Mayawati not to contest LS polls
Lucknow, Mar 20: Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati Wednesday announced that she will not contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, but kept open the option of fighting a parliamentary bypoll later.
"In view of the present circumstances and the need of the country and the interests of the party, the movement and the public, it is the need of the hour that I do not contest the Lok Sabha polls. And this is the reason that I have decided not to contest the Lok Sabha polls," Mayawati said here.
But she added it would not be a problem if there is a need for her to enter Parliament later.
"If it so happens that I have to get elected to the Lok Sabha later, I can contest from any seat by getting it vacated and become an MP. I will not face any problem," she said.
She claimed that all she has to do is to go and file nomination papers and her party workers will ensure her victory.
The BSP chief suggested that if she contests, the party workers will focus on her seat even if she forbids them, affecting the campaign in other constituencies.
"Hence, winning each and every Lok Sabha seat is more important than my personal victory," Mayawati said.
The BSP, the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal have entered an alliance in Uttar Pradesh for the April-May Lok Sabha polls.
The Congress is not part of this pact, but the alliance has said it will not field candidates in Amethi and Raebareli, the two seats that are now with Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi.
The Congress, in turn, said it will leave seven UP seats for the SP-BSP-RLD alliance, an offer that was spurned by Mayawati.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Pope Leo XIV rejects claims that God justifies war in Palm Sunday Mass message
Leaders on all sides of the Iran war have used religion to justify their actions; US officials, especially Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, have invoked their Christian faith to cast the war as a Christian nation trying to vanquish its foes with military might Pope Leo XIV on Sunday rejected claims that God justifies war and prayed especially for Christians in the Middle East during a Palm Sunday Mass before tens of thousands of people in St. Peter's Square.
With the US-Israeli war on Iran entering its second month and Russia's ongoing campaign in Ukraine, Leo dedicated his Palm Sunday homily to insisting that God is the "king of peace" who rejects violence and comforts those who are oppressed.
"Brothers and sisters, this is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war," Leo said. "He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them."
Leaders on all sides of the Iran war have used religion to justify their actions. US officials, especially Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, have invoked their Christian faith to cast the war as a Christian nation trying to vanquish its foes with military might.
Russia's Orthodox Church, too, has justified Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a "holy war" against a Western world it considers has fallen into evil.
Palm Sunday marks Jesus' triumphant entrance into Jerusalem in the time leading up to his crucifixion, which Christians observe on Good Friday, and resurrection on Easter Sunday.
In a special blessing at the end of Mass, Leo said he was praying especially for Christians in the Middle East who are "suffering the consequences of an atrocious conflict. In many cases, they cannot live the rites of these holy days."
Earlier Sunday, the Latin Patriarchate said Jerusalem police prevented the Catholic church's top leadership from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It was the first time in centuries that church leaders were prevented from celebrating Palm Sunday at the place where Christians believe Jesus was crucified, the Patriarchate said.
Leo said that during Holy Week, Christians cannot forget how many people around the world are suffering as Christ did. "Their trials appeal to the conscience of all. Let us raise our prayers to the Prince of Peace so that he may support people wounded by war and open concrete paths of reconciliation and peace," Leo said.
A Holy Week that recalls Pope Francis' suffering
When Holy Week opened last year, Pope Francis was still recovering at the Vatican after a five-week hospital stay for double pneumonia. He had delegated the liturgical celebrations to others, but rallied on Easter Sunday to greet the faithful from the loggia of St. Peter's Square. Most poignantly, he then made what became his final popemobile loop around the piazza.
Francis died the following morning, Easter Monday, after suffering a stroke. His nurse, Massimiliano Strappetti, later told Vatican Media that Francis had told him: "Thank you for bringing me back to the square" for the final salute.
Leo is due to preside over this week's liturgical appointments and is returning to tradition with the Holy Thursday foot-washing ceremony that commemorates Jesus' Last Supper with his disciples.
During his 12-year pontificate, Francis famously celebrated the Holy Thursday ritual by travelling to Rome-area prisons and refugee centres to wash the feet of people on society's margins. His aim was to drive home the ritual's message of service and humility, and he would frequently muse during his Holy Thursday homilies, "Why them and not me?"
Francis' gesture had been praised as a tangible evidence of his belief that the church must go to the peripheries to find those most in need of God's love and mercy. But some critics bristled at the annual outings, especially since Francis would also wash the feet of Muslims and people of other faiths.
Leo restores Holy Week foot-washing tradition
Leo, history's first US-born pope, is returning the Holy Thursday foot-washing tradition to the basilica of St. John Lateran, where popes performed it for decades. The Vatican hasn't yet said who will participate, though Popes Benedict XVI and John Paul II normally washed the feet of 12 priests.
On Friday, Leo is due to preside over the Good Friday procession at Rome's Colosseum commemorating Christ's Passion and crucifixion. Saturday brings the late-night Easter Vigil, during which Leo will baptise new Catholics, followed a few hours later by Easter Sunday, when Christians commemorate the resurrection of Jesus.
Leo will celebrate Easter Sunday Mass in St. Peter's Square and then deliver his Easter blessing from the loggia of the basilica.
