Angry with the Congress for unilaterally announcing 24 candidates in Uttar Pradesh for the Lok Sabha polls, the Samajwadi Party on Friday declared that its alliance with that party was "broken".
The announcements were made as per the compromise formula worked out by SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav who asserted that "There can be no division in the party."
After serving as the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh for ten years, Digvijay Singh has been entrusted with the responsibility of the Congress' affairs in UP. In an interview with Renu Mittal, Singh talks about the 'friendly fight' between the two parties in UP.
Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav on Friday sought to strike an optimistic note saying his party was in touch with the Congress over the tie-up for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections which was "bound to lead to a positive outcome very soon".
The petitioner had a Congress background and in the recorded conversation, deregatory references were said to have been made against apex court judges.
"Sebi has informed that it has initiated an examination in the matter," Minister of state for Finance P K Bansal saidin a written reply. Bansal was replying to a query by Amar Singh (Samajwadi Party) on whether the government had taken any action against thepromoters/affiliates of Reliance Industries Ltd regarding the recent mammoth insider trading activities in the shares of Reliance Petroleum Ltd.
The Samajwadi Party on Wednesday stepped up its attack on the Congress accusing it of virtually adopting a 'use and throw' policy towards allies ranging from the Left parties to the Nationalist Congress Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the SP itself.
The Samajwadi Party and Congress on Monday decided to jointly contest the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, with the SP also seeking alliance in four other states including Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka.
In a damage control move, while party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Tuesday roped in a large number of Maulanas to give himself a clean chit, his second-in-command Amar Singh flew down to the well-known Islamic seminary, DarulUloom Deoband in Saharanpur district to woo the clerics there.
A day after Kalyan Singh quit the Bharatiya Janata Party, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and general secretary Amar Singh met him amid indications that they may reach a political understanding ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
Dissident Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kalyan Singh on Sunday met Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav amid growing apprehensions that the BJP's 'mandir-mandal' face may change sides in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls. Sources in BJP said that the meeting could have been triggered due to Kalyan's presumption of disciplinary action against him.
The Samajwadi Party on Tuesday gave mixed signals on the possibility of joining the UPA Government, maintaining that it was the second largest party on the ruling side but becoming part of the coalition is not important.
Police said sensitive pockets, where trouble can erupt, are on high alert. Cinema theatres have also been provided security as one of the movie halls, showing a Bhojpuri film, was targeted on Saturday.
The Samajwadi Party on Friday expelled six MPs for defying the party whip during Tuesday's trust vote.
Scrapping of the EoU status to petroleum refineries was one of the demands of the Samajwadi Party after it decided to support the United Progressive Alliance government, which is set to face a trust motion in the Lok Sabha. "Amar Singh had met me, but there were no discussions on the EoU issue," said the commerce minister. Nath said everyone has the right to demand changes but it did not mean that the government would act on it.
That will be the last pound of flesh Mulayam Singh and Amar Singh wish to extract for the support they are giving the dying Congress party. Fortuitously, the Congress too wants a similar outcome.
The Samajwadi Party on Tuesday said it would give a fresh letter of support for the government to President Pratibha Patil on Wednesday.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday hinted that it could resort to legal action in the cash-for-vote scam after a parliamentary panel gave the clean chit to senior political leaders Amar Singh and Ahmad Patel. "The legal option is open for us and this report would certainly lower the credibility of parliamentary committees like this," party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh on Thursday alleged that the government was 'hatching a conspiracy to eliminate' its top leadership, including president Mulayam Singh Yadav. "Mayawati, through the state police chief Vikram Singh and additional director general of police (law and order) Brijlal, wants to eliminate me, Mulayam, Shivpal Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav," Amar claimed.
Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh, who was once hounded out of 10 Janpath soon after the United Progressive Alliance government took over four years ago, triumphantly announced on Tuesday that the National Security Advisor M K Narayanan would call on him at his residence on July 2 to explain the government's position on the Indo-US civil nuclear deal.
During the meeting, held at the residence of Pranab Mukherjee, the government's pointsman for the deal, Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh was understood to have been briefed about the deal and the steps India would have to take in the coming weeks to push it through.
Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh and his party colleague Ram Gopal Yadav along with eight other new members of Parliament were administered oath by Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari on Wednesday.
The Bachchans perform last rites in Uttar Pradesh.
However, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, hosting a meeting of the leaders of the Third Front in Chennai on Sunday, said the Front would 'choose a nominee' for the presidential election.
The government on Tuesday clarified that no papers of sensitive nature were ever given to Mukesh Ambani-run RIL or its Canadian partner Niko Resources, and added they were provided only those papers needed to implement the decision on pricing of natural gas from their field.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushma Swaraj strongly defended National Security Advisor M K Narayanan in the National Integration Council meeting on Monday when Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh took exception to the NSA's reply to his demand for a judicial probe into the Batla House encounter, in which two alleged terrorists and a Delhi police officer were killed.
The decision to field the party chief from two constituencies taken by the SP Parliamentary Board
Seeking to turn the tables on the Sanjay Dutt issue, Amar Singh on Friday said that if the Congress was ready to field the actor, the Samajwadi party would support him. He told reporters that a section of Congress leaders have accused him of "poaching on Sanjay Dutt to tease that party". "Let me make it clear that if Congress is ready to field Sanjay on their party's symbol, SP would support him," he said.
In an exclusive interview to Bhupinder Chaubey of CNN-IBN, Bachchan denied that he was suffering because of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati.
Describing the trust vote as a "suitcase victory" for the government, BJP leader Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday demanded a House Committee probe into allegations of a "cash-for-vote scam" against the ruling UPA.
The crisis showed no signs of ending but party sources said that the chief minister may be persuaded to relent on the issue of portfolios by returning the key departments.
"The two Lals (Advani and the Left parties) have joined hands and are strengthening the haathi (elephant)," SP leader Amar Singh told media-persons after attending a meeting of the United Progressive Alliance held at External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee's residence in Delhi.
In a sensational turn of events which could seriously affect the United Progressive Alliance's chances in the July 22 trust vote, Samajwadi Party Rajya Sabha MP Shahid Siddiqui, a close aide of Mulayam Singh and Amar Singh, has quit and joined the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party.
Two months after getting a reprieve from the Allahabad High Court in the controversial land purchase in the district, actor Amitabh Bachchan laid the foundation stone of a girls college in the name of his daughter-in-law and actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, at a function in Barabanki at Uttar Pradesh on Sunday. Bachchan, wife Jaya, son Abhishek and daughter-in-law Aishwarya along with SP leader Amar Singh and Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav attended the function.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi has convened a meeting of the party's strategy group on September 8, the sources said. Opposition leaders are keen that various like-minded parties should work closely with each other to take on the government in Parliament.
Samajwadi party leader Amar Singh, who gave Rs10 lakh to the widow of inspector Mohan Chander Sharma for defending the nation, has now demanded a judicial probe into the alleged encounter, which he describes as fake encounter now.
Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, along with Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh, had a fifteen minute meeting with Karat at the CPI-M headquarters on Thursday morning.
Giving a new twist to the cash-for-vote scam, Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh on Tuesday claimed that a BSP worker demanded Rs 5 crore to change his version before a Parliamentary panel probing the matter.
The case against superstar Amitabh Bachchan by the Uttar Pradesh government, accusing him of evading stamp duty of just Rs 695, is ridiculous and an attempt to defame Indian art and culture, Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh said on Tuesday. "Amitabh is a personality who can pay Rs 6 lakh. Rs 600 is nothing for him. Registration of such a case against megastar like him is ridiculous and an attempt to defame Indian art," he said.
