News Analysis India

Tag: Samajwadi Party

  • A day before RS polls, 8 SP MLAs skip meeting called by Akhilesh Yadav

    Lucknow: As many as eight MLAs of the Samajwadi Party did not attend a meeting called by party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday, a day before the voting for the Rajya Sabha elections. A senior SP leader requesting anonymity said that the party chief had called a meeting to brief the MLAs about the voting process of the Rajya Sabha elections. However, chief whip of the party in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly Manoj Pandey and seven other MLAs — Mukesh Verma, Maharaji Prajapati, Pooja Pal, Rakesh Pandey, Vinod Chaturvedi, Rakesh Pratap Singh and Abhay Singh did not attend the meeting.

    Speaking to PTI, SP’s national spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary accepted that eight MLAs did not attend the dinner and meeting called by party chief Akhilesh Yadav. However, he did not name the MLAs.

    On a question whether Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) leader Pallavi Patel, who is an SP MLA, attended the meeting, Chaudhary said that though she was not in the meeting, she had a separate meeting with Yadav. She also assured her support to the SP candidates in the Rajya Sabha elections, Chaudhary said. The SP’s national spokesperson also said that the real stance of the MLAs who were absent from the meeting will be clear only on Tuesday during the voting for the Rajya Sabha elections.

    He exuded confidence that all the three SP candidates will win the elections.

    The stage is set for a high-pitched electoral battle in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the Lok Sabha polls on Tuesday, with the BJP fielding eight candidates and the opposition Samajwadi Party three for the 10 Rajya Sabha seats. The ruling BJP and the principal opposition SP have the numbers to send seven and three members, respectively to the Rajya Sabha, but with the BJP fielding Sanjay Seth as its eighth candidate, a keen contest is on the cards for one of the seats. Seth, an industrialist and former SP leader, had joined the BJP in 2019.

    The BJP and the SP are the two largest parties in the 403-member state assembly with 252 and 108 MLAs, respectively. The Congress, an alliance partner of the SP, has two seats.

    BJP ally Apna Dal (Sonelal) has 13 seats, NISHAD Party has six seats, RLD has nine, SBSP six, Jansatta Dal Loktantrik two and the BSP has one seat. Four seats are currently vacant.

    The seven other candidates fielded by the BJP are former Union minister RPN Singh, former MP Chaudhary Tejveer Singh, general secretary of the party’s Uttar Pradesh unit Amarpal Maurya, former state minister Sangeeta Balwant, party spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi, former MLA Sadhna Singh and former Agra mayor Naveen Jain.

    The Samajwadi Party has fielded actor-MP Jaya Bachchan, retired IAS officer Alok Ranjan and Dalit leader Ramji Lal Suman.

    To get elected to the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh, a candidate needs 37 first preference votes, an official said.

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  • Rajya Sabha Election: Several SP MLAs In Touch With BJP, Cross-voting Expected, Say Sources |

    New Delhi: A cross-voting is expected in the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh as a number of Samajwadi Party MLAs are in touch with the Bharatiya Janata Party, sources have told Zee News TV. 

    This development follows the reports of absence from a recent important Samajwadi Party meeting focused on Rajya Sabha voting strategies. Six Samajwadi Party legislators, including Amethi’s Maharaji Devi, Pallavi Patel, Vinod Chaturvedi from Kalpi, and Pooja Pal from Kaushambi, failed to attend the meeting. Their absence has sparked concerns within the SP camp about the potential impact on the party’s performance in the upcoming elections.

    The absence of these key members, and the rumors of cross-voting, suggest a possible significant setback for the Samajwadi Party.

    The voting for the Uttar Pradesh Rajya Sabha elections will be held tomorrow with the BJP making efforts to secure an additional seat. The competition primarily involves the BJP-led NDA and the Samajwadi Party (SP). While ten seats are up for grabs, there are a total of eleven candidates – eight from the BJP and three from the Samajwadi Party. While victory seems assured for seven BJP candidates and two from the Samajwadi Party, the main contest revolves around the tenth candidate, given that the BJP has nominated one additional candidate. Both parties are striving to gather the necessary votes for victory, as a candidate requires 37 votes to emerge as the winner.

