UP Polls: Mayawati Likely to Announce 403 Candidates on Birthday

The Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh is likely to tone down 56^th birthday celebrations on Sunday because of the forthcoming assembly elections. She is expected to celebrate by cutting a cake and announcing a list of 403 candidates.

Mayawati is used to a somewhat grander celebration of her birthday, with party members organizing parties in their respective constituencies. The CM is also used to announcing large-scale government projects. This time, however, she has had to be governed by a code of conduct imposed during the polling period.

The President of the Bahujan Samaj Party, Swami Prasad Maurya, said party members could celebrate Mayawati's birthday as long as they maintained a low profile.

It may be mentioned that Samajwadi Party candidate Pawan Pandey has been forced to trim his lavish wedding to a more private affair because of the code of conduct. He had to reduce his planned guest list from 30,000 to 100 after the Election Commission warned him his wedding expenses would be considered part of election expenditure.