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Tag: SP

  • Mayawati wonders if there is collusion between BJP and SP after saffron party’s win in Rampur bypoll

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Sunday attributed the defeat of the Samajwadi Party in the recent Rampur bypoll to “planned low voting”, wondering whether there was a collusion between the SP and the BJP.

    The BJP for the first time won from SP leader Azam Khan’s bastion Rampur, which he represented before he was disqualified after his conviction in a hate speech case.

    In a tweet in Hindi, Mayawati said, “The SP won the bypolls held on Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat, but it lost for the first time on the seat held by Azam Khan in the assembly by-election due to planned low voting.”

    “Is it not a result of the internal collusion between the BJP and the SP?” In another tweet, she said, “The Muslim community needs to think and understand this so that in the upcoming elections, it can save itself from getting cheated.

    “There is a lot of suspicion over the defeat of the BJP in the Khatauli assembly bypolls, and this is also a matter to think about.”

    Reacting to her statement, BJP’s newly elected MLA from Rampur Akash Saxena said, “In the Lok Sabha bypolls held in Rampur, the voting percentage was 31.5 per cent, and in the recent assembly by-elections held in Rampur, the voting percentage was 35.So, it is wrong to say that there has been a low voter turnout in the by-election. The polling percentage (in the assembly bypolls) has increased by 3.5 points compared to the Lok Sabha bypolls.”

    UP BJP spokesperson Hero Bajpai rebutted the tweets of the BSP chief and told PTI, “This is simply a figment of her imagination. She is saying all this since the BSP is not contesting the elections, nor it is entering the poll fray. And, I feel that in the upcoming urban local bodies elections and in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, if she continues to watch the match from outside the field, then she will continue to make such baseless remarks.”

    Samajwadi Party MLC Ashutosh Sinha told PTI, “The BSP is working as a B-team of the BJP, and in every election, it makes an effort to transfer its vote to the BJP. However, this did not materialise in these bypolls, and the people rejected the BSP after knowing about its intention.”

    In the recently-concluded by-elections, the Samajwadi Party retained the high-profile Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat, while the BJP wrested the Rampur Sadar assembly seat from it.

    The ruling BJP in Uttar Pradesh, however, lost Khatauli to Samajwadi Party ally Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD).

    Dimple Yadav, the wife of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, defeated her nearest rival and BJP candidate Raghuraj Singh Shakya by 2,88,461 votes in Mainpuri, a pocket borough of SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav’s family.

    The win provided some solace to Akhilesh Yadav after the defeat in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections early this year and the loss of Azamgarh and Rampur Lok Sabha seats to the BJP in the bypolls in June.

    Samajwadi Party’s ally Rashtriya Lok Dal’s Madan Bhaiya defeated his BJP rival Rajkumari Saini by a margin of over 22,000 votes in Khatauli.

    Saini is the wife of former BJP MLA Vikram Singh whose disqualification from the state assembly following his conviction in a 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots case necessitated the by-election.

    Madan Bhaiya polled 97,071 votes, while Saini received 74,996, according to the Election Commission.

    LUCKNOW: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Sunday attributed the defeat of the Samajwadi Party in the recent Rampur bypoll to “planned low voting”, wondering whether there was a collusion between the SP and the BJP.

    The BJP for the first time won from SP leader Azam Khan’s bastion Rampur, which he represented before he was disqualified after his conviction in a hate speech case.

    In a tweet in Hindi, Mayawati said, “The SP won the bypolls held on Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat, but it lost for the first time on the seat held by Azam Khan in the assembly by-election due to planned low voting.”

    “Is it not a result of the internal collusion between the BJP and the SP?” In another tweet, she said, “The Muslim community needs to think and understand this so that in the upcoming elections, it can save itself from getting cheated.

    “There is a lot of suspicion over the defeat of the BJP in the Khatauli assembly bypolls, and this is also a matter to think about.”

    Reacting to her statement, BJP’s newly elected MLA from Rampur Akash Saxena said, “In the Lok Sabha bypolls held in Rampur, the voting percentage was 31.5 per cent, and in the recent assembly by-elections held in Rampur, the voting percentage was 35.So, it is wrong to say that there has been a low voter turnout in the by-election. The polling percentage (in the assembly bypolls) has increased by 3.5 points compared to the Lok Sabha bypolls.”