    The Number Game

    In the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly, there is a total of 403 seats out of which 4 seats are vacant. Thus, the current strength of the assembly is 399 legislators. For the BJP to secure a victory for their eighth candidate, they require the votes of 9 legislators. The NDA has a total of 288 legislators from BJP+ RLD+ Apna Dal(S)+ Nishad Party+ SBSP+ Jansatta Dal (Loktantrik). However, one legislator from the Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) is in jail, reducing the BJP’s count to 287 legislators. It is being speculated that BSP MP Ritesh Pandey, who recently joined the BJP, may bring his father Rakesh Pandey’s vote to the BJP. Rakesh Pandey is a Samajwadi Party (SP) legislator. Therefore, the BJP needs the votes of 8 more MLAs.

    On the other hand, for the Samajwadi Party to secure a win for their third candidate, they need just three votes. The SP and Congress together have a total of 110 legislators. Among them, two SP legislators, Ramakant Yadav and Irfan Solanki, are in jail. Thus, the SP requires the votes of 3 more legislators. If SP legislator Rakesh Pandey votes for the BJP candidate, then they will need an additional 4 votes. Cross-voting by the MLAs will play a crucial role in deciding the 10th winner as a victory for both parties without cross-voting will be challenging.

    NDA:
    1. BJP- 252
    2. Apna Dal (S)- 13
    3. Nishad Party- 6
    4. SBSP- 6
    5. Jansatta Dal- 2
    6. RLD- 9

    INDIA:
    1. Samajwadi Party- 108
    2. Congress- 2

    Others-
    1. BSP- 1
    2. Vacant- 4

  • UP to witness keen contest in Feb 27 Rajya Sabha polls

    Lucknow: The February 27 Rajya Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh will witness a high-pitched electoral battle ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, with the BJP fielding eight candidates and the opposition Samajwadi Party three for the 10 seats up for grabs. The outcome of the polls to the Rajya Sabha is likely to have an impact in the politically crucial state just ahead of the general elections in the country.

    The ruling BJP and the principal opposition SP have the numbers to send seven and three members respectively unopposed to the Rajya Sabha, but with the BJP fielding Sanjay Seth as its eighth candidate, a keen contest is on the cards in one of the seats.

    Seth, a local industrialist and former SP leader, joined the BJP in 2019. He filed his nomination in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya and other senior party leaders. Voting for the 10 Rajya Sabha seats will be held on Tuesday and the results will also be announced the same day.

    The BJP and the SP are the two largest parties in the 403-member state assembly with 252 MLAs and 108 MLAs respectively. The Congress, an alliance partner of the SP, has two seats. BJP ally Apna Dal (Sonelal) 13, NISHAD Party six, RLD nine, SBSP six, Jansatta Dal Loktantrik two and the BSP one. Four seats are currently vacant.

    The seven other candidates fielded by the BJP are former Union minister RPN Singh, former MP Chaudhary Tejveer Singh, general secretary of the party’s Uttar Pradesh unit Amarpal Maurya, former state minister Sangeeta Balwant (Bind) party spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi, former MLA Sadhna Singh and former Agra mayor Naveen Jain. The SP has fielded actor-MP Jaya Bachchan, retired IAS officer Alok Ranjan and Dalit leader Ramji Lal Suman. To get elected to the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh, a candidate needs nearly 37 first preference votes, an official said.

    Elaborating further about the Rajya Sabha elections, Returning Officer Brijbhushan Dubey said, “A candidate will need 36.37 first preference votes to register a win. At present, there are 399 MLAs in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly.”

    Asked whether the three jailed MLAs will also be able to vote in the Rajya Sabha elections, Dubey told PTI that it would be decided by the court and the political party concerned.

    SP MLAs Irfan Solanki and Ramakant Yadav and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) legislator Abbas Ansari are in prison.

