The parties seem to have forgotten their two decade-old antagonism for a 'political revolution' which they hope would 'last long'.
He was billed as the next big thing in Dalit politics in Uttar Pradesh and a challenge for the Bahujan Samaj Party but Mayawati's party is least impressed by the exploits of Chandrasekhar Azad 'Ravan' let alone consider him a threat.
During the hearing, the bench asked the counsel for EC as to what action they have taken against Mayawati and Yogi Adityanath for alleged hate speeches.
The 80-year-old anti-corruption crusader, whose previous agitation propelled many leaders, including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, to the national limelight has decided that those who wish to associate with him now will have to swear in an affidavit that they will not join politics in future.
The Supreme Court had last month ruled that any appeal for votes on the ground of 'religion, race, caste, community or language' amounted to 'corrupt practice' under the electoral law.
The bill rules out any provision for an anticipatory bail for a person accused of atrocities against SC/STs, notwithstanding any court order.
The BSP chief said Uttar Pradesh, which is India's largest state, will decide who will be the next prime minister.
To a question whether his party will not forge a coalition with any political party, Azad said, "If any political party is willing to accompany the Congress, and the Congress feels that it can fight the BJP, then it will be definitely accommodated."
The West Bengal CM also said that she wasn't averse to working with the Congress and expressed confidence that a grand alliance of opposition parties is possible.
Mayawati said that the BSP and the SP would not ally with the Congress party in the upcoming elections.
Basic Education Minister Anupama Jaiswal's remarks came even as the ruling party's Dalit, OBC outreach programme faces criticism from opposition Bahujan Samaj Party and some BJP leaders, including MP Udit Raj.
The Congress said the alliance between the BSP and Jogi's Janta Congress Chhattisgarh has the support of the BJP, which is ruling the state since 2003.
Chandrasekhar was carrying a reward of Rs 12,000 on his head.
'I am not going to talk about fear and apprehension.' 'I can only talk about my expectation which at this moment is to bring back development and maintain that momentum in the coming months,' Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat tells Rashme Sehgal for Rediff.com
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Rahul Gandhi and BSP supremo Mayawati will descend on Varanasi on Saturday making it their battleground ahead of the last phase of Uttar Pradesh polls, a schedule that has put the administration on its toes.
Sources said while the Janata Dal-Secular will have nine new ministers, the Congress will have nearly 12 of its legislators inducted into the cabinet. Lone Bahujan Samaj Party MLA N Mahesh will also be a part of the cabinet expansion and will be given a key portfolio.
The FIR, in which 15-20 unnamed people were also mentioned, was registered at the Gurubuxganj police station in Rae Bareli.
Kicking off Uttar Pradesh poll campaign, Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah on Saturday took a dig at infighting in the Mulayam Singh Yadav family and targeted the ruling Samajwadi Party as well as the Bahujan Samaj Party, saying neither party is bothered about development of the state.
In the same breath, the RPI-A leader said, "No one can challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi -- neither Congress president Rahul Gandhi, nor SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, nor BSP supremo Mayawati."
All India Congress Committee general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Ghulam Nabi Azad said the party would not react immediately and would come out with a detailed reaction in Lucknow on Sunday.
Some parties complained to the Election Commission alleging violation of the model code.
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Saturday said that those seen at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's roadshow in Varanasi were "mere spectators" brought in from other states and districts in Uttar Pradesh where voting had already taken place.
Out of the 403 seats up for grabs, the BSP had prepared a final list comprising 97 Muslim candidates (12 more than 2012), 87 Dalits and 106 other backwards castes, besides earmarking 113 seats for upper castes -- Brahmins 66, Kshatriyas 36 and others 11.
Statistics show the BSP has always gained from pre-poll alliances, reflecting in the party winning more seats in subsequent elections and largely retaining the vote share too. Virendra Singh Rawat reports.
The RJD chief also hailed the Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party alliance in Uttar Pradesh.
Some of the expelled youth leaders, close to Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, have already met party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, triggering speculation of their early return to party fold.
Former Kerala minister T H Mustafa was on Thursday suspended from the Congress for calling Rahul Gandhi a "joker" and saying that the party vice-president should be removed if he does not resign in the backdrop of the party's debacle in the Lok Sabha polls.
Around 40,000 Delhi Police personnel, 190 coys (companies) of Central Armed Police Forces and 19,000 Home Guards have been deployed for smooth conduct of election in the national capital, officials said.
Uttar Pradesh Police had on Sunday arrested the three accused -- Naresh (25), Bablu (22) and Rais (28) -- and detained a dozen others after launching a massive hunt for a gang of dacoits suspected to be behind the highway crime.
As many as 69 assembly constituencies in the Yadav heartland, considered crucial for the ruling Samajwadi Party in the state, went to the polls in this phase.
The Samajwadi Party on Monday struck a defiant note on the issue of suspension of IAS officer Durga Sakhti Nagpal, saying officials are punished whenever they do something wrong and the Centre can withdraw IAS officers from the state.
Slogan shouting Congress and BJP members on Monday forced four adjournments of Rajya Sabha demanding dismissal of SAD-BJP government in Punjab over alleged atrocities against Dalit youths.
An Uttar Pradesh government panel on Sunday accused a Bharatiya Janata Party MP of inciting Saharanpur riots, besides blaming laxity by local officials, sparking a war of words among parties with BJP dismissing the report as "politically motivated" and an attempt by ruling Samajwadi Party to hide its "failures".
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party president Amit Shah and chief ministers of National Democratic Alliance-ruled States are at the ceremony.
"The BJP tried every trick to defeat the BSP candidate and indulged in malpractices," the BSP supremo alleged.
Rattled by the electoral debacle, the Congress is seriously considering replacing chief ministers of Maharashtra, Assam and Haryana in a major shake-up ahead of assembly elections.
'The 16th and 17th Lok Sabha and the 2017 assembly election show that Dalits and OBCs are moving towards the BJP.'
Both the parties had been banking heavily on the internal feud in the first family of the state
A down-to-the-wire contest is likely in some of the seats in the high-stakes Rajya Sabha elections in seven states, especially in Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Haryana, where the fate of candidates including senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal and senior lawyer R K Anand is being decided on Saturday.
The Congress said it will observe 'Save Democracy Day' on Friday with party workers and leaders holding protest marches at all district and state headquarters.
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