    UP BJP spokesperson Hero Bajpai rebutted the tweets of the BSP chief and told PTI, “This is simply a figment of her imagination. She is saying all this since the BSP is not contesting the elections, nor it is entering the poll fray. And, I feel that in the upcoming urban local bodies elections and in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, if she continues to watch the match from outside the field, then she will continue to make such baseless remarks.”

    Samajwadi Party MLC Ashutosh Sinha told PTI, “The BSP is working as a B-team of the BJP, and in every election, it makes an effort to transfer its vote to the BJP. However, this did not materialise in these bypolls, and the people rejected the BSP after knowing about its intention.”

    In the recently-concluded by-elections, the Samajwadi Party retained the high-profile Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat, while the BJP wrested the Rampur Sadar assembly seat from it.

    The ruling BJP in Uttar Pradesh, however, lost Khatauli to Samajwadi Party ally Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD).

    Dimple Yadav, the wife of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, defeated her nearest rival and BJP candidate Raghuraj Singh Shakya by 2,88,461 votes in Mainpuri, a pocket borough of SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav’s family.

    The win provided some solace to Akhilesh Yadav after the defeat in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections early this year and the loss of Azamgarh and Rampur Lok Sabha seats to the BJP in the bypolls in June.

    Samajwadi Party’s ally Rashtriya Lok Dal’s Madan Bhaiya defeated his BJP rival Rajkumari Saini by a margin of over 22,000 votes in Khatauli.

    Saini is the wife of former BJP MLA Vikram Singh whose disqualification from the state assembly following his conviction in a 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots case necessitated the by-election.

    Madan Bhaiya polled 97,071 votes, while Saini received 74,996, according to the Election Commission.

  • Bypolls results 2022: Counting of votes for 7 Assembly seats in 6 states today

    By ANI

    NEW DELHI: The counting of votes in the by-elections to the seven Assembly constituencies spread across six states will be held on Sunday.

    The fierce battle is between Bharatiya Janata Party and regional parties such as the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Samajwadi Party (SP), and the Biju Janata Dal (BJD).

    The polling was held on November 3 in Mokama and Gopalganj assembly constituencies of Bihar, Andheri (East) of Maharashtra, Adampur of Haryana, Munugode of Telangana, Gola Gokarannath of Uttar Pradesh, and Dhamnagar of Odisha.

    Among the seven seats where by-polls were held, the BJP held three seats, the Congress two while the Shiv Sena and the RJD had one each.

    In the Assembly bypolls held across six states, the Munugode constituency in Telangana recorded the highest voter turnout, as per Election Commission trends.

    According to EC’s approximate trends, 48.35 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the Gopalganj constituency while 52.47 per cent was recorded in Mokama in Bihar. With 77.55 per cent voting, Telangana’s Munugode recorded the highest voter turnout. Further, the Adampur constituency in Haryana witnessed a 75.25 per cent voter turnout.

    In Odisha, there was 66.63 per cent voter turnout recorded in Dhamnagar Assembly constituency bypolls. Gola Gokrannath constituency in Uttar Pradesh recorded a 55.68 per cent voter turnout. Meanwhile, the high-octane Andheri East constituency in Maharashtra witnessed the lowest voter turnout at 31.74 per cent, as per EC’s approximate trends.

    Haryana’s Adampur seat witnessed the contest between BJP, Congress, Indian National Lok Dal and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

    In Adampur, the by-election was necessitated after former chief minister Bhajan Lal’s son Kuldeep Bishnoi resigned as MLA from the seat and switched from the Congress to the BJP in August. Bishnoi’s son Bhavya contested the bypoll as the BJP candidate.

    The Congress fielded former Union minister Jai Prakash while the INLD picked Congress rebel Kurda Ram Nambardar as its candidate. Satender Singh was AAP’s candidate.

    Notably, the Adampur seat is considered a stronghold of Bishnoi.

    In Andheri East, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena faction’s candidate Rutuja Latke, the wife of incumbent Sena MLA Ramesh Latke whose death in May necessitated the poll, is expected to comfortably win the by-polls as the BJP had decided not to contest.

    This was the first election after the revolt in the Shiv Sena by Eknath Shinde and 39 other legislators which led to the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.

    The NCP and Congress have also supported the candidature of Rutuja Latke.

