Will take steps to make west UP separate state if voted to power at Centre: Mayawati
Muzaffarnagar (UP), Apr 14: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati on Sunday said her party will take concrete steps to make western Uttar Pradesh a separate state if voted to power at the Centre.
Addressing a rally here in support of the BSP's candidate from the Muzaffarnagar Lok Sabha seat Dara Singh Prajapati, Mayawati also said the BJP has a very slim chance of coming to power again.
"You want western Uttar Pradesh to become a separate state. For this, concrete steps will be taken if our government comes to power at the Centre," Mayawati told the gathering.
The BSP chief said if free and fair elections are held and voting machines are not tampered with, the BJP will not return to power this time.
"Most of the BJP's time was spent on making wealthy businessmen wealthier and protecting them... The BJP and other parties run their organisations and contest elections with the support of these businesses. This was revealed by electoral bond data," she added.
The former chief minister hit out at the BJP government for not recruiting people for vacant posts reserved for backward communities and making reservations in promotion redundant.
"In the last few years, with the BJP in power at the Centre and in most states, the progress of Muslims has stopped to a great extent. Violence in the name of religion has increased here," Mayawati said, adding that poor people of the general category have also not received any benefits under the BJP's rule.
Prajapati is pitted against Sanjeev Kumar Balyan of the BJP and Harendra Singh Malik of the Samajwadi Party (SP).
Before her rally here, Mayawati also addressed a public meeting in Saharanpur district.
The eight parliamentary constituencies of Saharanpur, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor, Nagina (SC), Moradabad, Rampur and Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh will vote in the first phase of Lok Sabha polls on April 19.
The counting of votes will be held on June 4.
The BS fought the 2019 Lok Sabha election in alliance with the SP and managed to secure victory on 10 seats.
The party has decided to go solo this time. The SP, Congress and the All India Trinamool Congress are contesting as part of the INDIA bloc and the BJP, Apna Dal (S), NISHAD party and the SBSP are part of the NDA alliance.
Uttar Pradesh has 80 Lok Sabha seats, the highest for any state in the country.
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Missile attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels damages a ship in the Red Sea
Jerusalem (AP): A missile attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels damaged a ship in the Red Sea on Monday, authorities said, the latest assault in their campaign against shipping in the crucial maritime route.
The attack happened off the coast of Mokha, Yemen, the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said. The ship was damaged in the attack, the UKMTO said, though its crew was safe and heading to its next port of call. The agency urged vessels to exercise caution in the area.
There was “an explosion in close proximity to a merchant vessel,” the UKMTO said. “Vessel and crew are reported safe.”
The US military's Central Command identified the ship damaged as the Cyclades, a Malta-flagged, Greece-owned bulk carrier. The military separately shot down a drone on a flight path toward the USS Philippine Sea and USS Laboon, the military said Tuesday.
Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree claimed the attack on the Cyclades and targeting the US warships in a statement early Tuesday.
Meanwhile Monday, the Italian Defence Ministry said its frigate Virgino Fasan shot down a Houthi drone that morning near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
“A missile exploded in the water in the vicinity of the escorted vessel, causing only minor superficial damage,” the Italian Defence Ministry said, not identifying the commercial vessel being escorted. “The frigate Fasan and the protected merchant vessel are continuing their southward route as planned to exit the Red Sea.”
Saree did not acknowledge that attack, though he claimed the Houthis also targeted a ship in the Indian Ocean. There was no immediate report or evidence to support that claim.
The Houthis say their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden are aimed at pressuring Israel to end its war against Hamas in Gaza, which has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians there. The war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking some 250 others hostage.
The Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks on shipping, seized one vessel and sunk another since November, according to the US Maritime Administration.
Houthi attacks have dropped in recent weeks as the rebels have been targeted by a US-led airstrike campaign in Yemen. Shipping through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden has declined because of the threat.
American officials have speculated the rebels may be running out of weapons as a result of the US-led campaign against them and after firing drones and missiles steadily for months. However, the rebels have renewed their attacks in the past week. Early Sunday morning, the US military shot down five drones in the air over the Red Sea, its Central Command said.
The drones “presented an imminent threat to US, coalition, and merchant vessels in the region,” Central Command said in a statement.
The Houthis on Saturday claimed they shot down another of the US military's MQ-9 Reaper drones, airing footage of parts that corresponded to known pieces of the unmanned aircraft. US Air Force Lt. Col. Bryon J. McGarry, a Defence Department spokesperson, acknowledged to The Associated Press on Saturday that “a US Air Force MQ-9 drone crashed in Yemen.” He said an investigation was underway, without elaborating.