    Dubey further said that MLAs will enter from gate 7, take ballot papers from room 80 and head to Tilak Hall to cast their votes.

    “Polling will be held from 9 am to 4 pm. Counting will commence from 5 pm and results are likely to be announced on Tuesday night,” he added.

    Exuding confidence in the BJP’s performance in the Rajya Sabha elections, Maurya told PTI, “All BJP candidates will register a win in the Rajya Sabha elections.”

    Chief whip of the Samajwadi Party in the legislative assembly Manoj Pandey said all SP MLAs will be voting for the party’s candidates in the Rajya Sabha election.

    Asked if one of the SP candidates may eventually fall short by one vote, Pandey said, “How will we fall short? Our people had contested (the 2022 UP Assembly elections) from the SBSP and the Rashtriya Lok Dal. And, basically, they are from the SP.”

    Although Pandey exuded confidence that MLAs of the SBSP and the RLD will vote for the SP candidates, both parties have joined the BJP-led NDA.

    Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) leader Pallavi Patel, an ally of the Samajwadi Party, had earlier said that she would not vote in the Rajya Sabha polls as she did not agree with the SP decision to field Bachchan and Ranjan.

    Speaking to PTI on Sunday, she said, “I will be voting in the Rajya Sabha elections. That is my right and my duty. But I have not decided yet who will be the candidate.”

    On whether the two jailed SP MLAs would be casting their votes, Pandey said, “The party is making efforts to bring them to Lucknow so that they can cast their votes.”

    “All the three candidates fielded by the party will emerge victorious in the Rajya Sabha elections,” former chief secretary of the state and SP candidate Ranjan told PTI.

    He added that unlike the Lok Sabha elections or the legislative assembly elections, Rajya Sabha polls are a different ball game altogether.

    Congress MLA from Pharenda in Maharajganj district told PTI, “Now, with the Congress and Samajwadi Party forging an alliance for the upcoming Lok Sabha election, the picture here is also very clear. We will vote for the candidates fielded by the SP. The candidate of the SP will be our candidate. We will vote for the SP candidate, about whom we will be told by SP chief Akhilesh Yadav.”

    Ramashish Rai UP unit chief of Rashtriya Lok Dal, which recently switched over to the NDA fold said that all the RLD MLAs will vote for the BJP candidates in the ongoing Rajya Sabha elections.

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  • Farmers, Youth In Distress Under BJP Rule: Akhilesh Yadav`s Big Attack On Modi Govt

    Akhilesh Yadav accused BJP of  BJP of orchestrating corruption and electoral malpractices and said part’s agenda revolves around vote bank politics.

  • Congress SP news: Worries mount as Congress-SP talks in UP hit a wall

    Seat sharing talks between the Congress and Samajwadi Party in UP for the general elections have hit a wall, casting a serious shadow on the future of the alliance.

    Congress general secretary in charge of organisation KC Venugopal however told media separately that discussions are going on and talks will be finalised at any point of time now.

    Talks had been going on between the two INDIA bloc members for over a month. A day ago, Akhilesh Yadav said he will join Rahul Gandhi’s Nyaya Yatra in Raebareli, scheduled for Tuesday, only once the talks were finalised, triggering hectic parlays between the two parties all of Monday, that went on till late night. SP’s final tally for Congress was 17 seats, six more than the 11 seats Akhilesh Yadav bad announced earlier. However, Congress was firm on getting Moradabad- where SP currently has a sitting MP , as well as Kheri. It is also learnt to have been wanting Dhaurahra in Shahjahanpur- seat of former Congress leader Jitin Prasada, however SP has already announced a candidate for the seat and was unwilling to cede. SP sources said they made some adjustments, for example, agreeing on giving Amroha to Congress, among others but Congress remained dissatisfied.

    “Congress has closed talks from their front,” a SP leader, aware of the talks, said.

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  • Comparing Charan Singh’s legacy to ‘small election’ of 2024 belittles him: Jayant Chaudhary

    To compare the legacy of Chaudhary Charan Singh with a “small election” of 2024 is belittling him, Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Jayant Chaudhary said, refusing to spill beans over the said “deal” between his party and the BJP. He was asked about speculations of the RLD joining the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and switching over from the INDIA bloc after Bharat Ratna was announced for his grandfather.