    The bypoll Telangana’s Munugode Assembly constituency was necessitated after Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy quit the Congress and also as MLA in August and joined the BJP.

    While 47 candidates are in the fray, the eye is on BJP’s Raj Gopal Reddy, former TRS MLA Kusukuntla Prabhakar Reddy and Congress’ Palvai Sravanthi.

    The bypoll results is a prestige battle for Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who is planning for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

    In Bihar, this was the first major election after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar parted his ways with BJP and joined hands with RJD and Congress to form a Grand Alliance government.

    The main contest is between the BJP and the RJD in Bihar

    For the Mokama bypolls, the BJP has fielded Sonam Devi against RJD’s Neelam Devi, whose husband Anant Singh’s disqualification has necessitated the by-election.

    Notably, Mokama is said to be the stronghold of Anant Singh since 2005. He won the seat twice on JD(U) tickets.

    BJP has given the ticket to Kusum Devi, the wife of incumbent BJP MLA Subhash Singh while RJD has fielded Mohan Prasad Gupta for Goapalgunj by-election.

    The BJP is seeking to retain the Gola Gokarannath seat in Uttar Pradesh, which fell vacant after the death of BJP MLA Arvind Giri in September.

    With the BSP and the Congress keeping away from the bypolls, the fight is between the BJP’s Aman Giri and the SP candidate and former Gola Gokarannath MLA Vinay Tiwari.

    In Odisha’s Dhamnagar bypoll, there seems to be a tough contest between ruling BJD candidate Abanti Das and BJP candidate Suryabanshi Suraj Sthitaprajana, the son of Bishnu Sethi, BJP MLA after whose death, the assembly seat fell vacant, as its candidate for the by-election. 

    NEW DELHI: The counting of votes in the by-elections to the seven Assembly constituencies spread across six states will be held on Sunday.

    The fierce battle is between Bharatiya Janata Party and regional parties such as the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Samajwadi Party (SP), and the Biju Janata Dal (BJD).

    The polling was held on November 3 in Mokama and Gopalganj assembly constituencies of Bihar, Andheri (East) of Maharashtra, Adampur of Haryana, Munugode of Telangana, Gola Gokarannath of Uttar Pradesh, and Dhamnagar of Odisha.

    Among the seven seats where by-polls were held, the BJP held three seats, the Congress two while the Shiv Sena and the RJD had one each.

    In the Assembly bypolls held across six states, the Munugode constituency in Telangana recorded the highest voter turnout, as per Election Commission trends.

    According to EC’s approximate trends, 48.35 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the Gopalganj constituency while 52.47 per cent was recorded in Mokama in Bihar. With 77.55 per cent voting, Telangana’s Munugode recorded the highest voter turnout. Further, the Adampur constituency in Haryana witnessed a 75.25 per cent voter turnout.

    In Odisha, there was 66.63 per cent voter turnout recorded in Dhamnagar Assembly constituency bypolls. Gola Gokrannath constituency in Uttar Pradesh recorded a 55.68 per cent voter turnout. Meanwhile, the high-octane Andheri East constituency in Maharashtra witnessed the lowest voter turnout at 31.74 per cent, as per EC’s approximate trends.

    Haryana’s Adampur seat witnessed the contest between BJP, Congress, Indian National Lok Dal and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

    In Adampur, the by-election was necessitated after former chief minister Bhajan Lal’s son Kuldeep Bishnoi resigned as MLA from the seat and switched from the Congress to the BJP in August. Bishnoi’s son Bhavya contested the bypoll as the BJP candidate.

    The Congress fielded former Union minister Jai Prakash while the INLD picked Congress rebel Kurda Ram Nambardar as its candidate. Satender Singh was AAP’s candidate.

    Notably, the Adampur seat is considered a stronghold of Bishnoi.

    In Andheri East, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena faction’s candidate Rutuja Latke, the wife of incumbent Sena MLA Ramesh Latke whose death in May necessitated the poll, is expected to comfortably win the by-polls as the BJP had decided not to contest.

    This was the first election after the revolt in the Shiv Sena by Eknath Shinde and 39 other legislators which led to the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.

    The NCP and Congress have also supported the candidature of Rutuja Latke.

    The bypoll Telangana’s Munugode Assembly constituency was necessitated after Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy quit the Congress and also as MLA in August and joined the BJP.

