Lucknow: Senior Samajwadi party leader Totaram Yadav has been arrested booked by police on charges of booth capturing during panchayat polls held in Uttar Pradesh.

This is not the first time the veteran leader has been charged with capturing of booth. Barely two months back in October this year, Yadav was booked by the Mainpuri police for capturing the booth. The decision was taken after a 2-minute video purportedly showing Yadav capturing booth number 128 in Bewar block went viral.

Yadav, who happens to be a close aide of Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, was in controversy some time ago for his remarks, 'rapes happen with the mutual consent of boys and girls'. 

Lucknow: It is no hidden fact that Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Yadav is a big fan of Bollywood. And this is the reason, every year influx of Bollywood celebrities are seen performing at the Saifai fest.

Mulayam, who joined the Saifai festival on Tuesday couldn't stop himself from talking about Bollywood actors. "So many people gathered here to catch a glimpse of Bollywood actors. This is no less than an art," Yadav quoted.

"Amitabh Bachchan, who is being referred as 'Megastar' has been to the fest four times. Dhak-Dhak girl Madhuri Dixit performed at the fest two years back," he said. Mulayam didn't stop here and noted further that his blessing helped Priyanka Chopra become a star today.

"Priyanka came at the fest thrice. When she was a student in Bareilly, her father was posted in the Army and I was the Defense Minister then. I blessed her and said that one day, you will become a top heroine in Bollywood industry. My blessing helped her become what she is today," Mulayam said.

We would like to see what Priyanka Chopra has to say about this!

Barabanki: In a shocking incident, a seven-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a minor at Buxanpur village here, police said on Thursday.

Last Monday, when the girl went to the roof of her house to collect clothes, the 11-year-old boy, who was at the adjacent terrace allegedly raped her, they said.

An FIR in this connection was lodged yesterday as the victim's father was out of station, police said.

The girl has been sent for medical examination and efforts are on to nab the absconding accused, they added. 

Lucknow: Thirty-three candidates of the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) have been elected un-opposed as `zila panchayat adhyakshs`.

Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and his brother and PWD minister Shivpal Singh Yadav were personally monitoring the high-stake polls.

The party had cracked whip on senior and prominent party leaders for opposing official party candidates, so much so that Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav went into a sulk after three of his close associates were expelled from the party.

The places where SP candidates won unopposed include Etah, Kasganj, Lucknow, Firozabad, Mainpuri, Kanpur rural and city, and Etawah.

SP candidates have also won unopposed in most places in Bundelkhand, including Jhansi, Hamirpur, Mahoba and Chitrakoot.

Senior Samajwadi Party leaders say Mulayam had taken it upon himself to ensure that there was consensus on party candidates at most places.

Lucknow: Yielding to sulking Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh has revoked the expulsion of two of his close proteges, Sunil Singh Sajan and Anand Bhadauria, an official spokesman said.

The two were booted out of the party last week following complaints that they had opposed official party candidates in the polls for `zila panchayat` chairmen.

The expulsion had stunned the party cadres as the two were considered the closest associates of the Chief Minister.

After the action was announced by PWD Minister Shivpal Singh Yadav, the Chief Minister went into a sulk and for the first time skipped the Saifai Mahotsava, baring in open the simmering differences between Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh.

The sources said that some family members, mainly the young leaders, communicated to the chief minister that the two need to seek forgiveness from Mulayam Singh and then the SP chief would be cajoled into bringing them back into the party fold.

Following the plan, while Akhilesh went to the Saifai Mahotsava after six days of absence, Mulayam also turned `soft` at the persuasion of senior leaders that the incident was sending a wrong message to the people and the party rank and file, specially since the state assembly elections were just a year away.

Finally, Shivpal Singh Yadav announced the revoking of Sunil Singh Sajan and Anand Bhadauria`s expulsion late Friday.

New Delhi: Though it is hard to digest but it's true – Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was the most hated political party in India in the bygone year 2015.

As per 'The Goonj India Index 2015: 7 Deadly Indian Sins' report, Delhi's ruling party (AAP) topped the list with a score of 1.45 GPM where 1 GPM is equal to an estimated reach of 100K on digital media.

AAP was closely followed by the Indian National Congress with a score of 1.35 GPM. With a score of 1.33 GPM, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena came third on the list and its ally BJP, which is currently ruling at the Centre, was the fourth most hated party with a score of 0.27 GPM.

The BJP was followed by Lalu Yadav’s RJD (0.15 GPM), Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party (0.13 GPM) and Sharad Pawar-led NCP with a score of 0.09 GPM

The Goonj India Index - an annual chronicle of what Indians were most interested in, most searched for and most talked about on digital platforms - found that most number of user generated content with negative mood on the Internet was for AAP in 2015.

