News Analysis India

Tag: Akhilesh Yadav

  • Akhilesh Yadav, UP minister Ashutosh Tandon test positive for COVID-19

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Uttar Pradesh minister Ashutosh Tandon have tested positive for COVID-19.

    In a tweet in Hindi on Wednesday, Yadav said, “My corona test report has come positive. I have isolated myself and started treatment at home itself. People who have come in contact with me in the past few days should get themselves tested. They are requested to stay in isolation for some days.”

    Yadav had recently visited Haridwar where the Kumbh Mela is underway and met various religious leaders, including Akhara Parishad chairman Mahant Narendra Giri who had tested positive for COVID-19 earlier.

    On reaching Lucknow, Yadav got himself tested on Tuesday.

    Uttar Pradesh Urban Development Minister Tandon tweeted, “After observing initial symptoms of corona, I got myself tested, and the report has come positive. On the advice of doctors, I have isolated myself at home. People who have come in contact with me in the past few days should get themselves tested.” 

  • Criminals having field day, CM Adityanath busy in poll campaign: Akhilesh Yadav’s attacks BJP govt

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav mocked Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over his visits to the poll-bound states, alleging that criminals were having a field day in Uttar Pradesh.

    Yadav claimed that criminals were freely attacking the police under the BJP rule and the morale of the security forces was down.

    “Criminals who are enjoying patronage are fearless, while police personnel taking action against them are being suspended,” the former chief minister said.

    The SP leader added that the Adityanath government’s tall claims of controlling crime against women have “failed” completely.

    Unaware of the actual situation in the state, Adityanath is busy in improving the situation in West Bengal and Assam, Yadav alleged.

    Adityanath has addressed three rallies in West Bengal’s Purulia, Bankura and Paschim Medinipur districts on Tuesday, while he visited Assam for public meetings on Wednesday.

    Yadav said there was not a single day when incidents of loot, kidnapping, murder and rape were not reported, claiming that Lucknow tops the charts as far as crimes against women are concerned.

    Accusing the BJP govt of raising “magical ‘jumlas’ (rhetoric)” in order to divert people’s attention from basic issues, Yadav said they might try every trick to confuse the people, but would not succeed anymore.

    “People have come to know the reality behind BJP’s tall claims and they will teach a lesson to the liars in 2022 (assembly) election,” Yadav added.

  • SP chief Akhilesh Yadav claims ‘voices of dissent are surfacing’ within Uttar Pradesh BJP

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav claimed on Tuesday that voices of dissent have started surfacing within the Uttar Pradesh unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

    He also claimed that various senior officials in the administration and police are not attending phone calls from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), despite directives.

    “When BJP leaders were making claims of their victory in the next state Assembly polls from the dais during the party’s working committee meeting, several office-bearers and leaders were raising their voice against the misgovernance under the party’s rule,” Yadav said in a statement released by the SP here.

    ALSO READ | FIR filed against Akhilesh Yadav, 20 others over assault on journalists in Moradabad

    “The BJP might make all-out efforts to hide the reality and spread lies, but it is not going to succeed since voices of dissent and dissatisfaction have started surfacing within the party,” he claimed.

    The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister was referring to the daylong meeting of the state BJP’s working committee held in the state capital on Monday, which was inaugurated by Defence Minister and former party president Rajnath Singh, while Chief minister Yogi Adityanath addressed the closing function.

    Senior BJP leaders, who took part in the meeting, claimed that the saffron party will script a historic victory in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election.

    The SP president pointed out that his party has been saying since the very beginning that anarchy, disorder and corruption are rampant in the 

    BJP regime in the state and there appears to be no control of the government or administration over it.

    Ministers have also complained that officials do not listen to them, he said.

    Different district magistrates (DMs), senior superintendents of police (SSPs), SPs and commissioners are not attending phone calls from the CMO despite directives, he said, claiming that there are reports given by government sources to this effect.

    “When nobody takes the chief minister seriously, what can be expected about the fate of people’s problems?” Yadav asked.

  • FIR filed against Akhilesh Yadav, 20 others over assault on journalists in Moradabad

    By Express News Service
    LUCKNOW: Acting on a complaint by a local journalist, the Moradabad Police has registered an FIR against the Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and 20 unidentified party leaders and workers who had allegedly heckled the media persons during a press conference in the district on March 11.

    The FIR has been lodged under Sections 147 (rioting), 342 (wrongful confinement), and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the IPC against the SP chief and 20 others at Paakbada Police Station in Moradabad after local journalist association president Dr. Awadhesh Parashar gave a complaint to the SSP.

    A few journalists were injured, one of them seriously, when SP workers and Akhilesh Yadav’s security guards allegedly attacked media persons.

    Fareed Shamshi, a video journalist, had sustained a fracture in his leg. While talking to media persons, Parashar said the journalists invited to the press conference asked the SP chief some questions on party MP Azam Khan at which Akhilesh Yadav got furious. This was followed by an assault on journalists by the security men of the SP chief and the party workers.

