Umashankar Singh, the Bahujan Samaj Party's sole MLA in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly from the Rasra constituency, has passed away at the age of 55 after a prolonged illness. Political leaders, including Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, BSP president Mayawati, and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, have expressed their condolences.
The AAP government in Punjab successfully moved a Confidence Motion in the state assembly, following the defection of seven Rajya Sabha MPs to the BJP. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann asserted the party's strength and national presence during the special session.
The Opposition had the numbers to win one Rajya Sabha seat from Bihar. As it turned out, four MLAs skipped the voting, helping the NDA to sweep the polls.
Mayawati on Sunday had directed Mahesh to vote in favour of the Kumaraswamy government, after he had said that he would skip the trust vote in the absence of any clear instructions from the high command.
Rajesh Shukla, the lone SP MLA in Madhya Pradesh, along with an MLA of the Bahujan Samaj Party and an independent legislator joined the BJP in Bhopal on Tuesday in the presence Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
The Kollegal MLA said he will not attend the floor test on the direction of party supremo Mayawati.
An eighth BJP candidate on Thursday filed his nomination for the Rajya Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, setting the stage for a contest with the Samajwadi Party on February 27.
From putting up a decent performance in the last Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh winning 10 seats stitching an alliance with arch rival Samajwadi Party, Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party drew a blank in the current general elections, dealing a severe blow to its reputation of representing the voice of Dalits in the state.
AIMIM's Bihar state president Akhtarul Iman, the party's lone MLA in the state, has written to RJD president Lalu Prasad, formally requesting inclusion in the grand alliance.
Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak said on Tuesday night that all the eight candidates of the Bharatiya Janata Party have won in the Rajya Sabha elections from the state.
Never before has the BJP faced such a crisis over the nomination of the Chief Minister as it is facing now, discovers Prakash Bhandari, veteran observer of Rajasthan politics.
'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'
To help the Congress break the impasse on the leadership issue, the three-MLA strong Bahujan Samaj Party on Sunday offered "unconditional support" to it in Uttarakhand and expressed desire to share power. "On the direction of Mayawati, our party has decided to give full support to Congress," state BSP President Surajmal told PTI.
Jammu and Kashmir BJP chief Ravinder Raina, seeking re-election from Nowshera assembly constituency of Rajouri district in Jammu and Kashmir, is facing a major challenge from his former party colleague Surinder Choudhary.
Incidentally, 164 of the total 356 candidates in the fray from the 43 assembly seats of Jammu region got less votes than none of the above, which gives an option to voters to reject all candidates in a constituency.
"The BJP tried every trick to defeat the BSP candidate and indulged in malpractices," the BSP supremo alleged.
Fourteen ministers are from the Congress, nine from its ruling coalition partner Janata Dal-Secular and one each from the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Karnataka Pragnyavantha Janatha Party.
Disgruntled Janata Dal-United leader Upendra Kushwaha on Monday resigned from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's party, less than two years after returning to the party, and announced formation of the 'Rashtriya Loktantrik Janata Dal'.
Mayawati was outmanoeuvred by the BJP in the race for the Rajya Sabha in Uttar Pradesh just days after she helped the Samajwadi Party snatch two Lok Sbaha seats from the saffron party in bypolls.
The Punjab assembly on Monday "unanimously" passed the confidence motion moved by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on September 27, even as Congress members staged a walkout.
A visibly upset Shivpal Yadav said, "I was never called to any meeting (of the SP) and no information was given to me."
Among the seven seats which witnessed a stiff contest between the BJP and the regional parties, the saffron party held three and the Congress two, while the Shiv Sena and the RJD had one each.
Voting began on Thursday in the by-election to seven assembly constituencies in six states -- a contest symbolic of the fierce turf war between the Bharatiya Janata Party and regional parties.
Eight Union ministers, two former chief ministers and one ex-governor are among those who are set to test their electoral fate in the first phase of elections on April 19 when 102 seats across 21 states and Union territories will go to polls.
Though today he is treading the path alone with no bigwig coming over for campaigning, the support of his elder brother Mulayam, who started his campaign with a rally for him, has re-established the bonding in the family.
Muslims constitute 20% of UP's electorate. Currently, Muslim voters are divided between Akhilesh's SP and Mayawati's BSP. What will tilt the balance? Can Muslims back the winning party? Mohammad Sajjad explains the mysteries of UP's Muslim politics.
With the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections drawing close, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi will begin a three-day visit to Uttar Pradesh from Ayodhya starting September 7, his party said on Friday.
The swearing-in ceremony, attended by Chouhan, was kept low-key in view of the coronavirus-induced lockdown. Social distancing norms were followed at the ceremony.
Voting will be held on Thursday in bypolls to seven assembly seats in six states -- a contest symbolic of the fierce turf war between the Bharatiya Janata Party and regional parties.
Chief ministers and other senior leaders made last-minute appeals to voters for their support in Mokama and Gopalganj of Bihar, Adampur of Haryana, Manugoda of Telangana, Gola Gorakhnath of Uttar Pradesh and Dhamnagar of Odisha.
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 saffron party is assured of victory in eight of the ten seats in UP going by its dominant numbers in the state assembly.
Yogi expands UP Cabinet in attempt to balance caste, regional aspirations head of the assembly polls early next year.
Both the BJP and the JD-U abetted the LJP split but interestingly, independently. And there hangs a tale of conflicting interests, gamesmanship, subterfuge, and retribution, reports Radhika Ramaseshan.
Unfazed by Yeddyurappa's unceremonious exit, the BJP on Thursday fielded its senior leader S Suresh Kumar, a fifth term MLA, for the post of the Speaker whose election will precede the trust vote.
With Maharashtra and Haryana assembly elections, results for 51 assembly and two Lok Sabha bypolls spread across 18 states were declared on Thursday. Here are state-wise results of the bypolls.
10 reasons why the Congress-JD-S government is on the brink of collapse.
UP now has 16 ministers, the maximum from any state, in an apparent bid to keep the Dalit and other backward class votebank content.
Apprehending that some of its MLAs may not toe the party line, especially as BJP-backed Chandra had claimed support of at least two INLD MLAs, a dozen-odd legislators of the party were on Monday sent off to the hill station in Uttarakhand.
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.
