One of the accused involved in the murder of the Tamil Nadu BSP Chief was killed in an encounter with the police in Chennai late last evening, officials have said. 

Police sources said Thiruvengadam was taken to the spot to recover weapons used in the killing of K Armstrong when he fired at the police officials with the recovered gun.

He was injured in the retaliatory firing and rushed to the hospital. “He was declared brought dead by the doctors,” officials said.

K Armstrong was hacked to death by six bike-borne men near his house in Chennai earlier this month.

The six men attacked Armstrong when he was having a discussion with a few party functionaries near his house in the city’s Sembium area and then fled. The family rushed him to a hospital, but he was declared brought dead.

Thiruvengadam was one of the suspects arrested allegedly for K Armstrong’s murder.

A lawyer, Armstrong was elected to the Chennai Corporation Council in 2006. He shot to fame after he organised a mega rally in Chennai two years ago and invited BSP chief Mayawati.

BSP chief Mayawati has demanded a CBI investigation into the attack. “I urge the state government, especially the Chief Minister, to ensure law and order in the state. The weaker sections, in particular, should feel safe. Had the government been serious, the accused would have been arrested. Since that is not the case, we urge the state government to refer the case to the CBI,” she had said.

Lucknow:

Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and BSP chief Mayawati on Saturday demanded strict action against Suraj Pal Singh, the self-styled godman who is worshipped by his followers as ‘Bhole Baba’, in the Hathras stampede tragedy that claimed 121 lives.

The BSP chief also advised the poor, Dalits, and the oppressed in the country not to get misled by the superstition and hypocrisy of “babas”.

“The poor, Dalits, and the oppressed in the country should not increase their pain and suffer by getting misled by the superstition and hypocrisy of many Babas like Bhole Baba of Hathras to get rid of their poverty and all other problems, this is the advice,” she posted on X.

“Rather, by following the path shown by Baba Saheb Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, they will have to change their own destiny by taking power into their own hands, that is, they will have to join their own party BSP, only then they can avoid incidents like Hathras in which 121 people died, which is very worrying,” Mayawati added.

She further said that the government should not be lax in such situations and take strict action against the guilty.

“In the Hathras case, strict action should be taken against Baba Bhole and others who are guilty. Action should be taken against other such Babas as well. In this case, the government should not be lax in its political interests so that no more people have to lose their lives,” the BSF chief wrote on X.

Meanwhile, the self-styled godman broke his silence on Saturday in connection with the Hathras stampede in which 121 people, mostly women and children, died, stating that “those who created the chaos will not be spared.”

In a video statement, Suraj Pal – who also goes by the name Narayan Sakar Hari – expressed his grief and condoled the deaths at the tragedy that took place earlier this week during a ‘Satsang’ in Fulari village in Hathras district.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati’s nephew Akash Anand is no longer her political heir or the party’s National Coordinator. The 29-year-old got dropped this evening, days after his comment comparing the BJP with Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban. His aunt, though, has left a small hope for reprieve, saying he is “being separated” from his responsibilities “until he attains full maturity”.

In a post in Hindi on X, formerly Twitter, this evening, Ms Mayawati said, “BSP is also a movement for self-respect and self-esteem of Baba Saheb Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar and social change for which Shri Kanshi Ram ji and I have dedicated our entire lives and a new generation is also being prepared to give it momentum.”

“In the same sequence, along with promoting other people in the party, I declared Shri Akash Anand as the National Coordinator and successor, but in the larger interest of the party and the movement, he is being separated from both these important responsibilities until he attains full maturity,” read her second post. His father, Anand Kumar, will continue to fulfil his responsibilities in the party, she added in a third post.

Mr Anand’s comments about the BJP had made headlines last week. A case was filed against him for Model Code violation.

“This government is a bulldozer government and a government of traitors,” he had said. “The party that leaves its youth hungry and enslaves its elderly is a terrorist government. Taliban runs such a government in Afghanistan,” the BSP leader had added. The BJP is a party of thieves that took Rs 6,000 crore through electoral bonds, he further alleged.

The district administration took note of the speech and a case of Model Code of Conduct violation was filed against Mr Anand and four others on Sunday. Three of the others were party candidates and the fourth was a leader who organised the rally where Mr Anand was speaking.

Shortly after that, Ms Mayawati cancelled all rallies Akash Anand and made sure he did not campaign in the election.

Ms Mayawati had named her nephew as her political heir in December last year. Her announcement today came as the third phase of the election came to an end. The BSP, which commands the support of a chunk of the state’s Dalits. The party is goibg solo in this election.

Akash Anand had officially entered politics in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha election. Before that he had attended multiple BSP events and accompanied his aunt on the campaign for the 2017 Uttar Pradesh assembly election.

Sitapur, UP:

A case of Model Code of Conduct violation was registered against BSP chief Mayawati’s nephew Akash Anand and four others on Sunday for allegedly using objectionable language at a poll rally here, police said.

The action came after the district administration took suo motu cognisance of Anand’s speech at the rally earlier in the day, they said.

“This government is a bulldozer government and a government of traitors. The party that leaves its youth hungry and enslaves its elderly is a terrorist government. Taliban runs such a government in Afghanistan,” the BSP leader said.

In his address, Anand also cited a National Crime Records Bureau report of 16,000 kidnapping incidents in the state and accused the government of failing to provide safety to women and children.

The BJP is a party of thieves who took Rs 16,000 crores through electoral bonds, he further alleged.

The case was registered against Anand, the BSP’s national coordinator, party candidates Mahendra Yadav, Shyam Awasthi and Akshay Kalra and rally organiser Vikas Rajvanshi, Superintendent of Police (Sitapur) Chakresh Mishra said.