To read the full report,click here.

(Zee Digital has partnered exclusively with Goonj Labs to bring you these intriguing insights.)

Meerut: In a heinous incident, a Samajwadi Party leader has allegedly slashed a teenaged fruit vendor's throat on being asked to pay for a kg of guavas.

The family of 16-year-old Mohammad Saddam in Sardhana, about 20 km from Meerut, has filed a complaint against Samajwadi Party leader Anees Qureshi.

On January 01, an FIR was lodged against Qureshi under Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 504 (intentional insult) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC.

Tehseen Ahmad, the father of Saddam, said his son was selling guavas on January 1 when four people bought a kg of guavas at about 10 am.

When asked to pay for it, one of the men took out a sharp-edged weapon and slashed the vendor's throat.

Saddam is in a critical condition.

Meanwhile, president of Sardhana Assembly constituency area of Samajwadi Party Shahenshah Zafar has relieved Qureshi of the post of vice president.

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh's ruling Samajwadi Party got a major boost on Thursday when its candidates for the district panchayat chiefs won on 60 of the 74 seats that went for polls earlier in the day. The BJP and the BSP suffered major setbacks as the former won no seat and the latter just one.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was hit the hardest as the party could not get one single candidate of district panchayat chairman elected in Purvanchal or eastern Uttar Pradesh, polls for which were held earlier on Thursday. What added to the insult is that its candidates lost in all the 10 districts neighbouring Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's parliamentary constituency.

SP candidates won in nine of the 10 districts while one candidate supported by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) - Pramila Singh - won from Mirzapur, winning 33 votes while her nearest rival - SP's Pairo Devi could garner only 10. SP candidates - Sudhir Paswan (Ballia), Virendra Yadav (Ghazipur), Ansha Yadav (Mau), Meera Yadav (Azamgarh), and Kajal Yadav (Gyanpur-Bhadohi) had already won the polls unopposed.

In the polls for Chandauli on Thursday, SP candidate Sarita Singh got 19 votes to win, beating her nearest rival from BJP who polled 16 votes. In Sonebhadra, SP's Anil Yadav and in Jaunpur, its Rajbahadur Yadav won the high-stake elections. In Jaunpur, the SP candidate polled 81 votes and his rival, an independent, could get only two votes.

Even in Varanasi, SP's Aparajita Sonkar polled 30 votes against BJP-Apna Dal's combined candidate Amit Sonkar who got 17 votes.
 

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Bukkal Nawab on Friday said that despite being a Muslim he wants a grand Ram Temple to be constructed in Ayodhya.

Speaking to news agency ANI, Nawab said, “I am a Muslim and respect Lord Ram a lot, want a Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.

The SP leader promised to donate Rs 10 lakhs and a gold 'mukut' when the construction of the temple begins.

Recently, the issue of Ram Mandir has been gaining momentum with Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) unloading two trucks of stones at Ram Sewak Puram in Ayodhya.

VHP leader Praveen Togadia has expressed hope that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would ensure a grand Ram Mandir is built in Ayodhya as decided by the BJP national executive and promised in the Lok Sabha elections.

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat has time and again pitched for the construction of a Ram temple at Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya.

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Wednesday claimed that work on the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya would start before this year-end and an action plan for that would be unveiled at a conference on January 9.

He, however, made it clear that the temple would not come up through a movement but only after the court verdict, which he hoped would come by August-September and with the mutual consent of Muslim and Hindu communities.

Lucknow: Ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh today dared the BJP on the Ram temple issue, saying the state government will not allow "lifting or installation" of even a single stone at the disputed structure, while a party MLC offered Rs 10 lakh and a gold crown to the saffron party to start construction at the site.

Challenging the BJP to start construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya, a Samajwadi Party MLC (Member of Legislative Council) today offered Rs 10 lakhs and a gold crown for it.

"With Assembly election of Uttar Pradesh round the corner, BJP is raking up the Ram temple issue. I challenge them to start construction and I will give them Rs 10 lakhs and a gold crown," SP MLC Bukkal Nawab told PTI.

SP spokesman and Cabinet minister Shivpal Yadav said,"BJP is playing with the sentiments of people in the name of construction of Ram temple. They are not telling the site where they will build the temple. Our government will follow the court order in this regard.""Na ek eint uthegi na hi lagegi (neither a single brick will be lifted nor it be installed)," he told reporters.