    “If you compare a small election of 2024 with the great legacy of Chaudhary Charan Singh, you are belittling him and insulting his supporters. It is an insult to an honour like Bharat Ratna,” Chaudhary said.

    Asked about the allegations of a “deal” between RLD and BJP, he said, “The process of deciding on Bharat Ratna is a pious process. The government takes decisions in the interest of the nation, keeping in mind people’s sentiment… 37 years after his death, a government thought of honouring him. If they are seeing something wrong with this and if they think there is a transaction, it shows their ideological decline.” Asked what went wrong with the Samajwadi Party, he said it is an “internal matter”, adding that he will explain later why he changed his stand.

    “Those are internal matters, based on trust. Whatever discussions took place between me and Akhilesh ji, I will not discuss it outside… When our alliance is decided and announced, I will be able to tell why I changed my stand and the way ahead,” he said.

    On his earlier remarks that he will not “flip like a coin”, Singh said there should be an “expiry date” to remarks. “This used to happen earlier as well, but earlier the records were not available all the time. In the times of internet, you can also see my statements from 20 years ago when I fought with the support of the BJP and became an MP from Mathura. There is an expiry date to statements, something was said during poll campaign… Amit Shah had said something about me, I said something to keep my people together. I did not intend to insult him, nor did he take it personally. Otherwise, would Chaudhary sahab get a Bharat Ratna?” he said. “I am responsible for Lok Dal. My responsibility is to see how I can do better for my people and how I can help farmers. I will take a decision based on that,” he added.

    The remarks come amid speculations of the RLD joining BJP-led NDA ahead of the general elections.

    Singh on Saturday praised the Modi government for honouring his grandfather and former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh with Bharat Ratna.

    On Friday, after the announcement that Bharat Ratna will be conferred on Singh, Chaudhary had said “Dil jeet liya (They have won my heart)”.

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  • Lok Sabha Polls: Congress demands 20 seats in Uttar Pradesh; Samajwadi Party finds it ‘unreasonable’

    Congress has sought 20 of 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh from Samajwadi Party, a demand which the regional party found ‘unreasonable’. The two parties are likely to meet again on Thursday to take talks forward, according to some leaders.

    According to people present at the second formal round of seat-sharing talks on Wednesday, Congress and SP discussed a seat-sharing formula and agreed ‘winnability’ should be the main criterion for deciding which party gets which seat. Congress won only Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat in 2019.

    A senior leader, who did not wish to be identified, told ET: “The exact number of seats were discussed. Congress has sought 20 seats. The list of seats was also discussed. Both parties have decided to meet again, and hold talks seat by seat.” There was no discussion on an alliance with BSP or RLD. A senior leader said, “RLD is Samajwadi Party’s ally. It is clear that any alliance talk of RLD will be with Samajwadi Party and not Congress.” RLD has already held talks with SP. Though Mayawati has announced that BSP would contest elections alone, Congress is keen on a grand alliance in UP because it feels that it is the only way the Opposition could give BJP a tough contest.In 2019, BJP secured 49.56% vote share, BSP 19.26%, SP 17.96% and Congress 6.31%. Though the influence of SP and BSP have declined considerably, a united Opposition could change the equation. Emerging from the meeting, senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid told journalists, “we held a good round of talks… We put forward our wish list before each other and compared the details of each seat with each other and we hope that from their side we will receive more feedback before we can reach a final discussion.” On questions regarding BSP’s inclusion, Khurshid said the leadership would handle it. He said Congress hoped that the alliance would be finalised before the Bharat Jodo Nyaya Yatra reaches UP.

    SP MP Ram Gopal Yadav said, “we have come halfway and will complete the entire journey soon.” UP Congress chief Ajay Rai and MLA Aradhana Mishra too joined the discussions. SP MP Javed Ali Khan, former SP MLC and a close aide of Akhilesh Yadav, Udaiveer Singh, and Ram Gopal Yadav represented SP. After the meeting with Congress, SP went into a huddle.