    Meanwhile, a counter FIR was also lodged by the Samajwadi Party district president Jaiveer Singh against Ubaidur Rehman of ABP News and Fareed Shamsi of News 18 under Sections 160, 341, 332, 53, 504, 499, and 120-B of the IPC.

  • Akhilesh Yadav begins 350 km cycle yatra from Rampur in support of Azam Khan

    Express News Service
    LUCKNOW: Former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav on Friday embarked on a 350-km ‘cycle yatra’ from Ali Jauhar University of Rampur to express solidarity with his party’s beleaguered MP Azam Khan.

    Rampur is the parliamentary constituency of Azam Khan who has been languishing in jail for over a year now in connection with a number of cases.

    While commencing the yatra, the SP chief gave the clarion call for Mission 2022. He expressed the confidence that the changing wheels of the cycle would bring about the change in the dispensation in the state in Assembly elections next year.

    He claimed that every time the ‘Samajwadis’ hit the roads on bicycles they changed the government in Uttar Pradesh.

    “After we took to streets on cycles across the state in 2011, the government fell,” the SP chief said addressing a gathering of party workers in Rampur.

    On Saturday, state unit president Naresh Uttam Patel is scheduled to flag off the cycle yatra from Ambedkar Park, Rampur, which will reach Lucknow on March 21 after passing through different districts.

    Taking a jibe at UP CM Yogi Adityanath, Akhilesh said that if the state had to be changed for good, first the CM should change himself as he was drawing credit for all the schemes which were introduced during the SP regime.

    Commenting on the encounter policy of the BJP government, the SP chief said: “The government knows only one language – thok do. What can be expected from those who believe in such a policy? How can you expect justice from them?”

    Referring to the attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Yadav said, “There is no institution in Bengal left which has not been after her. See what happened, she got hurt. The leg was hurt because these people know that if there is an injury in the leg, no one will be able to campaign.”

    He claimed that the day’s dispensation was framing such laws which would lead the country into the hands of private corporate houses. “The democracy is under threat. If democracy has to be saved, then UP will have to be saved and this will happen only if the present government is changed,” said Yadav.

    He said there is a similarity between Congress with the BJP. “Without BJP, Congress can’t survive and vice-versa.

    “So this time we will rope in smaller parties to stitch a pre-poll alliance. We will not talk to any big player,” said the SP supremo.

    Meanwhile, Akhilesh Yadav assured the people of Rampur that once the Samajwadi Party government came to power, all the development works would be done. He reiterated that Azam Khan and his family would get justice from the judiciary. 

  • Samajwadis change Uttar Pradesh govt whenever they take cycle rides, says Akhilesh Yadav

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav Friday claimed that every time his party workers and leaders hit roads on their bicycles, they change the government in Uttar Pradesh.

    Yadav made the claim a day before his party’s state unit president Naresh Uttam Patel is to flag off Saturday the party’s “cycle yatra” from Ambedkar Park in Rampur, culminating in Lucknow on March 21.

    “When we had undertaken cycle rides before the 2011 state assembly elections, the UP government has lost the polls,” said Yadav, addressing a rally in Rampur district. 

    The rally was organised also to highlight the alleged persecution of SP veteran leader and Rampur MP Azam Khan by the BJP government.

    Referring to the cases lodged against Azam Khan, Yadav alleged that even as when they were planning to launch the cycle yatra, the district administration, under government pressure, was preparing to lodge criminal cases against party workers.

    With the sunny weather suddenly turning cloudy during his address to the rally, Yadav said, “Look what has happened even before we have hit the cycle paddles. When we will actually hit roads on cycles, not only the weather but the government too will get changed.”

    “Somehow, God’s blessings too are with socialites. We will not have to suffer the harsh sun while cycling,” he remarked.

    Speaking about the cases against Azam Khan and his family members, the SP president said not only Khan but all those associated with him have been framed in false cases.

    He said Azam Khan is the only leader against whom so many cases have been lodged in one go.

    Yadav also accused the Uttar Pradesh government of regularly gunning down criminals and suspects in fake police encounters.

    “Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s government with which we have to fight knows only one language — thok do (shoot them),” he alleged.

    “What can be expected of those who know only the language of encounter?” he asked.

  • UP: Journalist injured amid jostling at Akhilesh Yadav event

    By PTI
    MORADABAD: A journalist suffered injuries allegedly after being pushed by a security personnel guarding Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav as mediapersons jostled to get a byte from the leader in Moradabad district in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday.

    After the incident, Shalabh Mani Tripathi, the media advisor to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, alleged SP goons badly beat up journalists for asking questions to Yadav, threatened, humiliated and chased them away.

    “Many were injured,” he claimed.

    Rejecting the allegation, Samajwadi Party MP from Moradabad Syed Tufail Hasan, who was with Yadav during the incident, said the former chief minister did not refuse to talk to mediapersons.

    “Some electronic mediapersons broke the security cordon and fell amid jostling after being stopped by guards. One journalist suffered injuries in leg and has been sent to hospital,” Hasan told PTI.

