UP cabinet minister Raja Bhaiya lands in trouble over his age

Controversial Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh, alias Raja Bhaiya on Tuesday landed in another controversy over his age disclosed in his election nominations even as Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav backed him on his criminal antecedents.

As per the affidavit filed by Raja Bhaiah, the indendent MLA, with his nomination papers in assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, he mentioned his age as 38 years.

Raja won from Kunda seat in Pratapgarh district in 1993-the first time he entered the electoral fray--and if this affidavit is to be correct he should have been 19 years at that time, which is not the permissible age for contesting polls.

One can contest assembly polls only after attaining the age of 25 years.

Asked on the issue, Mulayam Singh Yadav said he would work good as he was a youth.

Besides Prision, Raja Bhaiya has been alloted Food and Civil Supplies department in Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's cabinet.

Raja Bhaiya was not available for comments.

On criminal antecedents of Raja Bhai, Mulayam said "no court has held Raja Bhaiya guilty. There are many allegations against party members. Who is there in SP who does not have FIR registered against him?"

Election Results Live: Samajwadi party nears majority in UP

Bahujan Samaj Party’s elephant has given way to Samajwadi party’s cycle in Uttar Pradesh, emerging trends in Assembly elections 2012 counting indicate. The Samajwadi Party has emerged as the single largest party but appears set to fall short of majority in the politically-crucial state. The ruling Bahujan Samaj Party is a distant second while the Congress and the BJP are engaged in a neck-to-neck race for the third spot.

Riding on the Cycle, the Mulayam Singh-led party is leading in 196 out of the total 403 seats, as per the latest trends available at 11.45 am. However, the big question now is - will the Congress go back on its grand standing and extend support to the SP to form the government in UP.

Mayawati, despite registering impressive performance in spearheading economic growth in UP, is on her way out. The BSP is ahead in 97 seats. As per reports, Mayawati will head towards the Raj Bhavan at 3.30 pm to tender her resignation.

The Congress, for which the elections have been a high-profile affair after Rahul Gandhi himself steered the poll campaign, is leading in 51 seats - a marked improvement from the 22 seats it has in the outgoing Assembly.

The BJP has also done well in the state with it being ahead in 48 seats. Others are ahead in only 11 seats.

Among the prominent SP candidates who are leading include Mulayam Singh Yadav’s brother Shivpal Singh Yadav, Brahmashankar Tripathi, Mohammad Azam Khan, Abhay Singh and Mata Prasad, while Veer Singh and Ambika Choudhary are trailing

From the BJP who are on course to victory include Kalraj Mishra and Mahesh Kumar Sharma, while Avadhesh Kumar, Nawab Singh Nagar, Daddan Mishra, Devendra Singh and Ramapati Shastri are trailing.

UP Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi is also leading from Lucknow.

Besides UP counting of votes is underway in Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa.

The results will decide the fate of candidates in a total of 690 assembly seats -- 403 in UP, 117 seats in Punjab, 70 in Uttarakhand, 60 in Manipur and 40 in Goa.

The elections, which have taken place in the middle of the last Lok Sabha election in 2009 and the next in 2014, are being considered some sort of "semi final" for the UPA and NDA.

Mulayam may support Congress to oust BJP

Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav today said that he is willing to support the Congress in Uttar Pradesh after polls if he sees the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) coming to power.

"There is a wave in favour of SP, which is going to form the next government in the state...If I see BJP coming to power, our party can support Congress in the state to prevent communal forces," Mr Yadav told an election rally at Hamirpur.

The Congress, though, appeared lukewarm in its response to the SP's offer. The question is "premature and unnecessary at this point of time", party spokesperson Renuka Chowdhury told reporters in reply to a volley of questions on the issue at the AICC briefing here.

Noting that the Congress' attitude on the issue was going to be "wait and watch", she said that "there has been no pre-poll pact between Congress and the Samajwadi Party. We have not arrived at post poll scenario as yet. We still have most phases of the polling left."

"I have no authority to rule it in or rule it out", she said but insisted that party leaders including Sonia Gandhi have made the party's stand against any alliance clear.

On whether Mr Yadav's offer was a virtual admission that his party was not getting majority on its own, she said it seems so.

The Congress is keeping its cards close to its chest on the issue of alliances in UP as it does not want to give an impression that it is a 'B team' of any other party.

Asked by a reporter if the Congress would like to go with Mulayam or Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati in the post-poll scenario, Chowdhury sarcastically replied, "When the time will come, the party will consult you."