SP legislator from Swar Tanda (Rampur), Nawab Kazim Ali, and Ram Sewak Singh Patel, BJS MLA from Binawar (Badaun) joined the BSP in Lucknow.
Taking strong exception to Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh's criticism of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati's fad for her personal statues and monuments, the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party in Uttar Pradesh has termed the tirade as a "reflection of the Congress party's anti-dalit mentality."
Accusing opposition parties of anti-dalit mentality, ruling Bahujan Samaj Party in Uttar Pradesh today claimed that its president Mayawati's statues were installed as per the "written will" of party founder Kanshiram.
Lucknow's main thoroughfares are flanked for miles with blue hoardings announcing the big event of March 15. Even hoardings carrying advertisements of different brands and companies have been literally hijacked by the ruling party to celebrate Kanshi Ram's birth anniversary.
"The two parties always had a tacit understanding in Uttar Pradesh," Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh told media persons when asked his views on the BJP and BSP describing party general secretary Rahul Gandhi's 'padayatra' in UP as a political drama.
The ruling Bahujan Samaj Party in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday decided to get rid of all the criminal elements in the party by April 30.An announcement to this effect was reportedly made at a day-long meeting of the party's district chiefs and coordinators, addressed by party supremo and UP Chief Minister Mayawati's close confidant and minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui, on Friday.The party chief has resolved to rid the BSP of all criminal and anti-social elements in the party.
The rebels have formed a separate outfit, the Loktantrik BSP, and sought its merger with the Samajwadi Party.
Some members of the group want to join the ruling BSP.
BSP candidate Virendra Singh defeated SP's Anil Rajbhar, son of Ramjit Rajbhar, whose death necessitated the bypoll, by 3,510 votes.
If only the Congress could rebuild on its strengths and develop a modern enough ideology, we could again be moving towards a clearer two-party political landscape, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
It is not unlikely that ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP government comes up with more imaginative schemes aimed at constituency-building. The party under Modi's leadership has a more modern thinking in such matters unlike its rivals, which are still steeped only in ideology, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Results show that the BJP has fared poorly in rural regions, underlining the need for the party to challenge issues like farm distress and unemployment.
The April 11 polling will decide the fate of several political bigwigs.
With most political parties failing to articulate the concerns of Muslims, who account for 15 per cent of the population and can swing the electoral outcome in 21 constituencies, the AIMIM hopes to make a mark in the ongoing assembly elections, says Shafeeq Rahman.
"All opposition parties should work together. It should be a one-to-one fight against the BJP. All opposition parties should help the strongest one in the state against the BJP," Banerjee said.
BJP strategists know it may not repeat its 2014 performance in its traditionally strong bases in the north and the west. This is where the success in the north east and east is so important.
The finance minister is "reasonably confident" that when it comes to the crunch, "it would be extremely difficult even for the Congress party to take a contrarian view" on the GST Bill.
The AAP has adopted policies in an ad hoc manner, without thinking them through or deriving them from a broader framework. This must change if the AAP is to become a credible alternative, says Praful Bidwai.
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