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.
Siddiqui said since he had given an elaborate interview to rediff.com as an SP general secretary, he explains why he shifted allegiance to the Bahujan Samaj Party and what his views on the issues now are.
A day after the Samajwadi Party disowned him for his interview of Narendra Modi, an agitated Shahid Siddiqui on Sunday accused the party of shooting the messenger.
Shahid Siddiqui, who defected from the Samajwadi Party, sang a different tune two days ago when he defended the nuclear deal in an exclusive interview with rediff.com
'The new Waqf bill sows the seed for conflict in every town and village of India.'
'The irony of this country is that the party in Opposition and the party in power both depend on Muslims.'
'Under this amendment, in any dispute over Waqf properties, the Waqf Board cannot approach the court.' 'This is very surprising because the government instead of protecting Waqf properties they are snatching it away and not allowing them to go to court.' 'The third biggest landowner in India is the Waqf Board after the Indian Army and Indian Railways.'
'...It is important for you to take a stand.' 'It is a sin to remain silent when the basic structure of the Constitution is being attacked.'
'The BJP is racing against its opponents by putting a chain on their legs.'
Kharge said the leaders of INDIA parties have come together as democracy is under threat under the Bharatiya Janata Party government.
The Opposition INDIA bloc on Friday finalised a 14-member coordination-cum-election strategy committee comprising members of various parties, and it will function as the alliance's highest decision-making body and start work on seat-sharing immediately, sources said.
Amid the raging Israel-Hamas war, a group of opposition leaders, including MP Danish Ali and former parliamentarians Mani Shankar Aiyar and K C Tyagi, visited the Palestine Embassy in New Delhi on Monday to express solidarity with Palestinians.
In the meeting, which has come at a time when the Gyanvapi mosque issue is being heard in courts, it was decided to build a platform for strengthening communal harmony in the country.
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Thursday, met with many Muslim intellectuals including Chief Imam Dr Imam Umer Ahmed Ilyasi.
The educated, respectable and established Muslims voices, that were on the modernising side on the Shah Bano issue, are fighting on the opposite side now, mostly because they worry about Narendra Modi, observes Shekhar Gupta.
'We want Muslims to go about their work and business unhindered.' 'They should not get victimised and that will only come through the process of reconciliation.'
"Hang me if I am guilty," said Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as he broke his silence over the 2002 communal riots in his first ever interview to a leading Urdu weekly.
Leaders of various political outfits took a dig at Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Monday after the latter was dropped as the keynote speaker at a Wharton Business School event.
The Indian Muslims must get out of the syndrome of victimhood and persecution and do some self introspection. They must change their attitude towards national issues and political parties. The media can only mirror a reality, it cannot change it, says Shahid Siddiqui.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi gave a candid and controversial interview to Shahid Siddiqui, editor of the Urdu weekly Nai Duniya, where he spoke about the Gujarat riots. For doing the interview Siddiqui was suspended from the Samajwadi Party, which he has joined recently after quitting the Bahujan Samaj Party.
Controversial Modi, Kareena's Herione and more
Urdu journalist cum politician Shahid Siddiqui, who made waves recently when he was sacked by the Samajwadi Party for interviewing Gujarat CM Narendra Modi for his paper, spoke to Neerja Chowdhury on Uttar Pradesh, the goings on in the SP and the government led by it, of which he has had more than a ringside view.
If Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi wanted to launch a new image or change his brand through his interview to me he will not be successful, Nai Duniya editor Shahid Siddiqui tells Sheela Bhatt
The Samajwadi Party on Saturday distanced itself from Shahid Siddiqui, saying he is no longer a part of the party two days after his interview with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi made waves.
Akhilesh Yadav, Uttar Pradesh's new chief minister, will have to take some tough decisions to prove himself to be a good administrator and restore the law and order in the state, feels Congress-turned-Samajwadi Party politician Shahid Siddiqui
In a jolt to Rashtriya Lok Dal, its Rajya Sabha member of Parliament Shahid Siddiqui and Anuradha Chowdhury, a former aide of party chief Ajit Singh, on Sunday joined the Samajwadi Party ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.
'He was full of Hindustan, its tehzeeb and its culture.'
"Show respect to cows as it is the leader of all bovines. Its milk, ghee and butter have therapeutic properties and its meat is the cause of several diseases," translates the verse on the hoarding
Siddiqui's exit came within hours of the publication of his interview in the English daily Indian Express -- bearing the headline 'Mayawati comes, speaks, goes, there's no discussion' -- where he had sought to brand Mayawati as a despot.
The Rajya Sabha was adjourned briefly on Wednesday after members disrupted proceedings over a reply by Home Minister Shivraj Patil on terrorism emanating from Bangladesh.
I was not ready to spend money and they demanded money. I don't want to use money in politics. Unfortunately in the BSP, money has become everything. There is a mafia working in the party that controls everything.
According to the schedule announced by the EC, the notifications would be issued on November three. The last date for filing nominations would be on November 10 and scrutiny would be on the following day. Last date of withdrawal of candidature would be on November 14. Counting of votes would take place on November 21 at the end of the polling.
Th defence minister said warships of the two countries conducted seven exercises, involving participation of two US nuclear carriers and five nuclear-powered submarines in the Malabar series of war games.
Samajwadi Party General Secretary and MP Shahid Siddiqui speaks on his party's relations with the Congress, the Indo-US nuclear deal and Muslim votes.
All issues on India, China border dispute will be tackled: PM
Slogan-shouting SP members said the home minister should clarify the matter.
"Just because some political figures are involved, you will not investigate, we will not allow this," said the court adding that it would have appreciated if the police had enquired into specific allegations levelled against each person and then filed the report.
The meeting is seen as part of efforts by the RSS and the BJP to reach out to the Muslim community and send out a message of peace and harmony.
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