The decision by Kunwar Danish Ali, a Bahujan Samaj Party member of Lok Sabha from Amroha in UP, to stay away from the inauguration of the new Parliament building may force party supremo Mayawati to think whether her party’s apparent siding with the BJP may cost her crucial Muslim support. The BSP has 10 Lok Sabha members from UP. Danish Ali has also objected to the reported exclusion of references to the poet Iqbal from the Delhi University syllabus. Mayawati has come to the BJP’s support at crucial moments and plans to contest all future elections on her own. The party has already suffered from an unprecedented loss of support for the last many years in UP but has stayed away from any alliance.
Uttar pradesh MINISTERS STARE AT RESHUFFLE
The rumblings of a ministerial reshuffle in Uttar Pradesh have become louder as the Yogi Adityanath government speeds up its preparations for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Since many ministers have been sounded to be ready to contest the election, the induction of some new faces, the removal of some, and the change in portfolio of others are likely in the coming weeks. Already many names are making the rounds in Lucknow, with party performance in recent urban local body elections forming the basis of new choices. It is also believed that more than a dozen present MPs may not get the chance to contest as BJP candidates.
SUPPORTERS SEEK PILOT REASSURANCE
Rajasthan Congress leader Sachin Pilot had on 15 May given a 15-day deadline to State Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot to take action on his demands, but before it ended, both were summoned by party high command and advised to bury differences and fight the coming election jointly. Pilot’s supporters have now taken to social media in a big way to remind him that his padyatra in 2018 was responsible for the Congress victory, but he was denied the top post as promised. They have sought to know if he is going to stick to the ultimatum or lose out again. While Gehlot had welcomed the compromise formula suggested by Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, Pilot had preferred not to react.