India Politics

By IANS, New Delhi : The Congress party Wednesday accused the Uttar Pradesh government of yet another scam, alleging that there had been false claims for fertiliser subsidies from Lucknow between 1994-2000. But this time the party has pointed fingers at the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) too. The Congress, which has been soft towards BSP supremo Mayawati during the campaigning for five phases of state polls, alleged that all the non-Congress parties, including BSP and Samajwadi Party - had been hand in glove to conceal a Rs.10 billion fertiliser scam by the then BJP government.

By IANS, Lucknow : The highly sensitive Maoist belt of Uttar Pradesh will be among the 52 constituencies voting in the penultimate phase of the seven-phase assembly polls Thursday. Of the 100,000 personnel of the central paramilitary forces and provincial armed constabulary (PAC) detailed for the phase, 10,000 have been posted in and around the 680 villages where Maoist rebels hold sway in the three districts of Mirzapur, Chandauli and Sonbhadra.

By Faraz Ahmad, IANS New Delhi : It promises to be two days of celebrations for Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) former mascots Uma Bharati and Govindacharya, with the dissident sanyasin's birthday falling on Thursday and her ailing close aide's on Wednesday. Uma Bharati, who heads the Bharatiya Janshakti party, celebrates her 48th birthday Thursday amid talk of her rejoining the BJP. But before that, her political guru and best friend, the one time BJP ideologue K.N. Govindacharya will party in his temporary home in south Delhi's Vasant Kunj.

By IANS Mumbai : Sans Pramod Mahajan, neither his family - struggling with son Rahul's drug controversy and murder proceedings against brother Pravin - nor his party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), have found the past 12 months an easy ride. Like BJP, many other parties, including its saffron alliance partner Shiv Sena, continue to miss the articulation of the GenNext leader, whose life was cut short by his own brother a year ago.

By IANS New Delhi : The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) may be desperately trying to broaden its base by roping in Hindu upper castes it once despised, but it may not necessarily succeed, a new book says. But if it does emerge as a party enjoying core Dalit support as well as the backing of a broad spectrum of others in the society, the BSP will bring about a radical change in Uttar Pradesh.

By IANS, Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) : Congress star campaigner Rahul Gandhi was given an enthusiastic welcome in the Hindu holy city of Varanasi as he undertook a grand road show here Tuesday, the last day of campaigning for the sixth phase of the staggered Uttar Pradesh assembly election Thursday. People cheered him all along his journey through the narrow lanes and by-lanes of this crowded city. They showered rose petals on him as they lined both sides of the road and flung garlands at him from windows and balconies of houses and from rooftops.

By Raj B. Singh, IANS, Lucknow: With tiresome regularity she targets Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav and his able lieutenant Amar Singh at every election rally swearing to send them to "jail" as her top priority. And Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati's gambit seems to be working. "Uttar Pradesh is being ruled by a corrupt and evil government led by Mulayam Singh which has ruined all systems of governance as well as the law and order machinery," Mayawati thundered at an election rally in Bahraich last week.

By Sharat Pradhan, IANS, Allahabad : It is the Gandhis versus the Bachchans in this historic Uttar Pradesh town in these crucial campaign days, with the political dynasty vying with the glitter of Bollywood to attract voters. And the eminent daughters-in-law of both families are using every sentimental trick in the book to strike a chord.

By Syed Zarir Hussain

Guwahati, May 1 (IANS) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's adopted home state of Assam is all set to re-elect him for a fourth straight term in the biennial elections for Rajya Sabha May 24. "It would be a mere formality for the prime minister to get re-elected to the Rajya Sabha from one of the two seats in Assam," Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi told IANS on telephone from New Delhi. The prime minister is one of the two MPs from Assam whose term ends June 14. The second Rajya Sabha MP from Assam is Indramoni Bora from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

By Pervez Bari

TwoCircles.net 

 

Bhopal: Stormy of Indian politics Ms Uma Bharti, who floated her own political outfit Bharatiya Janshakti, (BJS), after being expelled from rightist Bharatiya Janata Party, (BJP), has said that she does not eye Indian Muslims with suspicion.

 

Lucknow, May 1 (IANS) As the staggered Uttar Pradesh assembly election heads for the sixth and penultimate phase May 3, the number of contestants with criminal background is only going up. Against 115 alleged outlaws in the fifth phase April 28, the next phase on Thursday has 138 such people out of the 785 candidates in the fray for 52 seats across nine districts, largely in the state's eastern part.