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Tag: Akhilesh Yadav

  • Akhilesh Yadav asks all SP leaders to get vaccinated against COVID-19

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday appealed to all leaders of his party to get themselves vaccinated and to remain alert in order to save themselves from the coronavirus.

    A few months ago, Yadav had stoked controversy by saying that he would not get himself injected with a “BJP vaccine” against coronavirus.

    Later, he had tried to make amends, saying he was not referring to the scientists.

    The SP chief had said that he has full faith in the doctors but not in the government.

    He had appealed to the people to only believe in what the doctors say, not Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

    According to a statement issued by SP chief spokesperson Rajendra Chowdhury, “At the meeting, Akhilesh Yadav appealed all to get themselves vaccinated. He asked partymen to remain alert to save themselves from the coronavirus.”

    SP general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav and senior leaders were present at the meeting in which the political and economic situations were discussed.

    They also reviewed preparations of the party for the 2022 assembly polls.

  • Adityanath govt hid COVID-19 death figures in Uttar Pradesh, says Akhilesh Yadav

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday accused the Uttar Pradesh government of hiding the COVID-19 death figures, and claimed the state government did not want to give the statistics as it did not want to help the people.

    He also highlighted the issue of teachers dying during panchayat poll duty in the state.

    “The government did not give the statistics pertaining to the COVID-19 deaths, nor any help was given to them. They (UP government) did not give the statistics of COVID-19 deaths, as they did not want to help (the people),” he told reporters.

    “When the teachers went on (panchayat poll) duty, it was said that only three teachers died (on poll duty due to COVID-19). Later, when organisations and we raised questions, the government had to admit that actually how many lives were lost,” the SP chief said.

    A teachers’ body had earlier claimed that over 1,600 teachers and workers of the Basic Education Department have died in Uttar Pradesh since the first week of April due to COVID-19, and said that 90 per cent of them were on panchayat polls duty.

    However, Satish Chandra Dwivedi, the UP minister of state (independent charge) for basic education, had said that all these deaths cannot be attributed to election duty and according to government data, only three teachers had died due to COVID-19.

    On May 31, the UP Cabinet had approved a financial assistance of Rs 30 lakh for the kin of government personnel who died on duty during the recently-held panchayat election, including those who succumbed to COVID-19 within 30 days of poll duty, a spokesperson said.

    The Cabinet had also approved increasing the ex-gratia amount from Rs 15 lakh to Rs 30 lakh.

    “The duration of duty as defined by the Election Commission of India was the basis on which the State Election Commission had formed the guidelines, in which the duration of COVID-19 infection and death was not considered.

    Hence, for the ex-gratia, death due to COVID-19 within 30 days from election duty has been made the eligibility criteria,” a state government spokesperson had said.

     

  • Violence mars UP poll nominations, SP submits complaint

    By Express News Service
    LUCKNOW:  Widespread violence was reported on Thursday from various parts of Uttar Pradesh during the filing of nominations for the July 10 Block Pramukh polls. Kannauj, Sitapur, Unnao, Bulandshahar, Pilibhit, Unnao, Jhansi, Basti, Gorakhpur, Sambhal, Chitrakoot, Jalaun, Ayodhya, Fatehpur, Etah, Ambedkar Nagar and Maharajganj districts reported clashes.

    SP chief Akhilesh Yadav alleged that the law and order was held hostage by the BJP. SP state president Naresh Uttam Patel submitted a memorandum at the poll panel, alleging large scale violence by BJP and failure of local administration and police in stopping the violence.

    In Sitapur an independent candidate was allegedly stopped from filing nominations amid firing and lobbing of crude bombs in the presence of the police, which resulted in injuries to three persons. Alleging violence by the BJP, the candidate’s supporters blocked the highway following which the police used batons to disperse the protesters.

    In Kannauj, the ruling BJP and opposition SP workers clashed with reports of stone pelting and firing. Similar scenes played out at Unnao district. In Kanpur Dehat, a panchayat member backed by the SP claimed being assaulted by BJP workers.

    In Ambedkar Nagar, some miscreants snatched the nomination papers from former BSP minister Lalji Varma leading to violent clashes. “It is BJP leader Tejaswi Jaiswal who snatched the papers which led to tension and clashes,” claimed Varma.