    While 47 candidates are in the fray, the eye is on BJP’s Raj Gopal Reddy, former TRS MLA Kusukuntla Prabhakar Reddy and Congress’ Palvai Sravanthi.

    The bypoll results is a prestige battle for Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who is planning for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

    In Bihar, this was the first major election after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar parted his ways with BJP and joined hands with RJD and Congress to form a Grand Alliance government.

    The main contest is between the BJP and the RJD in Bihar

    For the Mokama bypolls, the BJP has fielded Sonam Devi against RJD’s Neelam Devi, whose husband Anant Singh’s disqualification has necessitated the by-election.

    Notably, Mokama is said to be the stronghold of Anant Singh since 2005. He won the seat twice on JD(U) tickets.

    BJP has given the ticket to Kusum Devi, the wife of incumbent BJP MLA Subhash Singh while RJD has fielded Mohan Prasad Gupta for Goapalgunj by-election.

    The BJP is seeking to retain the Gola Gokarannath seat in Uttar Pradesh, which fell vacant after the death of BJP MLA Arvind Giri in September.

    With the BSP and the Congress keeping away from the bypolls, the fight is between the BJP’s Aman Giri and the SP candidate and former Gola Gokarannath MLA Vinay Tiwari.

    In Odisha’s Dhamnagar bypoll, there seems to be a tough contest between ruling BJD candidate Abanti Das and BJP candidate Suryabanshi Suraj Sthitaprajana, the son of Bishnu Sethi, BJP MLA after whose death, the assembly seat fell vacant, as its candidate for the by-election. 

  • Samajwadi Party’s Azam Khan gets relief: SC sets aside Allahabad HC order on bail condition

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Friday set aside a part of the Allahabad High Court order concerning bail conditions imposed on Samajwadi Party MLA Azam Khan by which the District Magistrate of Rampur was directed to take possession of land attached to the Jauhar University campus.

    The apex court observed that it is “disturbed about this trend” where the high court has referred to a matter which is unrelated to the consideration of prayer for bail.

    While setting aside the bail condition imposed by the high court directing the District Magistrate to take possession of the land, a bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and J B Pardiwala retained the other conditions which were relevant for the grant of bail to Khan, who is the Chancellor of Jauhar University.

    “This is yet another matter where we find that the high court has referred to matters which are unrelated to the consideration of prayer for bail relating to the crime registered against the concerned accused,” the bench said.

    It noted that Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the state, has urged the court to impose additional conditions that Khan be directed to refrain from entering Rampur district during the bail period.

    “We are not impressed by this submission,” the bench said.

    The apex court said the authorities, acting upon the observations made in the high court judgement, had initiated action including sealing of certain premises as noted in a May 18 communication.

    “All actions taken by the revenue authorities or state authorities in reference to the observations made in the impugned bail order dated May 10, 2022, be deemed to have been effaced from the record,” it said.

    However, the bench said it would not preclude the competent authority to initiate action independently based on other tangible material, information/documents, or evidence available to initiate action under the concerned legislation, including in respect of the management and properties of the university.

    “In terms of these observations, we direct the joint magistrate/deputy district magistrate to take immediate steps for unsealing the property referred to in the communication dated May 18, 2022,” the bench said.

    The top court disposed of the pleas, including the appeal filed by Khan against the May 10 order of the high court.

    On May 27, a vacation bench of the top court stayed the high court’s bail condition imposed on Khan directing the District Magistrate to take possession of the land attached to the Jauhar University campus.

    It had said that prima facie the bail condition imposed on Khan was disproportionate and sounds like a decree of a civil court.

    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Friday set aside a part of the Allahabad High Court order concerning bail conditions imposed on Samajwadi Party MLA Azam Khan by which the District Magistrate of Rampur was directed to take possession of land attached to the Jauhar University campus.

    The apex court observed that it is “disturbed about this trend” where the high court has referred to a matter which is unrelated to the consideration of prayer for bail.

    While setting aside the bail condition imposed by the high court directing the District Magistrate to take possession of the land, a bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and J B Pardiwala retained the other conditions which were relevant for the grant of bail to Khan, who is the Chancellor of Jauhar University.

    “This is yet another matter where we find that the high court has referred to matters which are unrelated to the consideration of prayer for bail relating to the crime registered against the concerned accused,” the bench said.

