Rajbhar adamant to field candidate on Mau Sadar
With disqualification of MLA Abbas Ansari from UP assembly following his conviction in a hate speech case leading to two-year jail term, his vacated Mau Sadar seat could be a potential bone of contention between the ruling BJP and ally OP Rajbhar's Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP). Rajbhar is insisting to field his candidate from the seat. In fact, the seat rightfully belongs to SBSP as Ansari, though a sympathiser of SP, had contested on the symbol of SBSP which was in alliance with SP in 2022 Assembly elections. Post polls, Rajbhar parted ways from Akhilesh and joined NDA, becoming a minister in Yogi cabinet.
Pitched battle between revenue officers
Six days after allegedly assaulting a junior officer inside income tax office in Lucknow, Joint Commissioner of Income Tax Yogendra Kumar Mishra was suspended on Wednesday. The order said a criminal case is under investigation against Mishra, a 2014-batch IRS officer, currently posted in Kashipur, Uttarakhand. Pending inquiry, his headquarters has been shifted to Kolkata. Mishra has been directed not to leave headquarters without prior permission. The move comes in the wake of allegations levelled against him by Gaurav Garg, a 2016-batch IRS officer posted in Lucknow. Garg had filed an FIR accusing Mishra of launching a violent, premeditated attack on him.
District judge issues memo over 'stale' snack
Apparently, a trivial request of tea and biscuits by an Additional District Judge in an eastern UP district court drove her to issue a written memo to the attendant. The memo, needless to say, went viral. The ADJ was hosting a colleague in her chamber during lunch break and requested two cups of tea and biscuits. The attendant returned with two steaming cups, but no biscuits. The judge once asked again for the biscuits. The attendant nodded and disappeared, only to return with a small plate of 'dalmoth' (a snack). But there was a problem: the dalmoth was stale. As per the memo issued to the attendant, it was old, stale, and carried a foul smell.
Namita Bajpai
Our correspondent in Uttar Pradesh
namita.bajpai@newindianexpress.com
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
an hour ago
- The Hindu
Samajwadi Party expels three MLAs for anti-party activities, deviating from core principles
The Samajwadi Party (SP) on Monday (June 23, 2025) expelled three of its MLAs for deviating from core party values and allegedly endorsing communal, divisive, and negative ideologies. The SP accused the three MLAs Abhay Singh (MLA from Gosainganj), Rakesh Pratap Singh (Gauriganj) and Manoj Kumar Pandey (Unchahar) of working against public interest. The SP expelled Abhay Singh (MLA from Gosainganj), Rakesh Pratap Singh (Gauriganj) and Manoj Kumar Pandey (Unchahar), for endorsing communal, divisive, and negative ideologies that go against the Samajwadi Party's inclusive and progressive principles. In its statement the SP blamed the leaders for actively supporting and helping political elements and ideas that are anti-women, anti-farmer, anti-youth, anti-business, anti-backward, anti-Dalit and against the rights of the marginalised. The SP statement added the three leaders were earlier given a 'grace period' for self-correction, but that time had now lapsed. It added that there is no room in the party for individuals acting against public welfare or its core ideological framework.