He also alleged that the BJP was raising the issue of cow slaughter but its own men were involved in slaughtering. MLC Bukkal Nawab said, "Though the matter is pending before SC, BJP leaders are busy in giving dates for start of construction for the temple. BJP itself did not want construction of the temple there (in Ayodhya) and was only playing politics on the issue."

However, the party downplayed Nawab's statement. When asked about it, Shivpal Yadav said, "It's good if Bukkal gets the temple constructed...He might have said for helping in construction of Ram temple, but he has not said where it will be constructed." BJP leader Subramanian Swamy had on January 6 claimed that work on the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya would start before this year-end.

Swamy had, however, made it clear that the temple would not come up through a movement but only after the court verdict, which he hoped would come by August-September and with the mutual consent of Muslim and Hindu communities.

In December last year, almost six months after VHP announced its nationwide drive to collect stones for construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya, two trucks of stones arrived in the temple city. "Two trucks of stones have been unloaded at Ram Sewak Puram, a VHP property in Ayodhya, and 'Shila Pujan' (praying of the stones) has been performed by Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, the president of Ram Janam Bhumi Nyas," VHP spokesman Sharad Sharma had said then.

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party (SP) functionary and former district panchayat chairman of Rampur Abdul Salaam on Friday opened a front against Urban Development Minister Mohd Azam Khan, accusing him of embezzlement of crores of rupees. Salaam also accused Azam Khan, a legislator from Rampur, of fraud and treating the Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar University as his private fiefdom.

He told reporters that he has sent a complaint regarding swindling of thousands of crores by Azam Khan to President Pranab Mukherjee, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), home ministry and Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik.

He alleged that a lot of wrongdoing has been done at the behest of the powerful minister and the state government was turning a blind eye to his illegalities.

Lucknow: In a first, the chief secretary of Uttar Pradesh will spend a night among villagers in the impoverished villages of Bundelkhand.

An official told IANS that Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan would be on a "night halt at identified villages" in Bundelkhand's two districts -- Mahoba and Banda on January 13-14.

Ranjan would get the feedback of development works after meeting the common people and representatives after on the spot inspection of two villages of district Mahoba on January 13. 

On the same day, he would interact directly with the common people by convening a 'Chaupal' in a village of Banda district and make surprise inspection at some villages. 

He will also stay overnight there after reviewing the development works and law and order.

This is probably for the first time that the top bureaucrat of the state is going to spend a night in a village. 

The state government had some months ago issued directions to all the principal secretaries, secretaries, divisional commissioners and district magistrates to stay at night in villages and collect feedback from public on various welfare schemes and development projects.

Mainpuri: A Samajwadi party leader was shot dead allegedly by the husband of his opponent, whom he had defeated in the recent panachayat elections in the state, sparking protests by locals in Kuraoli area here, police said on Sunday.

Newly elected zila panchayat member Ravindra Kumar alias Bhole was shot dead yesterday in Kuraoli market by Ganga Prasad whose wife Seva Kumari had contested the panchayat elections but lost, police said. 

The victim was being rushed to a hospital in Agra by party MLA Raj Kumar but he succumbed to his injuries on the way, they said. 

As the news of his death spread in the area, the irate mob set Ganga Prasad's house afire and torched a fire brigade tender, an official said. 

Two persons have been arrested and fire arms were recovered from their possession, said Additional SP Swaminath. 

Senior police officials had rushed to the spot and forces were deployed to bring the situation under control, police said, adding no untoward incident has been reported so far.

Lucknow: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday announced new presidents of party units in 51 districts in Uttar Pradesh's 75 districts, a party spokesman said.

The new appointments were announced by Chandauli MP Mahendra Nath Pandey who was the returning officer for the state organisational polls.

Party spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak told IANS that this was the first set of list and names for remaining 24 districts would be announced shortly. Among the prominent ones are Mukesh Sharma (Lucknow city), Ram Niwas Yadav (Lucknow district), Pradeep Agrahari for Varanasi city, Sarvesh Kushwaha from Chandauli, Bhau Pratap from Ghazipur and Ashok Mishra from Sonebhadra.

O.P. Tripathi has been named as the district BJP chief of Pratapgarh, Ramesh Pasi of Kaushambi, Sushil Upadhyaya of Jaunpur, Janardan Tiwari of Gorakhpur, Arun Shukla from Maharajganj, Sharad Bajpayi from Lakhimpur and Avdhesh Srivastava from Barabanki.

In the bastions of the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) too, Alok Gupta is district president in Mainpuri, Shiv Mahesh Dubey in Etawah, Rajesh Singhal in Sambhal, Hariom Sharma in Moradabad.

Kanpur: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday said his party would contest the 2017 Assembly polls in the state alone.