  • Banner at SP office hails Akhilesh Yadav as future PM; BJP says it is targeted at Oppn grouping

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: A large banner describing Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav as the ‘future prime minister’ of the country has appeared outside the party office in the Uttar Pradesh capital, generating a buzz in political circles.

    Asked about it, SP national secretary and spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary told PTI, “This is the feeling of the workers. What else can be said about this?” The ruling BJP, however, described it as “Mungeri Lal ke haseen sapne (a pipedream)” of Yadav’s associates and an attempt to put pressure on other members of the INDIA opposition grouping.

    During the last few days, Yadav has publicly expressed his unhappiness with the Congress over the failure to arrive at a seat-sharing arrangement in Madhya Pradesh.

    #WATCH | Dehradun, Uttarakhand: On a poster of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav symbolizing as ‘Future PM’, he says “…No one is going to become the Prime Minister just by putting posters. If any supporter has put up a poster, he is expressing what he wants. The goal of… pic.twitter.com/zuBoTCtsMF
    — ANI (@ANI) October 23, 2023
    “Hearty congratulations and best wishes on his birthday to the future Prime Minister of the country, respected Akhilesh Yadav ji,” the poster read, though Akhilesh Yadav’s official date of birth is July 1.

    Besides the picture of Akhilesh Yadav, the poster also carries the picture of party state spokesperson Fakhrul Hasan ‘Chand’, who earlier in July on the birthday of the SP chief had put up a similar banner outside the SP office.

    When asked if Akhilesh Yadav is a contender for the post of prime minister in the next Lok Sabha elections, Chaudhary said, “No, the party has never said so.”

    Hasan, however, said that party workers had wanted SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav to be the prime minister of the country.

    “Now we hope that Akhilesh Yadav will fulfil that dream,” he said.

    “The route to the throne of Delhi goes through Uttar Pradesh and in this state, the Bharatiya Janata Party can be defeated only on the strength of SP. In such a situation, the parties included in the INDIA alliance should show big heart and make the SP chief a contender for the post of prime minister,” Hasan said.

    Reacting to the poster, BJP spokesperson Avaneesh Tyagi said, “Akhilesh Yadav has been totally rejected by the people of Uttar Pradesh and has no base in other states as well. His allies are continuously parting ways with him and under such circumstances, these are nothing but Mungeri Lal ke haseen sapne’ of his associates that are never going to see the light of the day. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to return to power for the third time for which people have already made up their mind. This is only a pressure tactic of the SP in the INDIA grouping and has no meaning whatsoever,” Tyagi claimed.

    Earlier in April this year, SP MLA from Lucknow-Central seat and former minister Ravidas Mehrotra had also said that Yadav should be a prime ministerial candidate. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp

    LUCKNOW: A large banner describing Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav as the ‘future prime minister’ of the country has appeared outside the party office in the Uttar Pradesh capital, generating a buzz in political circles.

    Asked about it, SP national secretary and spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary told PTI, “This is the feeling of the workers. What else can be said about this?” The ruling BJP, however, described it as “Mungeri Lal ke haseen sapne (a pipedream)” of Yadav’s associates and an attempt to put pressure on other members of the INDIA opposition grouping.

    During the last few days, Yadav has publicly expressed his unhappiness with the Congress over the failure to arrive at a seat-sharing arrangement in Madhya Pradesh.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    #WATCH | Dehradun, Uttarakhand: On a poster of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav symbolizing as ‘Future PM’, he says “…No one is going to become the Prime Minister just by putting posters. If any supporter has put up a poster, he is expressing what he wants. The goal of… pic.twitter.com/zuBoTCtsMF
    — ANI (@ANI) October 23, 2023
    “Hearty congratulations and best wishes on his birthday to the future Prime Minister of the country, respected Akhilesh Yadav ji,” the poster read, though Akhilesh Yadav’s official date of birth is July 1.

