Temple for a Clear Majority, Says BJP UP Chief
On Tuesday, BJP raked up again the contentious issue of Ram Temple before the first phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections on February 11, saying a "grand" temple will be built in Ayodhya if BJP secures an outright majority.
“Ram Mandir is a subject of faith. It is not going to be built in two months. The temple will be constructed after the elections. BJP will come to power with a full majority,” party’s Uttar Pradesh chief Keshav Prasad Maurya told reporters her
He also hit out at Akhilesh Yadav, saying the UP chief minister is neither with Backward Classes nor Dalits, "he only betrays".
BJP also released a list of candidates who will be contesting in the upcoming elections.
BJP Releases Third List of UP Candidates
The BJP, on Tuesday, released its third list of 67 candidates for UP assembly polls, which includes the name of former BSP leader Swamy Prasad Maurya, who had recently defected to the saffron party.
With this, the party has so far announced the names of 370 candidates with no Muslim nominee among them. The election to the 403-member Assembly will take place in seven phases, starting 11 February.
For remaining 30 seats, the party is in talks with its allies Apna Dal and Bhartiya Samaj Party, BJP's National General Secretary Arun Singh told reporters in New Delhi while releasing the list of its candidates.
Besides Maurya, the party has also given tickets to RK Chaudhary and Dara Singh Chouhan, who have joined the BJP from BSP.
Maurya will be BJP's candidate from Padrona seat, while RK Chaudhary and Dara Singh Chauhan have been nominated from Mohanlalganj and Madhuban seats respectively.
Shivpal Yadav Not in SP's List of Star Campaigners
Former Samajwadi Party (SP) state president Shivpal Singh Yadav does not figure in the list of 40 'star campaigners' issued by the party for the first phase of the Uttar Pradesh state assembly elections.
The former PWD Minister, who enjoyed the number two status in the state government, has since fallen from grace of his nephew and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav after a bitter power struggle in the party and the first family.
He has been already axed as the state unit chief and replaced by Akhilesh loyalist Naresh Uttam and been relegated to a virtual nobody in the party.
What is set to add injury to insult is the fact that barring Shivpal Singh Yadav, all other members of the Yadav clan who are in active politics have been named in the list.