Mayawati unhappy after Priyanka Gandhi meets Bhim Army chief: Sources

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati expressed her disappointment in a meeting with Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav after Congress general secretary UP (East) Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday met Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad at a hospital in Meerut where the Scheduled Caste leader was admitted a day earlier, according to sources.

Chandrashekhar Azad was taken into custody by the police on Tuesday for violating the model code of conduct, officials said.

The sources said in the meeting, ‘disappointed’ Mayawati and Yadav even discussed to field joint candidates from Amethi and Rae Bareli constituencies in the next couple of days. The SP-BSP-RLD grand alliance has not fielded any candidate on Amethi and Rae Bareli seats -- the bastions of Congress president Rahul Gandhi and senior party leader Sonia Gandhi respectively.  

Azad was detained while leading a procession that included cars and motorcycles, but was shifted to the hospital when he took ill. The code violation was allegedly over the number of vehicles in the political rally.

“He is a young man who is struggling and raising his voice, but this government is trying to suppress his voice. I am here because I like his energy and the way he raises voice for youth,” said Gandhi.

Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress has given Priyanka Gandhi the charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh.

Senior Superintendent of Police Dinesh Kumar said Chandrashekhar and his supporters were detained by police at Deoband in Shaharanpur district. Chandrashekhar had told reporters in a news conference in New Delhi on Saturday that if the opposition's “mahagathbandhan” fails to field strong candidates against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister Smriti Irani,  Bhim Army would field its own strong candidates against them.