Former Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister Swami Prasad Maurya joins SP
Lucknow(PTI): Former Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister and prominent OBC leader Swami Prasad Maurya on Friday joined the Samajwadi Party along with another rebel minister Dharam Singh Saini.
Five BJP MLAs and Apna Dal (Sonelal) legislator Amar Singh Chaudhary also joined the SP in the presence of Akhilesh Yadav.
The five BJP MLAs who joined the SP are Bhagwati Sagar (Bilhaur in Kanpur), Roshanlal Verma (Tilhar in Shahjahanpur), Vinay Shakya (Bidhuna in Auraiya), Brijesh Prajapati (Tindwari in Bahraich) and Mukesh Verma (Shikohabad in Firozabad).
Chaudhary is MLA from Shohratgarh. They were given the SP membership at its office here.
The resignation of state Labour Minister Maurya had come as a jolt to the ruling BJP in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh.
The developments appear to strengthen the SP's influence among the non-Yadav OBCs in the state, less than a month before the crucial elections that will also have an impact on the 2024 parliamentary polls.
Uttar Pradesh is scheduled to have a seven-phase poll beginning from February 10.
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Congress targets BJP with ‘Chombu’ advertisement
Bengaluru, Apr 19: The Congress in Karnataka on Friday launched a sarcasm-laced campaign alleging that the Modi government’s gift to Karnataka was ‘Chombu’ – Kannada for a round water pot.
The term ‘Chombu’ in Kannada, which is known as ‘Lota’ in Hindi, symbolises deception and emptiness.
The full-page jacket advertisement with the picture of a steel-made round water pot in Kannada reads "Modi Sarkar’s gift to Karnataka – Chombu!”
Congress alleged the people of Karnataka got 'Chombu' in lieu of the promises of depositing Rs 15 lakh into everyone’s account, doubling farmers’ income, tax devolution, and drought and flood relief to the state.
“The contribution of 27 BJP and JD(S) MPs to the state is ‘Chombu’. Let’s give ‘Chombu’ to the BJP in this election,” the Congress said, in an appeal to the voters of the state.
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Reacting to it, the Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka assembly R Ashoka alleged the Congress, which is unable to give even a ‘Chombu’ of water to the people of Bengaluru this summer, is misleading people with its advertisement.
BJP state president B Y Vijayendra said the Congress government drained the full bowl of Cauvery river to Tamil Nadu and gave an empty ‘Chombu’ to the Kannadigas.
Farmers got a ‘Chombu’ after their crops dried up due to drought and the downtrodden communities got ‘Chombu’ when the funds earmarked for the welfare of scheduled caste and scheduled tribes was diverted, Vijayendra said in a post on X.
ಬಿಜೆಪಿಯವರು ಕನ್ನಡಿಗರಿಗೆ ಚೊಂಬು ನೀಡಿರುವಾಗ ಕನ್ನಡಿಗರು ಬಿಜೆಪಿಗೆ ಮರಳಿ ಅದೇ ಚೊಂಬನ್ನೆ ನೀಡಬೇಕಲ್ಲವೇ!#ಕೈಜೋಡಿಸಿ_ಜೀವನಬದಲಿಸಿ pic.twitter.com/gwDQEh0ihO
— Karnataka Congress (@INCKarnataka) April 19, 2024
