A total of 253 members -- out of the 471 present and voting -- voted against the motion against FDI moved by Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj, implying they were in favour of the foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail.
Blaming Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati for the violence over land acquisition in Noida and adjoining areas, Samajwadi Party on Monday alleged that the Bahujan Samaj Party government had ignored farmers' interests while taking over their land.
The Uttar Pradesh assembly was paralysed on the opening day of the winter session on Monday, when Bahujan Samaj Party members trained its guns on the Samajwadi Party government headed by Akhilesh Yadav.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley is expected to table the report of Rajya Sabha's Select Committee on Lokpal in the Upper House on Friday, the second day of the winter session of Parliament. The committee is headed by Congress leader Satyavrat Chaturvedi and such reports are usually tabled by the chairmen of the committees. The government is expected to consider the recommendations made by the Select Committee.
Eleven members of Parliament, including one each from Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party, on Thursday demanded rejection of the draft Public Accounts Committee report on the 2G scam, which has indicted former Telecom minister A Raja and made critical observations about Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance minister P Chidambaram.
The Samajwadi Party on Monday alleged that its chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son and Uttar Pradesh unit president Akhilesh have been put under "house arrest" to prevent them from leading a three-day agitation against the Bahujan Samaj Party government, a charge denied by the district administration.
An all-party meeting on Monday failed to hammer out a consensus over the controversial Insurance Bill, which was scheduled to be taken up in Rajya Sabha.
The Samajwadi Party's anti-Mayawati stir turned violent on Thursday as activists went on a rampage across Uttar Pradesh burning hundreds of effigies of the chief minister.
Undaunted by the National Human Rights Commission notice over the alleged excesses on opposition leaders staging anti-Mayaati demonstrations in Uttar Pradesh, the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party dispensation is all set for a showdown with the Samajwadi Party, that has called for a statewide demonstration on March 17.
In an interview with CNN-IBN Editor-in-Chief Rajdeep Sardesai, the West Bengal Chief Minister questioned the stability of the Centre saying Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati may bail out the government for now, but people won't bail them out in future.
Petty-minded infighting, ego clashes, lack of finances, failed poll planks/issues, ineffective leadership, confused and demotivated cadres, and acute casteism are some of the causes dragging this national party down in UP.
Projecting a united face on the eve of vice presidential poll, all constituents of United Progressive Alliance and those supporting it from outside including arch rivals Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati attended a lunch hosted by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi gave a candid and controversial interview to Shahid Siddiqui, editor of the Urdu weekly Nai Duniya, where he spoke about the Gujarat riots. For doing the interview Siddiqui was suspended from the Samajwadi Party, which he has joined recently after quitting the Bahujan Samaj Party.
The Bahujan Samaj Party on Tuesday said it is yet to decide on fielding candidate against Samajwadi Party nominee Dimple Yadav in Kannauj.
With the Lokpal Bill slated to come up in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, a near unanimity emerged at an all-party meeting in New Delhi on Monday, but United Progressive Alliance's outside supporter Samajwadi Party remained a stumbling block continuing its opposition to the anti-corruption measure.
Scindia also said that as far as talks for alliances are concerned, "like-minded parties should also think in a like-minded way".
The seized properties include a hospital building at Bhavani Nagar in Nauchandi and two luxury cars that Qureshi had allegedly purchased in the name of his family members and employees, they said.
Whether it is the Samajwadi Party or the Bahujan Samaj Party, both will need the Congress's helping hand," said a Cabinet minister.
National Democratic Alliance Convenor Sharad Yadav, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, BSP member Dara Singh Chauhan and RJD leader Lalu Prasad claimed that the inclusion of caste in census at the biometric stage amounted to befooling the people.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's first innings in the state assembly began on a stormy note in Lucknow on Monday, when on the very opening day of the budget session, Bahujan Samaj Party created so much ruckus that forced UP Governor B L Joshi to abandon his joint address to the state legislature.
Amidst signs of ties warming up between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday sought to reach out to the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party which withdrew support to the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre.
Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati spent a staggering Rs 86 crore of government funds to renovate her sprawling Mall Avenue bungalow in Lucknow when she was chief minister of Uttar Pradesh with some windows costing Rs 15 lakh each.
Accusing the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party of raising the minority sub-quota issue mid-way during the Uttar Pradesh polls for their political gains, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Wednesday said this helped in large-scale transfer of Muslim votes to Samajwadi Party.
Well before the counting of votes commenced at 8 am on March 6, Mayawati moved out of 4 Kalidas Marg, the UP chief minister's official residence, which she had converted into an inaccessible and impregnable fortress.
The ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh on Monday said all scams reported during tenure of the previous Bahujan Samaj Party government are being probed and if former chief minister Mayawati is found guilty, legal action would be initiated against her.
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.
Around 56 per cent of the 1.75-strong electorate on Wednesday exercised its franchise for 56 seats in the third phase of the Uttar Pradseh assembly polls in which Mayawati's ruling Bahujan Samaj Party is facing a strong challenge from the Congress, Samajwadi Party and Bharatiya Janata Party.
Even as Mukul Roy took the oath of office as railway minister in the presence of a sombre-looking Prime Minister and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, whose body language showed the discomfort of the Congress with its ally Trinamool Congress which has given them a run around, the United Progressive Alliance managers were sighing with relief on Tuesday, says Neerja Chowdhury.
The BSP leader won the Bijnor Lok Sabha seat in 1989, her first electoral triumph.
Smarting under poll debacle, the Bahujan Samaj Party on Sunday expressed fears about return of 'goondaraj' in Uttar Pradesh and said it would not contest the upcoming local body polls, apprehending that the ruling Samajwadi Party might target its candidates.
With exit polls predicting a hung assembly in Uttar Pradesh, giving a lead to the Samajwadi Party and suggesting that the Bahujan Samaj Party could be voted out of power, the Mayawati cabinet passed a resolution recommending the dissolution of the 403-member assembly in Lucknow late on Sunday.
The outcome of the polls to the Rajya Sabha is likely to have an impact in the politically crucial state just ahead of the general elections in the country.
The race for the next state assembly in Uttar Pradesh may be largely four cornered. But it is increasingly evident that the electoral battle slated for February in the country's most populous state is bound to largely remain Mayawati vs. the rest, reports Sharat Pradhan.
Amisha Patel, Nagma, Celina Jaitly, Mahim Chaudhry -- faded Bollywood actresses make a bid to dazzle the UP campaign; the googly that bowled out Rahul Gandhi; why Gadkari is pleased as punch, Sushmaji, please note... Gupshup from the Dilli Durbar.
Attacking the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Samajwadi Party said on Tuesday that the Mayawati-led party was a "B-team" of Bharatiya Janata Party and the two parties were hand in glove with each other.
Training his guns on the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said corruption and scams were rampant during their regimes.
Congress' star campaigner Rahul Gandhi on Saturday pointedly blamed both Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati for "gross neglect" of Muslims in Uttar Pradesh. Sharat Pradhan reports.
Trying to warm up to Mayawati, rebel Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh said on Saturday that the Bahujan Samaj Party supremo has proved herself against all odds and he can understand her "pain" when she was "humiliated" by Mulayam Singh Yadav.
The move is being seen as an attempt to forge opposition unity to defeat the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.