    Incidents of some people brandishing firearms and tearing the nomination papers of rivals were reported from Shahjahanpur, Ambedkar Nagar and Basti. In Siddharthnagar, the SP claimed former Assembly Speaker Mata Prasad Pandey was roughed up and his vehicle damaged by BJP supporters. 

  • BJP indulged in violence during nomination filing for kshetra panchayat polls in Uttar Pradesh: Akhilesh Yadav

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav accused BJP leaders and workers on Thursday of indulging in anarchy and violence during the process of filing nominations for the election to the posts of chairpersons of kshetra panchayats and making a mockery of democracy.

    “The ruling BJP has held the law and order of Uttar Pradesh hostage. The people belonging to the ruling party are openly throttling democracy and the police administration is watching this murder of democracy as mute spectators. The ruling partymen indulged in anarchy and violence during the nomination-filing process held on Thursday and made a mockery of democracy,” he said in a release issued by the SP.

    Yadav said former Uttar Pradesh Assembly speaker Mata Prasad Pandey’s car was damaged in Siddharthnagar district’s Etwa block.

    He also said the nomination papers of his party candidate in Hardoi’s Sandi block were torn while in Sambhal, Basti Ka Gaur, Jhansi’s Baragaon block, Sitapur’s Kasmanda block, Kanpur’s Bilhaur and Shivrajpur, Bulandshahr, Lalitpur, Unnao, Ghazipur, Gorakhpur, Mahrajganj’s Siswa, Paratawal, Paniyara, Sadar, Deoria’s Bhatni, Chitrakoot’s Manikpur and Karvi, Etah’s Marhra, BJP workers created hurdles in the nomination-filing process of the SP-backed candidates.

    The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister cited similar cases in Bahraich and Mahrajganj, where he said SP workers were beaten up when they protested against such tactics and were injured.

    Journalists were beaten up and taken hostage in Kannauj while covering the nomination process, he said, alleging that the administrative officers are working as the agents of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

    “This is an act of polluting the democratic system,” Yadav said.

    The SP chief also demanded fresh arrangements to give another opportunity to the candidates who have not been able to file their nominations or that the entire process is carried out again.

    “The BJP has done a lot of harm to democracy. Constitutional rights are being violated in Uttar Pradesh. Candidates are being threatened. In many districts, the BJP did not allow the nomination process. The nomination papers of the SP candidates were snatched,” he alleged.

    “There is a huge public anger against the BJP, they will do full justice in the Assembly polls in 2022,” Yadav added.

    The State Election Commission (SEC) had on July 5 issued the notification for the election to the posts of chairpersons of the kshetra panchayats in the state for which nominations were filed between 11 am to 3 pm on Thursday.

    The last date to withdraw the candidature is July 9.

    Voting will be held on July 10 from 11 am to 3 pm and the counting of votes will be held the same day after 3 pm.

    The chairpersons of the kshetra panchayats (block-level) will be elected members of the kshetra panchayats.

    The kshetra panchayat of Mujhena in Gonda district will not be participating in this election as more than six months of its tenure are left, a senior SEC official said.

  • BJP should transfer Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath to Uttarakhand: Akhilesh Yadav

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: Taking a dig at the BJP over the leadership change in Uttarakhand, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday urged the saffron party to transfer Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath to the hill state.

    He said in this way, Uttarakhand will get rid of the ‘daily problem of leadership change’.

    Yadav was apparently referring to the change of guard in Uttarakhand after BJP leader Tirath Singh Rawat resigned as the state’s chief minister on Friday after holding the post for less than four months.

    He had replaced Trivendra Singh Rawat in March.

    Pushkar Singh Dhami was sworn in as the new chief minister of the state following his election on Saturday as the leader of the BJP legislature party.

    In Uttar Pradesh, democracy has been ‘injured’ because of the Chief Minister (Yogi Adityanath), and in Uttarakhand, democracy has become a ‘victim of instability’.

    In this situation, it will be better that the BJP transfer the UP CM to Uttarakhand, so that the hill state gets free from the daily problem of change of leadership, the SP leader said in a statement.