    Besides the picture of Akhilesh Yadav, the poster also carries the picture of party state spokesperson Fakhrul Hasan ‘Chand’, who earlier in July on the birthday of the SP chief had put up a similar banner outside the SP office.

    When asked if Akhilesh Yadav is a contender for the post of prime minister in the next Lok Sabha elections, Chaudhary said, “No, the party has never said so.”

    Hasan, however, said that party workers had wanted SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav to be the prime minister of the country.

    “Now we hope that Akhilesh Yadav will fulfil that dream,” he said.

    “The route to the throne of Delhi goes through Uttar Pradesh and in this state, the Bharatiya Janata Party can be defeated only on the strength of SP. In such a situation, the parties included in the INDIA alliance should show big heart and make the SP chief a contender for the post of prime minister,” Hasan said.

    Reacting to the poster, BJP spokesperson Avaneesh Tyagi said, “Akhilesh Yadav has been totally rejected by the people of Uttar Pradesh and has no base in other states as well. His allies are continuously parting ways with him and under such circumstances, these are nothing but Mungeri Lal ke haseen sapne’ of his associates that are never going to see the light of the day. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to return to power for the third time for which people have already made up their mind. This is only a pressure tactic of the SP in the INDIA grouping and has no meaning whatsoever,” Tyagi claimed.

    Earlier in April this year, SP MLA from Lucknow-Central seat and former minister Ravidas Mehrotra had also said that Yadav should be a prime ministerial candidate. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp

  • SP, BSP attack BJP over Madhya Pradesh urination incident

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: The opposition Samajwadi Party and BSP in Uttar Pradesh slammed the BJP on Thursday over the incident in which a tribal man was urinated upon in Madhya Pradesh.

    The urination incident took place in Sidhi district of the BJP-ruled state. The accused was arrested after a purported video of the act surfaced online and charged under several provisions of the law, including the stringent National Security Act.

    Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday washed the feet of the tribal man while sitting on the floor of his official residence in Bhopal to express sorrow over the incident and apologised to him.

    Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati said the chief minister was indulging in “theatrics” and a “political stunt” ahead of the assembly elections.

    “The chief minister of Madhya Pradesh calling the victim of the urination incident from Sidhi district to his official residence in Bhopal, about 600 kilometres away, and washing his feet in front of the camera seems to be less of government remorse and more of theatrics and politics of electoral interest.

    Is such an exhibition appropriate,” she asked in a tweet in Hindi.

    “Since the elections to the Madhya Pradesh assembly are around the corner, the government’s uneasiness is natural. But the SC, ST, backward and Muslim communities, as well as others in the state will definitely demand an account of the extent to which their lives have suffered due to inflation and unemployment,” Mayawati added.

    SP president Akhilesh Yadav said the incident was another shameful chapter in the history of Dalit people.

    “The demonic, heinous act by a BJP worker on a tribal in Madhya Pradesh’s Sidhi district is another shameful chapter in the history of centuries of oppression on the Dalit society. Is this the only achievement of 18 years of the BJP rule in MP? Arrogance will drown the BJP,” Yadav said in a tweet in Hindi.

    LUCKNOW: The opposition Samajwadi Party and BSP in Uttar Pradesh slammed the BJP on Thursday over the incident in which a tribal man was urinated upon in Madhya Pradesh.

    The urination incident took place in Sidhi district of the BJP-ruled state. The accused was arrested after a purported video of the act surfaced online and charged under several provisions of the law, including the stringent National Security Act.

    Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday washed the feet of the tribal man while sitting on the floor of his official residence in Bhopal to express sorrow over the incident and apologised to him.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati said the chief minister was indulging in “theatrics” and a “political stunt” ahead of the assembly elections.

    “The chief minister of Madhya Pradesh calling the victim of the urination incident from Sidhi district to his official residence in Bhopal, about 600 kilometres away, and washing his feet in front of the camera seems to be less of government remorse and more of theatrics and politics of electoral interest.

    Is such an exhibition appropriate,” she asked in a tweet in Hindi.