India Today
an hour ago
- India Today
Samajwadi Party expels 3 sitting Uttar Pradesh MLAs for anti-party activities
The Samajwadi Party (SP) on Monday expelled three sitting MLAs for alleged anti-party conduct, accusing them of violating the party's core principles and promoting divisive leaders who have been shown the door include Abhay Singh (MLA from Goshaiganj), Rakesh Pratap Singh (MLA from Gauriganj), and Manoj Kumar Pandey (MLA from Unchahar).All three were expelled after what the party described as repeated instances of behaviour that went against its ideological In a statement, the Akhilesh Yadav-led party alleged that the expelled MLAs were engaged in activities that "promoted communal and divisive politics" and were supportive of "anti-farmer, anti-women, anti-youth, and anti-business" policies, positions that the party said are fundamentally opposed to its Samajwadi Party also claimed that the expelled lawmakers had been given opportunities to correct their course, but failed to fall in line with the party's expectations."Samajwadi Party in the public interest expels the following MLAs from the party due to their communal divisive negativity and supporting anti-farmer, women, youth, business, working professionals and 'anti-PDA' ideology, as opposed to the politics of socialist harmonious positive ideology," the party said in a social media post in Hindi. "The grace period given to these people for change of heart has now been completed, the remaining time period is remaining due to good conduct. "In the future also there will be no place in the party for 'anti-people' people and activities contrary to the basic ideology of the party will always be considered unforgivable," it added. advertisement
Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Indian Express
To build on gains, SP homes in on 108 ‘weak seats' for UP polls, dispatches observers
With the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections just over a year-and-a-half away, the Samajwadi Party (SP) has started its preparations by focusing on 108 Assembly seats that it has lost in the last three polls. The party has appointed observers for each of these constituencies, and they have been asked to submit their reports to party president Akhilesh Yadav. This is the first time the SP is conducting such an exercise. These seats, according to party insiders, are spread across the state, with some of the important ones being Allahabad West and Lucknow Cantonment in central UP; Babina and Charkhari in Bundelkhand; Bansi and Deoria in east UP; Gangoh and Noida in west UP; and Agra Cantonment and Etmadpur in the Braj region. Sources said observers had already paid at least a couple of visits to each of such Assembly constituencies in the past fortnight. They held separate meetings with the district presidents, district unit office bearers, prominent leaders in the constituencies, past candidates, and influential people from different castes and communities, insiders said. SP insiders said the party had appointed former MLAs as observers and that they were from outside the constituencies assigned to them to avoid any bias in their reports. The observers are broadly inquiring about groupism, internal conflict, and social equations, reasons that may have contributed to the losses in these seats. They are also checking the progress made in forming block and booth communities and the response to the party's 'PDA charcha' outreach to Other Backward Classes, Dalits, and minorities. PDA refers to the party's strategy of focusing on 'Pichhda (OBCs), Dalit, Alpsankhyak (minorities)' communities to expand and consolidate its base. 'The observer asked about the social equations and the caste and class composition of voters who were earlier with SP but shifted to the BJP. They also asked if internal conflicts had dented the party in previous elections,' said an SP leader in one of these 'weak constituencies'. 'The SP has devised a multi-pronged strategy for the 2027 assembly elections based on the Lok Sabha election experience. The party organisation has been revamped and transformed into a powerful cadre-based winning machine. The party expanded its social base through 'PDA' panchayats, collation of facts and stories from different constituencies to identify specific issues, and their redressal well before time,' said SP spokesperson Sudhir Panwar. The party has also sent observers to constituencies that its allies contested in previous elections. For instance, the party sent an observer to Shamli, where its former ally Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), led by Union Minister Jayant Chaudhary, won in 2022. In 2017, the Congress, in alliance with the SP, contested the seat but lost to the BJP. In 2012, the SP, which contested the election alone, lost the seat to the Congress. Among these 'weak seats' are two seats in Firozabad district and one in Badaun district, which are otherwise SP strongholds because of the dominance of Yadav and Muslim voters. The seats in Firozabad are Firozabad City and Tundla. The SP's Akshay Yadav is the Firozabad MP at present, and his victory has given the party hope that it can flip Firozabad City, where he had a lead of 16,000 votes in 2024. The party last won the seat in 2002. However, in the Tundla Assembly segment, Akshay Yadav trailed the BJP by almost 17,000 votes. SP district president Shivraj Singh Yadav said, 'The observer for Firozabad visited recently and held meetings to find out the reasons for defeat in past polls, consulted with party workers and senior leaders. The observer has submitted his report.' 'As the SP won maximum (37 seats) Lok Sabha seats in UP in 2024, the party is seeing a favourable atmosphere for the 2027 Assembly polls. Hence, it does not want to leave the scope for any mistake,' said a senior party leader.