    It noted that Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the state, has urged the court to impose additional conditions that Khan be directed to refrain from entering Rampur district during the bail period.

    “We are not impressed by this submission,” the bench said.

    The apex court said the authorities, acting upon the observations made in the high court judgement, had initiated action including sealing of certain premises as noted in a May 18 communication.

    “All actions taken by the revenue authorities or state authorities in reference to the observations made in the impugned bail order dated May 10, 2022, be deemed to have been effaced from the record,” it said.

    However, the bench said it would not preclude the competent authority to initiate action independently based on other tangible material, information/documents, or evidence available to initiate action under the concerned legislation, including in respect of the management and properties of the university.

    “In terms of these observations, we direct the joint magistrate/deputy district magistrate to take immediate steps for unsealing the property referred to in the communication dated May 18, 2022,” the bench said.

    The top court disposed of the pleas, including the appeal filed by Khan against the May 10 order of the high court.

    On May 27, a vacation bench of the top court stayed the high court’s bail condition imposed on Khan directing the District Magistrate to take possession of the land attached to the Jauhar University campus.

    It had said that prima facie the bail condition imposed on Khan was disproportionate and sounds like a decree of a civil court.

  • BJP people don’t understand socialism, they need to read again: Akhilesh Yadav

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav Saturday mocked the BJP, saying its leaders don’t understand the concept of socialism and added that next time he visits the assembly he would carry a book on democracy, socialism and secularism for their benefit.

    His attack came a day after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath accused him of “dumping” socialism and praised the SP chief’s uncle Shivpal Yadav, crediting him for “keeping alive” the ideals of towering socialist leader Rammanohar Lohia.

    Asked about the chief minister’s praise for Shivpal, Akhilesh told reporters on Saturday, “That is why I tell BJP people to read again about democracy, socialism and secularism. Next time I go to the House, I will bring a book for these people who are unable to understand socialism,” he told the media.

    This prompted a sharp reaction from Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak who said the Samajwadi Party has earned a “bad name” for itself because of its “misdeeds”.

    “These people will go to the rasatal (political abyss),” he said.

    Speaking on the Motion of Thanks on the governor’s address to the joint sitting of the state legislature, Adityanath had told Akhilesh on Friday, “However much you may talk of socialism, the fact is you have reduced socialism to a mirage. Whenever there is a talk about socialism, Dr (Rammanohar) Lohia and Jayprakash Narayan are discussed.”

    “Nowadays, occasionally I see Sahivpalji’s writing on Dr Lohia. You need to read about Dr Lohia.”

    The SP chief had responded by saying, “Till now, he was my uncle, but now the Leader of the House is also calling him ‘chacha’ (uncle).”

    While speaking to reporters outside the assembly on Saturday, Akhilesh also talked about the Adityanath government’s budget.

    “This government is playing with statistics. Development does not take place on (the basis of) statistics. The real development is when things actually change on the ground,” he said.

    Reacting to this, Pathak said, “The Samajwadi Party has earned a bad name because of its misdeeds, and these people will go to the abyss. People have understood this party. They have no policy, and have been proved to be a big flop. People have rejected them.”

    The deputy chief minister added Uttar Pradesh is moving ahead with pace, and soon it will be the number one state in the country in terms of economy and infrastructure.

    Shivpal Yadav, the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) president, had contested recent state polls on the SP’s bicycle symbol, but has been distancing himself from the opposition camp and showing increasingly greater proximity with the BJP post elections in the state.

  • Rajya Sabha polls: BJP likely to win eight upper house seats from UP, SP three

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: With the Election Commission of India (ECI) scheduling the 57 biennial elections for 57 seats of the Rajya Sabha on June 10, the focus will be on UP, which will send 11 members to the upper house.

    In fact, UP tops the list of states and sends the maximum number of 31 members to Rajya Sabha.

    With the BJP returning to power in the state with 273 seats and Samajwadi Party and its allies emerging as the largest opposition with  125 seats, there are only two clear claimants to the RS seats. The Bahujan Samaj Party  (BSP) and Congress are set to draw a blank owing to their dismal presence in the state assembly.

    While the BSP has just one MLA from Rasra in Ballia,  Congress has two — from Rampur Khas in Pratapgarh and Pharenda in Maharajganj. Besides, the Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiyya-led Jansatta Dal (Loktantrik)  has two seats.