"Samajwadi Party will fight the next Assembly election in the state alone," he said when reporters asked him about possible alliance partners in the polls for his party.

Yadav, who was at the Green Park Stadium here to attend a ceremony to welcome the 'Asha Yatra' - from Kanyakumari to Kashmir - of spiritual guru Sri M or Mumtaz Ali Khan, said as CM he is of no one party and works for development of all.

Without naming any individual or party Yadav said those who are raking up the Ram Temple issue ahead of the 2017 polls are "polluting" the atmosphere of the country and the state.

"Anything beyond limit is wrong and is considered as pollution. Which party is spreading pollution in the state or in the country? You know it better than I do. Catch them and ask them," he told media persons when asked about the issue.

He said his party is busy in completing developmental works like making available ambulance services, metro project, new roads etc, which benefit all, irrespective of party.

Welcoming the spiritual guru and his 'Asha Yatra', the Chief Minister said the country today needs people like Sri M to ensure an atmosphere of peace and brotherhood.

"The 'Ganga-Jamuni mahaul' of Uttar Pradesh welcomes all in the state. Sri M has embarked on this journey with the message of peace and brotherhood. Hence, being the head of the government I am welcoming and congratulating him and his team," Yadav said.

Earlier SP workers tried to make it into the Stadium to take part in the event and police had to lathi-charge them to stop them. Some journalists were also hit in the lathi-charge.

The Chief Minister also spoke of pollution in the river Ganga and said earlier its water never needed to be cleaned but it's no longer so.

"Look at Delhi. The pollution there is so high they have to resort to odd-even (road-rationing scheme). Supreme Court has to tell what should be the permissible limit of noise. All these are happening due to us. We all need to work to fix this," he said. 

Lucknow: Mulayam Singh-led Samajwadi Party has become the largest political family in the Hindi heartland of Uttar Pradesh with three more members from the family entering the political realm.

The latest political entrants from the Yadav family are Mulayam's nephew Abhishek Yadav alias Anshul, niece Sandhya Yadav and another relative Vandana Yadav, who have been elected in the recently concluded panchayat polls.

While Abhishek has been elected as the Chairman of Etawah Zila Panchayat body, Yadav's niece Sandhya is the Chairman of Mainpuri Zila Panchayat. Vandana Yadav, on the other hand, has been elected as Chairman of Hamirpur Zila Panchayat.

With this, the total number of elected representatives from the SP chief's family has gone up to 11.

Abhishek Yadav is the son of Mulayam's brother Abhay Ram Yadav while Sandhya is the party supremo's niece and sister of Badaun MP Dharmendra Yadav. Both were elected unopposed.

The third member to enter politics is Vandana Yadav, the sister-in-law of Badaun MP Dharmendra Yadav.

Interestingly, Mulayam has been opposing nepotism and feudalism in politics.

Earlier Mridula Yadav, mother of Mulayam's nephew and Mainpuri MP Tej Pratap Yadav as well as Ajant Singh Yadav, brother-in-law of Mulayam, got elected as members of Block Development Council from Saifai and Chaubiya respectively.

Mridula and Ajant Singh are further expected to be elected as Chairpersons of the Block Development Councils, which are yet to take place.

While Mulayam himself is an MP from Azamgarh, his son Akhilesh Yadav is an MLC and the Chief Minister of UP.

Akhilesh's wife Dimple is a two-time Lok Sabha MP from Kannauj. Mulayam's nephew Dharmendra Yadav is an MP from Badaun, while his cousin Ram Gopal Yadav is a Rajya Sabha MP.

Ram Gopal Yadav's son Akshay Pratap is an MP from Firozabad.

The SP supremo's younger brother Shivpal Yadav is an MLA and a senior minister in the UP government holding important portfolios like PWD, Irrigation and Cooperatives.

The youngest member of the family Tej Pratap Yadav is an MP from Mainpuri. Tej Pratap is married to Bihar RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav's daughter Rajlaxmi.

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav Thursday took potshots at BSP supremo Mayawati for cancelling ticket of her party candidate for uploading a picture on Facebook, saying in his party, anyone can click a selfie with him as SP was the "most liberal party".

"You (workers) know what happened to a candidate for uploading a picture on the social site. It is only in Samajwadi Party (SP), where you can click a selfie with me," Akhilesh said while addressing a programme at Janeshwar Mishra Park here.

He also said SP was the most democratic and liberal party.

BSP had yesterday cancelled the ticket of its Atrauli seat candidate for the 2017 Assembly polls Sangeeta Chowdhury on grounds of indiscipline, after she posted a picture on Facebook in which she and her children were seen touching the feet of party supremo Mayawati.