He added that the case was registered under sections IPC 171C (undue influence at elections), 153B (imputation, assertions prejudicial to national integration) and 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and section 125 of the RP Act (promoting enmity between classes in connection with election).

The speech was given to incite violence and with the use of unparliamentary language, violating the Model Code of Conduct, Mishra said.

Sitapur will vote in the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha polls on May 13.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Meerut, Uttar Pradesh:

BSP chief Mayawati today promised to work for a separate state comprising districts of western Uttar Pradesh and fulfil the “longstanding demand” of setting up a bench of the Allahabad High Court in Meerut, if voted to power at the Centre.

Addressing an election rally in support of her party nominee from the Meerut Lok Sabha seat, the BSP chief attacked the Congress and BJP and also targeted the Samajwadi Party (SP) on the issue of reservation, alleging the SP does not want the people belonging to SC/ST communities to get quota benefits.

She also said that her party, if voted to power, will work to fulfil the demands and address problems of the region. “We will take positive steps with regards to your longstanding demand of a Allahabad High Court bench here in Meerut like that in Lucknow,” she said.

“The central government has not been paying attention to it but when we come to power at the Centre, we will take positive steps in this regard,” Mayawati said.

Referring to how her government in Uttar Pradesh had passed a resolution for a separate state, which was sent to the Centre, she said, “Since the beginning, our party has been of the view that the western region should be made a separate state for better development of the region.

“We had got a resolution passed by the state assembly and sent to the central government but they did not act on it. When our party comes to power at the Centre, your western UP will be made a separate state,” she said.

The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister alleged that the quota facility meant for the Dalits, adivasis (STs) and OBCs in government jobs has not been filled up in the country for years and the quota in promotions for the SCs/STs has also been made ineffective.

“I want to remind the members of the SCs/STs that when the SP was in power in Uttar Pradesh, it had ended reservation in promotions. Will the members of these sections give even a single vote to them and waste it on a party which is bent upon finishing their reservation. The SP does not want SC/ST people to get full benefits of reservation,” she said.

She also alleged that when an amendment bill for reservation in promotions was presented in the Rajya Sabha, the SP MPs had torn it. “Will such Samajwadi Party do good for the Dalits and shoshits (exploited class). Not only this, the districts, parks, universities that we (BSP government) had made in the name of great men belonging to these sections of society were mostly changed by the subsequent Samajwadi Party government.”

She also alleged that like the Congress, the BJP’s casteist and pro-capitalist thinking and policies have not helped in ensuring the real development and uplift of the poor, Dalits, adivasis, backwards, Muslims and other religious minorities among the “sarv samaj”.

Telling her voters that in these Lok Sabha elections, the Congress, BJP and their supporting parties have to be stopped from coming to power, she alleged their wrong policies and working style has been tried by all.

She also warned against the “saam, daam, dand, bhed” policies allegedly being adopted by these parties to attain power.

Seeking vote for her party nominee from Meerut, Mayawati said unlike the past elections when her party had fielded Muslim candidates, it has this time given ticket to Dervrat Tyagi.

Voting will be held in Meerut in the second phase on April 26, where BJP candidate Arun Govil, Samajwadi Party’s Sunita Verma and BSP’s Devvrat Kumar Tyagi are in the fray.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Lucknow:

BSP president Mayawati today demanded a high-level inquiry into the death of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, saying the truth of the case needs to come before the public.

Ansari, 63, died of cardiac arrest at a hospital in Banda district of Uttar Pradesh on Thursday.

In a post on X, the BSP president said “The persistent apprehensions and serious allegations made by Mukhtar Anasari’s family regarding his death in jail require a high -level investigation so that the true facts of his death can be revealed.”

Bhim Army founder and Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) president Chandra Shekhar Aazad also demanded a CBI investigation into the death of Ansari.

“The untimely demise of former MLA Mukhtar Ansari is very sad. I pay my humble tribute. My condolences to his family and supporters, may nature give them the strength to bear this immense loss,” Aazad posted on X in Hindi.

“Earlier he had expressed apprehension that he will be murdered. I demand from the High Court of Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh for a CBI investigation into his death,” the Dalit leader added.

Aazad’s party is in fray for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The 63-year-old Ansari was brought to the Rani Durgavati Medical College in Banda from the district jail in “an unconscious state” on Thursday evening and died at the hospital following a cardiac arrest, according to its principal Suneel Kaushal.

Ansari’s family has alleged that he was subjected to slow poisoning in jail, a charge denied by authorities.

Ansari was a five-time MLA from Mau Sadar. He had been behind bars in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab since 2005. He had over 60 criminal cases pending against him.

He was sentenced in eight cases since September 2022 by different courts in Uttar Pradesh and was lodged in the Banda jail. His name was on the list of 66 gangsters issued by Uttar Pradesh Police last year.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Lucknow:

Senior Congress leader Acharya Pramod Krishnam on Wednesday said that without the inclusion of BSP chief Mayawati in the INDIA alliance, the BJP cannot be defeated in Uttar Pradesh.

“I am of the view that Behenji (Mayawati) is such a leader in Uttar Pradesh who is competent (enough) to affect 18 per cent to 22 per cent votes,” Krishnam told PTI.

If the INDIA alliance is forged without her, there is no relevance in calling it a mega alliance, he said.

“If the BJP has to be defeated, then along with the SP, RLD and the Congress, Behenji should also be in the INDIA alliance. For this, I am inviting her,” Krishnam said.

The Congress leader also said that if Mayawati did not become a part of the INDIA alliance, then Prime Minister Narendra Modi could not be defeated. “I am of the view that without taking Behenji along, defeating the BJP in UP is impossible,” he said.

Acharya Pramod Krishnam had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Lucknow on a Congress ticket but lost to the BJP’s Rajnath Singh. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)