    He also alleged that both the states were grappling with law and order problem, women security, unemployment, poor health services, among others.

    “There is a decline in the law and order situation in both the states of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. No investments are taking place in the states owing to political manipulation.

    “Unemployment, inflation and corruption is also on the rise since the BJP came to power in the states,” the statement said.

    The SP chief added that women are finding it difficult to live with honour and injustice is being done to farmers in both the states.

  • UP district panchayat chief polls: BJP used ‘force’, ‘kidnapped’ voters, alleges Akhilesh Yadav

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday charged the ruling BJP with making a mockery of the elections to the posts of district panchayat chief, alleging that it “kidnapped” voters and used “force” to prevent them from voting.

    The ruling BJP has claimed that the party-backed candidates emerged victorious on 67 of the 75 seats, the elections for which were held on Saturday.

    “To convert its defeat into victory, the BJP got the voters kidnapped, used force with the help of police and administration to stop them from voting,” the SP chief alleged in a party release.

    The BJP made a mockery of all democratic norms, something not seen earlier, he alleged.

    The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said it is strange that while most results in the elections for the zila panchayat members were in favour of the Samajwadi Party, the BJP gained in the polls for the district panchayat chief.

    The complicity of officials has also come to the fore, he alleged.

    The SP chief said despite submitting a memorandum to the state Election Commissioner, no action was taken and alleged that the dictatorship of the ruling party was clearly visible.

    Citing the cases, he said pro-Samajwadi Party member Arun Rawat was kidnapped in Lucknow.

    SP candidate Vijay Laxmi was made to sit in the DM’s office and her husband MLA Ambareesh Pushkar was prevented from meeting her, he alleged.

    Samajwadi Party workers and women were subjected to indecency when they protested, he alleged.

    The SP chief added that the public is ready to give a reply for the “rigging” in the elections in the upcoming Assembly polls.

    Democracy will be restored only after the formation of the Samajwadi Party government and only then justice will be done, he added.

  • AAP leader Sanjay Singh meets SP chief Akhilesh Yadav ahead of Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh on Saturday met Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav here, triggering speculation about a tie up between both parties ahead of the Uttar Pradesh elections next year.

    The Aam Aadmi Party leader, however, refused to comment over it, saying he met Yadav to convey birthday greetings to him and held discussion over the current political situation in the state.

    Singh refused to divulge details of his meeting with Yadav.

    To a question as to whether the upcoming Assembly elections in UP will see an alliance between the Samajwadi Party and AAP, Singh said, “I cannot say anything on this matter.

  • Akhilesh Yadav likely to join hands with uncle to take on BJP

    By Express News Service
    LUCKNOW: Four years after Shivpal Singh Yadav, younger brother of Samajwadi Party (SP) patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, severed ties with his nephew Akhilesh Yadav, the party chief, it seems, is set to join hands with his uncle along with smaller parties to contest the UP Assembly polls scheduled for next year.  

    Shivpal, on September 28, 2018, had announced his new political party Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party after falling out with Akhilesh. Shivpal had complained that he felt neglected in the SP, which was founded by his elder brother Mulayam, after his nephew took charge. On Thursday, Akhilesh has ruled out any alliance with any major political party in the 2022 Assembly polls and has openly said his party will go with smaller parties.

    “As per the aspirations of our workers, we’ll not have any alliance with any major/big parties, but will certainly have tie-ups with small parties. Chacha se bhi baat karenge (I’ll talk to uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav also) while partnering with smaller parties,” the SP supremo and ex-UP CM said on his birthday on Thursday.

    The announcement raised the possibility of patch up with his uncle. Recently, there have been unconfirmed reports of the melting of ice between the uncle and nephew  and the recent pictures of them together at a family wedding are a key indicator of that possibility, even as Shivpal had publicly said that he would work only on building an alliance of smaller parties, including AIMIM, to fight out the ruling BJP.

    The unopposed election of the SP candidate for the post of chairperson of district panchayat in Etawah could only happen due to uncle Shivpal’s tacit support to his nephew led to party’s candidate. 