    Yadav has expressed his grief over the incident, he said.

    The Samajwadi Party chief is here to attend the wedding of an MLA, Hasan said, adding that he will move to Rampur to join a cycle rally of the party on Friday.

    Adityanath’s media advisor Tripathi tweeted, “The most tarnished day in the history of UP after the state guest house incident. Out of power at the moment and yet so much hooliganism. Imagine how intoxicated they must have been when in power.”

    In his tweet, Tripathi was referring to the attack on BSP supremo Mayawati by SP workers at the state guest house in Lucknow in 1995.

  • BJP wants to impose ‘company rule’ in country, says SP chief Akhilesh Yadav

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday equated the BJP regime with the British rule, alleging that the party wanted to impose a “company rule” in the country.

    “There is no possibility that income of farmers is going to double. The truth is that whatever income farmers had also ended. The BJP wants to force a company rule in the country the way British captured India with the East India Company,” Akhilesh said in a statement here.

    Mentioning the farmers’ agitation against the Centre’s farm laws, Akhilesh said, “When thousands of farmers are raising an issue, the government should resolve it but the BJP government has forced its laws against farmers’ will.”

    Farmers are apprehensive that they will turn labourers after the new laws are implemented, Akhilesh said.

    Due to a stubborn attitude of the BJP, social workers of various countries have also supported the farmers’ agitation in the country, he said.

    “Time magazine has devoted its cover page to women farmers, who are participating in the agitation fearlessly,” he added.

  • Bengal polls: After Tejashwi, now Akhilesh to campaign in Trinamool’s favour

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav accused Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday of misleading the people in West Bengal and said the party would campaign in favour of the TMC for the Assembly election.

    The comments came a day after Adityanath addressed a rally in minority-dominated Malda district where he alleged that cattle smuggling and “love jihad” were continuing unabated in West Bengal and the Mamata Banerjee government was endangering national security by indulging in “appeasement” politics.

    In a statement, Yadav said the BJP wanted to come to power in the state by spreading “confusion and propaganda” during the Assembly polls.

    “The Samajwadi Party will not allow this conspiracy of the BJP to succeed,” he added.

    He alleged that Adityanath was “misleading” the people and appealed to the voters not to fall prey to the designs of the BJP, which “indulges in politics of hate”.

    “It’s in the interest of democracy to be cautious of it (BJP),” the SP leader said.

    Yadav said SP vice president and former minister Kiranmoy Nanda would conduct an election campaign in support of the TMC in the state.

    Incidentally, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav had also met TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee two days ago.

    “West Bengal is home to a large number of Hindi-speaking people from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand,” he had said, adding the RJD’s stand is to provide “full support” to Banerjee.

    The high-stakes elections in West Bengal, poised to be a tough contest between the TMC and the BJP, will be held in eight phases between March 27 and April 29.

    Votes will be counted on May 2.

  • Eye on Dalit votebank: Politicians make a beeline for Sant Ravidas temple in Varanasi

    Express News Service
    LUCKNOW: With the UP assembly polls just a year away, the state’s political landscape is bustling with activity and a reflection of this was seen in Varanasi on Saturday when stalwarts of almost all the political parties made a beeline for the Sant Ravidas temple to pay tributes to the Dalit saint on his 644th birth anniversary in a bid to woo the Dalits of Uttar Pradesh.

    Prominent among those who descended on to Varanasi on the occasion were Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav. Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who was representing PM Modi, had already been camping in the holy city for the last two days.

    Pradhan was the first one to visit Sant Ravi Das temple to pay his obeisance to the saint in the morning followed by Priyanka, Akhilesh and also Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad ‘Ravan’ later in the day.

    Making a conspicuous bid to woo back her party’s traditional Brahmin-Muslim-Dalit vote bank in Uttar Pradesh, the AICC general secretary has been hopping from one temple to another.

    After bowing at the Dargah, temples and taking a holy dip at the Sangam, the Congress General Secretary drove straight to Guru Ravidas Maharaj’s birthplace, known as Seer Govardhanpur at Begampura, from the airport. She offered prayers at Sant Ravidas temple and sought blessings from Sant Niranjan Das.

    ALSO READ | Priyanka Gandhi targets PM Modi in Mathura, says Lord Krishna will shatter his ego

    It is an annual affair for political leaders to make a beeline for the Sant Ravidas temple in Varanasi to woo Dalits in the state. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also offered prayers at the temple in 2016.

    In the morning, Union Petroleum, Oil and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan paid obeisance at the temple and sought blessings from Sant Niranjan Das on Saturday. Representing the PM, he told the temple’s Chief Priest that the Central government was planning to renovate and develop the existing temple to give it a grand look.

    The Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav also visited the temple to be a part of the celebrations for the first time. However, after having darshan at the temple, the SP chief launched an attack on the UP government saying it had failed on all fronts.

    The BSP chief Mayawati tweeted to pay obeisance to the great saint. She also congratulated his followers on the occasion and advised Central and State governments to follow the path shown by Saint Ravidas for the welfare of people.