The post apparently miffed Mayawati which resulted in the cancellation of Chowdhury's ticket. Sangeeta's husband, Dharmendra Chowdhury was the candidate from Atrauli, but he was murdered in January 2015.

In an apparent reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Akhilesh also took a dig at him saying the BJP has spread a new disease of clicking selfies.

He asked the workers to start preparation for the next year's Assembly polls, saying "all elections, like panchayat and all are over...only one election is left, that is of 2017 Assembly polls, start preparing from now as the opposition does not know from where to contest."

The UP CM claimed that the opposition has no agenda of development, "if they have, they should tell the people." He also counted the achievements of the SP government.

"We have fulfilled all the promises made in our election manifesto. I can say for sure that no other state has been able to do so," he said.

Akhilesh said in UP welfare schemes have been launched for every section of the society.

Whether it was expressway, metro or cycle track to make the cities pollution free, he said, the SP government was working in all directions.

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party leader and UP's Urban Development Minister Azam Khan on Thursday said that he is the most hated person in society while also accusing his detractors of defaming him.

Speaking at a e-rickshaw distribution event at Janeshwar Mishra park in Lucknow, Khan said that though he is a clean and honest person from within, people despise him.

“I have been honest enough to always accept my mistakes if any before public and seek an apology but my detractors have left no stone unturned to defame me for no reason. I prefer to be quite as I want this world to be a better place to live in," The Times of India quoted him as saying.

He further quoted Mahatma Gandhi's words that if all turn violent and pelt stones on each other, the world wouldn't be safe to live any more.

Lucknow: Akhilesh Yadav is the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, but Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav is the person, who is in control of the state government, according to a report.

In public everything seems to be hunky-dory within the Samajwadi Party, but the report says that all is not well within the party and there are too many power centres in the UP government.

According to a report published in 'BBC', some officials have confirmed that it is Mulayam, who is running the government and not the first time CM Akhilesh, whom many consider as immature. They also claimed that Akhilesh, credited of being the youngest chief minister of the country rarely visits his office.

The report quotes retired IAS officer SP Singh saying that there are many 'control centres' in the UP government. Giving credential to his claim, Singh, who retired on December 31 said recently a order was passed that all principal secretaries will have to visit all the districts and spend a night. But who went, he quipped.

Speaking to 'BBC', Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vijay Bahadur Pathak said there are many power centres in UP, but by playing as an opposition to his son, Mulayam has many times saved Akhilesh from many difficulties.

Giving the example of recently held Zila panchayats, the BJP leader said though Shivpal Yadav was incharge of the elections, but the Akhilesh government's development projects got the credit.

Last month, there were reports about Akhilesh Yadav's unhappiness over sacking of his two close associates from the party few days ago.

The Uttar Pradesh CM absence from inauguration function of 'Saifai Mahotsav’, a cultural festival held every year in his native village in Etawah district kicked off speculations about differences in the Samjawadi Party's top leadership and the Yadav family.

Yielding to sulking Akhilesh, Mulayam last month revoked the expulsion of two of his close proteges, Sunil Singh Sajan and Anand Bhadauria.

Later Akhilesh went to the Saifai Mahotsava after six days of absence. Mulayam also turned ‘soft’ at the persuasion of senior leaders that the incident was sending a wrong message to the people and the party rank and file, specially since the state Assembly elections were just a year away.

The crucial 2017 UP Assembly Elections are still a year away, but if these power centres continue in the SP, the party might find extremely hard to tackle Narendra Modi-led BJP and Mayawati's BSP.

Rampur: Uttar Pradesh Minister Azam Kham on Saturday said the tension in Fatehpur district on the occasion of Makar Sankranti two days ago was triggered due to "lack of tolerance" and asserted that the state government took appropriate action to bring situation under control.

He also said the tradition of "sitting near the feet of the leaders" was started by BSP, which recently canceled the ticket of its Atrauli seat candidate for the 2017 Assembly polls Sangeeta Chowdhury on grounds of indiscipline after she posted a picture on Facebook in which she and her children are seen touching the feet of party supremo Mayawati.

Taking to reporters here, Khan said the tension in Fatehpur "occurred due to lack of tolerance, which should be generated and enhanced. The state government has taken appropriate action (in this regard)."

On BSP cancelling the ticket of its candidate, he said, "to put on shoes and sit near the leader's feet was a tradition started by BSP itself. And, it is considered as an honor for party activists."

Asked about the issue of minority status to Aligarh Muslim University, Khan said, "The minorities are accorded justice by only a Muslim authority."