  • UP assembly polls: Akhilesh Yadav not to align with big players but open to tie-ups with small parties

    By Express News Service
    LUCKNOW: Just a few days after the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) announced to go solo in the next assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party (SP) announced its decision not to align with any major players.

    “As per the aspirations of our workers, we’ll not have an alliance with any major/big parties, but will certainly have tie-ups with small parties. Chacha se bhi baat karenge (I’ll talk to uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav also) while partnering with smaller parties,” the SP chief and ex-UP CM Akhilesh Yadav said on his birthday on Thursday.

    This announcement by the ex-UP CM raised the possibility of patch up with his uncle and ex-UP cabinet minister Shivpal Singh Yadav, who since 2018 has his own party, the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party.

    Shivpal, the younger sibling of SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav had severed ties with his nephew Akhilesh just a few months before the 2017 assembly polls in UP.

    Recently, there have been unconfirmed reports of the melting of ice between chacha and bhatija (uncle and nephew) and the recent pictures of the uncle-nephew duo together at a family wedding strengthens that possibility. However, Shivpal Singh Yadav had publicly said that he will work only on building an alliance of smaller parties, including Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM to fight out the ruling BJP in the 2022 polls in UP.

    Importantly, the unopposed election of the SP candidate for the post of chairperson of district panchayat in the Yadav family’s home Etawah district could only happen with Shivpal’s support.

    The family feud in the Yadav family headed by Mulayam has been politically costing the family in UP since 2017 assembly polls, where the Akhilesh Yadav led party came up with its worst performance with just 47 seats and 21.62% votes — 177 seats less than its 2012 tally of 224. Even an alliance with Congress and RLD didn’t help against the BJP’s historic majority of 312 seats.

    In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls also, SP shelved its long-standing bitterness with Mayawati-led BSP, but the outcome of the alliance was more in favour of the elephant symbol party and than SP’s bicycle symbol as the BSP increased its tally from zero to 10 while the latter only managed to hold on to its 2014 tally of five seats.  

    Over the last few months, the Akhilesh Yadav led SP has been working at cobbling a vote bank of OBC (Yadavs and other OBC castes) along with non Jatav scheduled castes and the Muslims to return to power in 2022 polls.

    The SP’s strategy to align only with smaller parties seems to have been driven by the success of BJP’s similar strategy in the 2017 assembly polls and the 2019 general elections in the politically crucial state.

    While the SP has already aligned with small party Mahan Dal (which had sided with Congress in 2019 Lok Sabha polls), it’s also eyeing tie-ups with Om Prakash Rajbhar’s SBSP (a former BJP ally) and NISHAD Party (presently in alliance with ruling BJP) to eat into the BJP’s non-Yadav OBC and non-Jatav scheduled caste votes. The OBC comprises over 45% of UP’s total voters.

    Reacting to SP chief Akhilesh Yadav’s announcement of not aligning with any major political party in 2022 polls, BSP chief and ex UP CM Mayawati tweeted that it is the party’s anti-Dalit mindset, which has made all major political parties stay away from it.

  • Uttar Pradesh will witness democratic revolution in 2022: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday asserted that there were will be a democratic revolution in Uttar Pradesh in 2022 against the current “disruptive” and “negative” politics. Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh are scheduled in 2022.

    आज की विघटनकारी-रूढ़िवादी नकारात्मक राजनीति सत्ता के विरुद्ध एकजुट शोषित, उपेक्षित, उत्पीड़ित, अपमानित दलित, दमित, वंचित, ग़रीब, किसान, मज़दूर, महिला व युवाओं की ‘नयी राजनीति’ जन्म ले रही है।2022 में उप्र में चुनाव नहीं लोकतांत्रिक क्रांति होगी। pic.twitter.com/44j5ajuQK2
    — Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) June 30, 2021

    In a tweet in Hindi, Yadav said, “United against today’s disruptive, conservative, negative politics, new politics of exploited, neglected, oppressed, humiliated, dalit, oppressed, deprived, poor, farmers, workers, women and youth is taking birth. In 2022, there will be no election in UP, there will be a democratic revolution.”

    The SP chief has exuded confidence that his party would win 350 seats out of the total 403 seats in the assembly, claiming people are against the BJP government.