Mayawati insensitive towards those facing drought: Congress

September 4th, 2009 LUCKNOW - Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has now been painted in shades of divinity. A 25-year-old painter has projected Mayawati as a goddess in several paintings on display at Lalit Kala Akademi here.

August 18th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party's highest decision making body, will meet Wednesday to discuss the drought situation in the country and appeal the government to take speedy measures to deal with it. The CWC will meet to discuss the drought situation in the country, Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi said here.

August 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati Monday demanded Rs.2,000 crore from the central government to purchase power for the drought hit areas of the state. Mayawati met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at his residence here, though she skipped an internal security meeting attended by chief ministers.

August 15th, 2009 LUCKNOW - Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati Saturday accused the central government of not aiding in the state's development schemes, while pledging to improve the law and order situation and find a "permanent solution" to the power shortage. She unfurled the tricolour in front of the state assembly and in her speech alleged that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government was "not co-operating in the development schemes of the state".

August 3rd, 2009 LUCKNOW - Unfazed by the criticism over its statue-erecting spree, the Mayawati government of Uttar Pradesh has sought the assembly sanction for an additional Rs.556 crore (Rs.5.56 billion) for the projects, and in contrast sought just Rs.250 crore to deal with the prevailing drought in the state. Over the years, Rs.5,000 crore have been allocated towards Chief Minister Mayawati's dream projects since the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) came to power in May 2007.

July 26th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The total number of draught-hit districts in Uttar Pradesh has reached 47, after the state government declared 27 more districts as drought-hit on Sunday. "In the interest of farmers, we have relaxed measures for declaring districts as drought-hit due to which 27 more districts are found to be affected by drought.

July 20th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh says "I agree" with what Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi said against Chief Minister Mayawati. "I agree with what Rita had said.

July 18th, 2009 LUCKNOW - Continuing the verbal sparring with the Congress, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati Saturday hit out at Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi for his comments against her government, saying the Congress should "first set its own house in order before accusing others". On Rahul Gandhi's support for the Congress' state chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who was arrested and sent to judicial custody for her remark against the chief minister, Mayawati said it would have been better if Rahul Gandhi had commented instead on Joshi's book criticising Congress leaders.

July 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Congress President Sonia Gandhi expressed regret over the remarks made by UP Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, but at the same time described the actions of the Uttar Pradesh Government as high handed. Earlier in the day, Mayawati condemned Gandhi for remaining silent on the Joshi incident, and said it was shameful that she had not taken any action against Joshi.

June 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Congress Wednesday demanded an apology from Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati for making "derogratory" remarks that Mahatma was a "natakbaaz" (a fake). The remarks made by Mayawati about the Father of Nation are highly condemnable.

May 21st, 2009 LUCKNOW - A lawyer Thursday moved an application before a court in Uttar Pradesh's Barabanki district seeking action against state Chief Minister Mayawati for her alleged derogatory utterances against P.L. Punia, a former bureaucrat and now a Congress MP from the Barabanki parliamentary seat.

May 13th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh has indicated the possibility of joining hands with BSP supremo Mayawati as part of UPA's post poll alliance. On a question as to whether the Congress sees Mayawati as its potential post-poll ally, a smiling Digvijay said, "Politics is the art of the possible." Offering another hint of Congress' soft corner for the BSP, Singh nullified Mulayam Singh's Yadav's remark against Mayawati Government in Uttar Pradesh.

May 4th, 2009 GHAZIABAD - The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati here Monday hit out at Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, saying that by merely sleeping in the house of Dalits or having food with them, their poverty would not be removed. Hitting out at the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and their allies, Mayawati at a rally in here said the Congress ruled the country for 40 of the 61 years since independence and yet did nothing for the country.

March 30th, 2009 JAMMU - The Bahujan Samaj Party's (BSP) blue flags fluttered here in Jammu and Kashmir Monday as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati campaigned for her party ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Addressing an election rally, Mayawati criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as well as the Congress saying these parties were 'fooling the people'.

February 3rd, 2009 LUCKNOW - Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati Wednesday accused the central government of blocking development schemes for the state. 'The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government is creating obstructions in the development of the state by not releasing the Rs.80,000 crore (Rs.800 billion) financial package we sought,' Mayawati said at a function here after inaugurating welfare schemes for girls.