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    Of these, 11 members who will bid adieu to the upper house in July include BJP’s Shiv Pratap Shukla, Hariom Yadav, Surendra Singh Nagar, Sanjay Seth, Jay Prakash Nishad and Zafar Islam, SP’s Vishambhar Prasad Nishad, Sukhram Singh Yadav and Reoti Raman Singh, BSP’s Satish Chandra Mishra and Ashok Siddharth, and Congress’s Kapil Sibal.

    As per the numbers, the BJP could win at least eight of the 11 seats, while Samajwadi Party will comfortably bag at least three.

    Both the ruling BJP and opposition SP would have five floating votes comprising one of the BSP, two each of Jansatta Dal and Congress. However, these five votes would not be able to tilt the polls in favour of one of the two main claimants as each seat would require at least 36.63 votes to sail through.

    This means that the BJP will require at least 298.64 votes to win eight seats. It is sure to win seven and is 26 votes short to win the eighth seat as it has 273 votes. So, the second preference vote will also come into play if the Samajwadi Party, which is sure to win three with 109.91 votes, fields a candidate to stake claim for the fourth. This will lead to voting.

    This means that while the BJP would require 26 votes, SP would have 15.36 additional votes and would need 21.53 votes to bag the fourth seat.

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    However, the victory of SP on fourth seat would depend much on how disgruntled MLAs like Shivpal Yadav, Azam Khan and his son Abdullah Azam Khan vote.

    According to political observers, as these MLAs have strained ties with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, the possibility of cross-voting cannot be ruled out if the situation arises in RS polls.

    Sources said that of the three seats which SP is sure to win, the party president may choose alliance partner and RLD chief Jayant Chaudhury, former IAS officer Alok Ranjan, who had joined the SP just ahead of 2022 Assembly polls, and the party’s face in Maharashtra Abu Asim Azmi.

    Moreover, in the wake of the recent meeting with senior BJP leaders and cabinet ministers, the moves of SBSP chief Om Prakash Rajbhar would also be closely watched. At the same time, if sources are to be believed, Apna Dal (K) leader Pallavi Patel, who had won the assembly election under the SP symbol by defeating BJP’s Keshav Maurya in his own turf of Sirathu, is also not very happy with the SP leadership.

  • Justice will be done to Azam Khan, says Akhilesh Yadav

    By PTI

    AZAMGARH: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday expressed hope that justice will be done to Azam Khan, the SP leader languishing in jail for over two years.

    Yadav, who attended a function in Azamgarh, alleged that the government is tightening legal grip on Azam Khan so that he could not get out of jail.

    Khan, a senior SP leader and MLA from Rampur, is currently in jail on several charges including corruption. “The way the court hearing is going on, Samajwadis hope that justice will be done to him,” said Yadav.

    Khan has been lodged in Sitapur jail for over two years.

    In a major relief to him, the Allahabad High Court on Wednesday granted Khan bail in the case of illegal possession of enemy property. Khan, a former state minister, has got bail in 88 out of 89 cases. He will be released from jail only after the bail is granted in the last case.

    The SP president alleged that ever since the BJP government has come to power, it has imposed serious sections like sedition against the political leaders who are vocal against the government. “Bulldozers are being used to demolish the homes of Muslims and people seeking justice in the state,” said Yadav.

    The former Chief Minister of UP said that the condition of the country will become like Sri Lanka if the government ends the free ration scheme.

    “The government now lacks budget, it now is looking for excuses to stop the ‘Kisan Samman Nidhi’ and ration distribution. The government has forgotten that the country is run by law and constitution and not by bulldozers,” said Yadav.

    Asked about controversy over videography survey in Gyanvapi campus of Varanasi, Yadav alleged that the BJP is deliberately stoking hatred among the people. He said that there is an order of the Supreme Court that old heritage should not be tampered with.

    “Will the government also not accept this decision of the court?” Yadav asked.

  • Five of family found dead at home in UP, SP says state has ‘drowned in crime’ under BJP 2.0

    By PTI

    PRAYAGRAJ/LUCKNOW: Five members of a family, including three children, were found dead at their home in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj district, police said on Saturday.

    The incident took place in Khagalpur village under Nawabganj police station area on Friday night, they said.

