There is finally some good news for UP chief minister Mayawati and Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav.
The Congress-led UPA government at the centre is in no mood to “irritate” the two leaders at the moment and this means that both can expect further relief in the disproportionate assets cases pending against them in the Supreme Court.

Even as the rising incidents of rape and atrocities on dalits in Uttar Pradesh continue to grab headlines, the Mayawati government on Wednesday claimed a 16 per cent decrease in atrocities on dalits and a 17 per cent decrease in rape cases.

Apparently with an eye on the state Assembly elections due next year, the Mayawati government on Tuesday presented a tax-free budget of `1,69,416.38 crores for the financial year 2011-12.

The BJP will now be playing the brahmin card in Uttar Pradesh to regain lost ground. The appointment of veteran party leader Kalraj Misra as chief of the election campaign committee is an indication of the BJP’s motive.

In a brutal incident, the hand, foot and ear of a dalit girl was chopped off with an axe in Fatehpur district after she resisted a rape attempt by three youths.
The incident took place on Saturday evening in Udauli village, when the 17-year-old girl was returning from the fields with another girl.

Samajwadi MLAs created a furore in the UP Assembly on Friday when they all came dressed in black to register their protest against the Mayawati government.

The Union minister for coal Shri Prakash Jaiswal has written a letter to all chief ministers of coal bearing states not to install big projects in coal bearing areas of their respective states.

With an eye on the next Assembly elections, the Opposition parties in UP are preparing for a “final assault” on the Mayawati government in the UP Assembly’s Budget Session that begins from Friday.

Upset over the negative publicity that her government has been receiving lately, UP chief minister Mayawati has now decided to make a conscious effort to refurbish the image of her government.

UP chief minister Mayawati obviously does not agree with the Election Commission on the issue of criminals participating in the electoral process.