities at the site.
Instituting an inquiry commission to probe the corruption in Mayawati government and providing rice and wheat at Rs 3 and 5 per kg to the poor are among Bharatiya Janata Party's poll promises in its vision document for Uttar Pradesh.
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.
Gearing up the party for 'Mission 2012' of coming to power in Uttar Pradesh, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday directed his lieutenants to take on Mayawati government on the issue of development while harping on mobilising youths to reach out to the common man.