Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister and former state BJP president Keshav Prasad Maurya had also dropped a hint in a recent tweet, saying Yaduvanshi (Yadavs), Ravidasiyo (Jatavs) and Pasmanda Muslims will be brought closer to the BJP so that the lotus 'blossoms' in every booth in UP.
Gandhi dismissed as an "eyewash" the probe into what she called as Ayodhya land 'scam' in areas around the proposed Ram temple while Mayawati demanded that the state government cancel the land deals if the allegations in a media report on the issue are true.
Voting for the seventh and final round will be held on March 7 for Varanasi and its eight adjoining districts.
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati and other senior politicians on Sunday cast their votes in the third phase of Uttar Pradesh elections and claimed that their parties will form the next government.
Suspended Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Nupur Sharma, in the eye of a storm over her remarks against Prophet Muhammad, Monday sought time to appear before the Maharashtra police to record her statement, while more than 300 people have been arrested in Uttar Pradesh in a crackdown on protesters who indulged in violence after the Friday prayers on June 10.
A station house officer was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl who was left outside his police station in Uttar Pradesh's Lalitpur by four men after they raped her for three days, officials said on Wednesday.
Sources in various parties suggest that two lakh votes of the Patel community, locally known as OBC kurmi, for which mother-daughter led Apna Dal (S) and Apna Dal (K) are competing and over one lakh of OBC Rajbhars would be crucial in deciding the outcome of the assembly seats in Varanasi.
Siddiqui, who hails from Banda, was earlier removed as the party in-charge of Uttar Pradesh and was appointed as the MP unit in-charge after the assembly poll debacle.
Bahujan Samaj Party candidate Mukul Upadhyay on Saturday became emotional and broke down while addressing a rally in Ramlila ground of Kavinagar area. The incident took place shortly before BSP supremo Mayawati's arrival at the rally venue.
Family members of JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar have raised objection to Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati's castiest remarks against him.
Two-term Bahujan Samaj Party MP Brajesh Pathak on Monday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party expressing faith in its "developmental" agenda for poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, a day after attending Mayawati's rally in Agra.
Ashok Chowdhury, a Dalit politics expert said, "BJP had impressed the Dalits in the 2014, 2017 and 2019 elections, but it's difficiult to retain them now".
Less than half the ministers in Team Yogi are not long-term BJP members. Many old-timers have been dropped.
Asking people to refrain from voting in favour of the saffron party, BSP supremo Mayawati on Thursday alleged that if the Bharatiya Janata Party came into power and Narendra Modi became the prime minister, the country would "stand ruined" with communal riots.
The BJP's quest for dominance over the states political scene, evident from a seat-sharing deal as part of which it clinched nearly as many constituencies as the Janata Dal-United its senior partner so far- resonated during the election campaign.
Some parties, including the Congress, also demanded immediate sacking of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Kumar Mishra, following Samyukt Kisan Morcha's allegation that his son was travelling in one of the vehicles involved in the incident.
Madhaw Anand, the party's principal national general secretary and chief spokesperson, resigned from the posts as well as the primary membership stating that the party ran the risk of being "finished" on account of the "inconsequential" move.
Muslims have been given tickets in 36 of the 100 seats.
Mayawati made it amply clear that her party will not enter into any alliance with the Congress.
Though there was no official word from both the parties, the sources claimed that two Uttar Pradesh-based political outfits will contest 37 Lok Sabha seats each.
'Economic issues do not matter during elections; it is the emotional connect that helps swing votes.'
The BSP is contesting on 20 seats in Karnataka election with an alliance with Janata Dal-Secular while the SP is contesting on 27 on its own.
On May 2, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will step into Bihar and challenge the Nitish-Lalu order in the state.
Ajay Kumar Lallu said the party has emerged as the main challenger to the "oppressive" UP government and the 'winds of change' were blowing in the state.
'It's the same problem with all six of us. Behenji (Mayawati) is not to be blamed, but the coordinators have acted in a manner which has depressed us and we thought what is the use of remaining with such a party'
The government is hopeful of passage of the GST bill in the winter session of parliament claiming 30 of the 32 parties have supported it.
Doubts are being raised in the Bharatiya Janata Party about its fate in the prestigious constituencies of Lucknow (East) and Noida by-poll, where the voting percentage was as low as 34 and 32 respectively.
Mayawati and Akhilesh, who contested the recent UP bypolls together, will campaign separately for their parties.
The UP chief minister also attacked the Congress, saying the party furthered the interests of a family, promoted casteism, regionalism and kept the country in limbo for 50 years.
Modi's remarks at an election rally in Mirzapur in the backward eastern region of Uttar Pradesh came amid war of words on supply of electricity in the state.
Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah on Wednesday dubbed the Congress, the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party as "KASAB", adding yet another acronym in the Uttar Pradesh poll campaign, and said development will elude the state till "Kasab is laid to rest".
Even as both the ruling Samajwadi Party and its bte noire, the Bahujan Samaj Party may swear in the name of secularism, neither of the two critical players in Uttar Pradesh politics is willing to go for a united nominee against their common political foe, Narendra Modi, who seemed cocking a snook at them from Varanasi. Sharat Pradhan reports
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and other senior party leaders, including All India Congress Committee general secretary Avinash Pande and spokesperson Randeep Surjewala, also moved to Jaisalmer along with the MLAs in five chartered flights.
The SP workers' confusion began last month when Prateek Yadav's wife participated in a function organised by Shivpal Yadav and expressed her support for him.
Mahant Satya Narayan was hiding in the house of his follower in a village under Ughaiti police station from where he was picked up.
The recent Supreme Court judgment on reservation on Mondau came in for criticism in the Lok Sabha, with members claiming that it would hit80 per cent population of the country comprising Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Backward Classes.
The Lt Governor conveyed to the Delhi government that the rules will have to be amended for shunning the EVMs and it was not possible to make the changes as little over a month is left for the polls.
'The Congress's policy is it will take benefits from everybody, but when it gets an opportunity, it does not want to share it with others'
The opposition parties also alleged that the gangster was killed to protect the UP government.
The Central Board of Film Certification, however, submitted that all the 13 changes including deletion of Punjab in the film title suggested by its Revising Committee were justified and proper.
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