    Prayagraj Superintendent of Police Abhishek Agarwal said Rahul (42), his wife Priti (38) and their daughters Mahi (15), Pihu (13) and Kuhu (11) were found dead at their home.

    A forensic team and a dog squad are at the spot for investigation. Rahul was found hanging from the roof, the other deceased had injuries from a sharp object on their neck.

    Senior Superintendent of Police (Prayagraj) Ajay Kumar said, “The body of the house owner, Rahul, was found hanging from the ceiling with a saree and it had no injury marks. Three chairs were stacked where his body was found, indicating that he committed suicide.

    “The bodies of Rahul’s wife and three daughters bore injury marks inflicted by a sharp-edged weapon, which suggests murder. Both these angles are being probed.” The post mortem report of Rahul’s body that came on Saturday evening confirmed that he had committed suicide by hanging himself from the roof with a saree, said senior police officials.

    The police received information about the incident around 7.30 am. Seven teams have been formed to probe the case, the SSP said.

    According to Rahul’s sister and brother-in-law, he was embroiled in a dispute with his in-laws for a while, the police said.

    Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav attacked the BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government over the incident, saying the state has “drowned in crime”.

    “Under the rule of BJP government 2.0, UP has drowned in crime. Today’s crime list,” he tweeted in Hindi along with a screenshot of a news channel.

    Replying to Yadav, a senior police official said a preliminary probe indicates that the head of the family killed the others before committing suicide.

    “A preliminary probe indicates that the house owner killed his family before committing suicide due to a family dispute, ” Additional Director General, Prayagraj zone, Prem Prakash tweeted in Hindi.

    Terming the incident “extremely sad,” Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya in Lucknow said the truth behind the incident will be known once the probe is completed.

    “The incident is being probed seriously and expeditiously. The reason behind it will be known (after the investigation). The guilty will not be spared,” he said.

    Asked about the Opposition’s criticism over the incident, Maurya said, “At a time when the police are probing the incident and trying to catch the culprits, people should wait. The guilty will not be able to escape, even if any opposition leader tries to save them.”

    In another incident in the Sorawa village of the district, a woman was hit on her head by her husband in a family brawl resulting in her death.

    Sorawa police station in-charge Sudhir Kumar said following a quarrel on Friday night, Sorawa resident Malak Chaudhary hit his wife on her head with a blunt object leading to her death.

    In yet another incident, the body of Rambabu of Bari village of the district was found the previous night.

    The victim had moved out of the home following a telephone call and later his body with deep injuries on his head was found.

    The injuries indicated an attack by an iron rod. The body was found at some distance from his home in the village.

  • With dissent brewing in SP, Mulayam holds closed-door meeting with Akhilesh

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: In the wake of voices of dissent emanating from certain quarters of the Samajwadi Party, party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav has become suddenly active.

    On Friday, Mulayam held a 90-minute-long closed-door meeting with son and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav at the party headquarters in the state capital.

    The father-son duo had visited their stronghold of Mainpuri two days ago and had given a pep talk to the party workers. The Friday meeting was in fact the second time that Mulayam and Akhilesh had gotten together in the past 48 hours.

    With rising wrangling in the party’s first family and speculations about Shivpal Yadav joining the saffron brigade doing the rounds, the meeting is being seen as a gesture by the party patriarch to send out a message that he was standing by son Akhilesh.

    Political observers feel the recent developments within the SP — starting from Shivpal’s expression of dismay over the treatment meted out to him, Sambhal MP Shafiqur Rehman Barq’s diatribe expressing discontent over the way the party had been dealing with minority issues, Azam Khan’s close aide accusing Akhilesh of neglecting the Rampur MLA and SP RS MP Sukhram Yadav’s latest move of meeting CM Yogi Adityanath — have all unsettled the party cadre.

    “Mulayam is a seasoned politician and he wants to give an impression that he and Akhilesh are on the same page on all party-related issues. He wants to convey that he is with Akhilesh in every situation — victory and defeat,” said AK Mishra, a political scientist, adding that the party patriarch might have shared some pearls of wisdom with the son over party matters and the dissensions cropping up.

    Highly-placed SP sources said Mulayam arrived at the party office unannounced on Friday afternoon and was joined by SP chief Akhilesh Yadav an hour later since he (Akhilesh) was returning from his constituency Karhal.