    “Since the elections to the Madhya Pradesh assembly are around the corner, the government’s uneasiness is natural. But the SC, ST, backward and Muslim communities, as well as others in the state will definitely demand an account of the extent to which their lives have suffered due to inflation and unemployment,” Mayawati added.

    SP president Akhilesh Yadav said the incident was another shameful chapter in the history of Dalit people.

    “The demonic, heinous act by a BJP worker on a tribal in Madhya Pradesh’s Sidhi district is another shameful chapter in the history of centuries of oppression on the Dalit society. Is this the only achievement of 18 years of the BJP rule in MP? Arrogance will drown the BJP,” Yadav said in a tweet in Hindi.

  • Lucknow Diary: Now, Samajwadi Party to make temple run?

    Express News Service

    Now, Samajwadi Party to make temple run?As all political parties are getting into the poll mode in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Samajwadi Party has planned to launch its campaign with a workers’ training camp at a prominent Hindu religious site, Naimisharanya in Sitapur district, 80 km from Lucknow. It will be a tryst with soft Hindutva for the Akhilesh Yadav-led party, which is perceived as the first choice of Muslim voters during the 2022 UP elections. The camp is likely to be held on June 9 and 10 to kickstart SP’s campaign. Party chief Yadav and other senior party leaders will start the camp by performing a ‘havan’.

    Who will be the next state police chief?As the state’s acting police chief RK Vishwakarma is set to retire today, the question that is again doing the rounds is whether the state will get a permanent DGP?  Not since Mukul Goyal was removed from the post about a year ago, it has had two ‘acting’ police chiefs — DS Chauhan and then Vishwakarma — who the government didn’t consider ‘fit for the job’. Now, as Vishwakarma retires, Goyal again leads the seniority list, followed by Anand Kumar and Vijay Kumar. They all have one-year tenure left. The question remains if the government will consider any of them. 

    BHU 2nd in IIRF ranking; AMU 3rd after JNUThe Banaras Hindu University (BHU) has brought another laurel to the state by being ranked second just behind Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in the recently released Central university rankings of the Indian Institutional Ranking Framework (IIRF). The other university to figure out just after BHU is Aligarh Muslim University. Another UP university has made it to the top 20, Ambedkar University, Lucknow. BHU has missed the top position narrowly, by just 0.17 points. The IIRF ranking is based on several parameters including teaching, research quality and productivity.

    Now, Samajwadi Party to make temple run?
    As all political parties are getting into the poll mode in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Samajwadi Party has planned to launch its campaign with a workers’ training camp at a prominent Hindu religious site, Naimisharanya in Sitapur district, 80 km from Lucknow. It will be a tryst with soft Hindutva for the Akhilesh Yadav-led party, which is perceived as the first choice of Muslim voters during the 2022 UP elections. The camp is likely to be held on June 9 and 10 to kickstart SP’s campaign. Party chief Yadav and other senior party leaders will start the camp by performing a ‘havan’.

    Who will be the next state police chief?
    As the state’s acting police chief RK Vishwakarma is set to retire today, the question that is again doing the rounds is whether the state will get a permanent DGP?  Not since Mukul Goyal was removed from the post about a year ago, it has had two ‘acting’ police chiefs — DS Chauhan and then Vishwakarma — who the government didn’t consider ‘fit for the job’. Now, as Vishwakarma retires, Goyal again leads the seniority list, followed by Anand Kumar and Vijay Kumar. They all have one-year tenure left. The question remains if the government will consider any of them. 

    BHU 2nd in IIRF ranking; AMU 3rd after JNU
    The Banaras Hindu University (BHU) has brought another laurel to the state by being ranked second just behind Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in the recently released Central university rankings of the Indian Institutional Ranking Framework (IIRF). The other university to figure out just after BHU is Aligarh Muslim University. Another UP university has made it to the top 20, Ambedkar University, Lucknow. BHU has missed the top position narrowly, by just 0.17 points. The IIRF ranking is based on several parameters including teaching, research quality and productivity.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });