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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Karnataka power tussle: BJP leader calls Siddaramaiah 'Sultan for 15 days'
Bengaluru/Bagalkot (PTI): In the midst of the ongoing power tussle within the ruling Congress in Karnataka, senior BJP leader and MP Govind Karjol called CM Siddaramaiah "Pandrah din-ka-Sultan" (Sultan for 15 days), and said after that, he will not be the chief minister of the state.
Speculation has once again surfaced within the Congress party and political circles about a possible decision on leadership change and cabinet reshuffle after May 4, once the results for Assembly elections in four states and one union territory, along with bypolls to two Assembly constituencies in Karnataka, are announced.
"With the fight for the CM chair in the Congress, there seems to be no administration at Vidhana Soudha. The result for Siddaramaiah's CM chair fight will also be declared, along with election results for five states (four states and one union territory) and bypoll results for Bagalkot and Davanagere South Assembly seats in Karnataka," Karjol, a former Deputy CM, said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, "As per today's information, Siddaramaiah is a Sardar for fifteen days, he is Pandrah din-ka-Sultan, after that Siddaramaiah will not be the chief minister of the state."
Stating that Shivakumar is ready to take up the top job, the MP said that this is the reason Siddaramaiah's supporters have gone to New Delhi to meet the Congress President.
"Already 40-odd legislators have lobbied in support of Siddaramaiah; about 50 are lobbying in support of Shivakumar. Amid this fight for the CM chair, the administration has completely collapsed," he said, urging the government to focus on addressing drinking water issues in various parts of the state amid summer by releasing at least Rs 50 crore per district.
PWD Minister Satish Jarkiholi on Monday met Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and General Secretary (in charge of Karnataka) Randeep Surjewala in New Delhi and requested them to address the speculation regarding the change of leadership in Karnataka.
Subsequently, Social Welfare Minister H C Mahadevappa too met the party leadership in Delhi.
Both Jarkiholi and Mahadevappa are considered close to Siddaramaiah.
While MLAs and leaders who want Shivakumar to be elevated as CM have recently claimed they expect some "sweet news" by May 15, which is their leader's birthday.
Meanwhile, a team of 40 MLAs is preparing to visit New Delhi to press the Congress high command for a Cabinet reshuffle.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly R Ashoka hit out at the Congress leadership for indulging in "power tussle" instead of addressing the people's concerns. He called the government "anti-people" and "dead" to the people of the state.
With the fight for the CM chair, the ruling Congress in Karnataka seems to be shifting to Delhi. Congress MLAs are repeatedly touring Delhi, upset over the state leadership amid a power struggle between the CM and Deputy CM. This proves that there is no value for the state leadership," he said.
Pointing out that the Deputy CM Shivakumar was not present at the recent special cabinet meeting, which decided on internal reservation among SCs, the opposition leader said, "If the cabinet meeting was held purposely, despite knowing that Shivakumar was in Delhi, it proves that there are factions within the party"
"This government is dead in a way," he said, as he hit out at the Congress MLAs and Ministers, including Shivakumar, for doing "Delhi Yatras" instead of addressing drinking water issues in various parts of the state amid summer, picking up in the state.