    ALSO READ | Another Muslim leader quits Samajwadi Party, cites Akhilesh’s inaction over ‘atrocities’

    As mentioned earlier, the two spent almost 90 minutes together before some other leaders joined them. Thereafter, Mulayam left the party office. Akhilesh held a couple of meetings with SP leaders before he called it a day.

  • Dissent gets shriller in SP, party leader quits of apathy to Muslims

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: Amid the growing discontent among the Muslim leadership in the Samajwadi Party, the first Muslim leader Salman Javed Raeen tendered his resignation from the party in protest against the alleged apathy of the party leadership towards the Muslim community.

    While writing a letter to party leadership, Raeen flagged the guarded silence by SP chief Akhilesh Yadav by quoting the instances of Azam Khan who, he claimed, was sent to jail along with his family, Kairana MLA Nahid Hasan had been languishing in jail and Shahzil Islam, SP MLA from Bhojipura assembly segment in Bareilly district, booked for hate speech and his petrol pump was demolished.

    The SP office-bearer from Sultanpur further added that if a coward leader could not raise the voice in support of his party men, how could he be expected to raise people’s issues. Raeen is not the first person to express his discontent with the attitude of SP chef towards Muslims, earlier, SP stalwart and party’s Rampur MLA Azam Khan’s media in-charge Fasahat Ali Shanu had also aired his anger and disappointment with the approach of Akhilesh Yadav towards Azam. 

    Shanu had claimed that Akhilesh did not reciprocate the gesture of Azam Khan who supported the candidature of both Akhilesh and Mulayam for the Chief Ministership, by appointing him as leader of the opposition in the 18th Assembly.

    Shanu had claimed at a meeting in the Rampur SP office that Akhilesh Yadav could win 125 seats with the overwhelming support of Muslims but he did not want to be seen with them. He had accused Akhilesh Yadav of visiting Azam Khan in jail just once during the last 26 months of his incarceration.

    Earlier, even SP MP from Sambhal, Shafiqur Rehman Barq had also expressed his dissatisfaction with the way SP was going about Muslims. Significantly, the state chief of Jayant Chaudhury led Rashtriya Lok Dal, Masood Ahmad was the first one to raise a red flag against the alliance leadership immediately after the Assembly elections accusing them of having a dictatorial attitude and having sold the tickets to candidates.

    On the other, in an interesting turn of events, a senior Muslim cleric Maulana Shahabuddin Rizvi, associated with the revered shrine of Ala Hazrat in Bareilly, advised the community to explore other options, even the BJP, to extend support. He even accused the SP chief of abhorring Muslims and that he failed to unite himself with the minority community. The cleric charged Akhilesh with pushing the prominent Muslim faces back during the election carrying the whole campaign alone. “There is a huge difference between the SP of Akhilesh and Mulayam Singh Yadav,” said the cleric.

  • Yadav flays Yogi govt over suicide bids by two Jhansi girls, cops deny sexual harassment as reason

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: SP chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday attacked the Yogi Adityanath government over women’s safety in Uttar Pradesh, referring to an incident in Jhansi where two sisters, allegedly fed up with the police inaction over their complaint of sexual harassment, consumed poison.

    Police, however, refuted Yadav’s claim that the two sisters were sexually harassed, and said they had consumed poison, alleging police inaction over their complaint of harassment by their neighbours over a dispute on watering an under-construction house.

    “It’s saddening that losing hope from the police, two sisters, facing sexual harassment in Jhansi, consumed poison. All those criminals and officials involved and those patronising them should face an unbiased probe. Security of sisters and daughters should be the first indicator of law and order,” Akhilesh Yadav said in a tweet in Hindi.

    Responding to Yadav’s allegation, the Jhansi police claimed in a tweet that the two girls’ allegations of sexual harassment were false and they had a fight with a neighbouring woman and her son Rahul over the watering of an under-construction house.

    After the incident of the girls consuming poison came to light, police acted in the matter and have registered an FIR against the mother-son duo, the Jhansi police said on its Twitter handle. The police have also formed a team to arrest the accused, they said.

    The Jhansi police said it even suspended the police station in-charge J P Yadav with immediate effect for not taking proper action on the girls’ complaint and ordered a departmental probe against him. According to doctors, the condition of the girls is normal, police said.