Tag: Uttar Pradesh government

  • Narendra Singh Tomar praises Uttar Pradesh government for bringing radical changes in farm sector

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Friday praised the Uttar Pradesh government for making efforts to bring radical changes in the agriculture sector.

    Good work is also being done in other states, including Haryana and Uttarakhand, in the field of agriculture, he said, addressing the 12th Agriculture Leadership Conference organised by Agriculture Today Group.

    “Due to the efforts of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Agriculture Minister Surya Pratap Shahi, Uttar Pradesh has achieved success. There has been a radical change in the field of agriculture, which is benefiting crores of farmers,” an official statement quoted Tomar as saying at the event.

    Uttar Pradesh received the best state award in 2021 for agriculture from the group. Haryana bagged the best state award for innovation, while Uttarakhand got the best state award for horticulture.

    To boost the agriculture sector, Tomar said the central government has taken several concrete measures like new farm reforms and setting up of Rs 1 lakh crore-Agriculture Infrastructure Fund to increase the income of farmers and their standard of living.

    The country’s economy is continuously getting a boost from the agriculture sector. Farmers and scientists have ensured India’s food security even in difficult times of the pandemic, proving the relevance of the agriculture sector, he added.

    Agriculture Ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Uttarakhand highlighted the steps taken to boost the farm sector in their respective states. Union Minister of State for Agriculture Kailash Choudhary, Niti Aayog member Ramesh Chand were among others present at the event.

  • ‘Fake Baba will be removed’: Akhilesh Yadav slams Uttar Pradesh government over Lakhimpur Kheri row

    By ANI

    LUCKNOW: Slamming the Uttar Pradesh government over the Lakhimpur incident, former Chief Minister of state and Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav alleged that “the BJP government was anti-farmer” and claimed that there will be a regime change in the state soon.

    “The BJP workers crushed and killed the farmers with their vehicles. This government is anti-farmer, manure-stealer, and is behind the rise of prices of pesticides. Fake Baba will be removed soon,” alleged Yadav while addressing the ‘Rath Yatra’ ahead of 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election.

    “This government has cheated the public. Under this government, inflation has increased, unemployment has increased, corruption has increased, crime has increased, law and order have collapsed,” he alleged.

    Yadav said that in the upcoming Assembly polls the SP will fight in alliance with the small parties. “We will not ally with any national party,” he added. Yadav is on a ‘Vijay Rath Yatra’ in the state ahead of next year’s Assembly polls.

    Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections are scheduled to take place early next year.In the 2017 Assembly elections, the BJP won a landslide victory winning 312 Assembly seats. The party secured a 39.67 per cent vote share in the elections for 403-member Assembly. Samajwadi Party (SP) bagged 47 seats, BSP won 19 while Congress could manage to win only seven seats.

  • Lakhimpur incident: Kin of killed BJP men, driver too get Rs 45 lakh

    By PTI

    LAKHIMPUR KHERI: A sum of Rs 45 lakh each was given to the families of two BJP men and a driver of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Kumar Mishra, killed in the violence here after a car in the BJP convoy allegedly ran over protesting farmers.

    A total of eight people, including four farmers and a local journalist besides two BJP men and their driver were killed in the violence on Sunday.

    The families of the killed farmers and the journalists too had been given the compensation of Rs 45 lakh earlier by the Uttar Pradesh government.

    The compensation cheque to families of slain BJP man Shubham Mishra and minister’s driver Hariom Mishra was given by BJP’s Lakhimpur (Sadar) MLA Yogesh Verma, away from the media glare on Thursday, said sources.

    The compensation cheque to the kin of the second slain BJP man Shyam Sundar was given by local tehsildar (revenue official), they added.

    The state government had initially announced an ex gratia each of Rs 45 lakh for the families of four farmers but the kin of local journalist Raman Kashyap too was given the cheque later.

    Nighasan tehsil SDM O P Gupta accompanied by other civil and police officials had handed over the money to the family of the journalist two days ago.

    Relatives of the two killed BJP workers and Mishra’s driver confirmed receiving the money with the photographs of the MLA handing over the cheques to two families also doing the rounds on social media.

    The MLA could not be reached for the confirmation but a government official said on Friday that the compensation money has been given to families of all eight persons by the government.

    Following the preliminary probe into the Sunday violence, the two killed BJP men and Mishra’s driver too have been included among the originally unnamed six accused in the FIR as responsible for triggering the violence.

    The sole accused named in a complaint filed by a Bahraich farmer is the Union MoS (Home) Mishra’s son Ashish Mishra.

    Among the four deceased farmers, while Lovepreet Singh and Nachatar Singh were from Lakhimpur, Daljeet Singh and Gurvinder Singh hailed from Bahraich.

  • Sitting SC, HC judge should probe Lakhimpur violence, not one who is retired: Priyanka Gandhi

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday demanded a probe by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court or a high court into the Lakhimpur Kheri violence and said Union minister Ajay Kumar Mishra, whose son is among those booked, should resign to ensure an impartial probe.

    Priyanka Gandhi, who had on Wednesday met the families of three of the eight people killed in the violence, told reporters here, “In my view and that of the victims’ families as well, the case should be probed by a sitting Supreme Court or high court judge, and not the retired judge.”

    The Uttar Pradesh government has constituted a one-member commission of retired high court judge Pradeep Kumar Srivastava to probe the violence during a farmers’ protest rally that claimed eight lives on Sunday.

    ALSO READ | Lakhimpur violence: SC asks Yogi government to explain whether accused have been arrested

    Before leaving for Bahraich, Priyanka Gandhi said, “I don’t want to comment on the probe as it has not started yet. But I can say that for unbiased probe, the minister should resign as he has the Home portfolio and all this comes under him.”

    The Congress leader said the families of the victims she had met told her that they were not interested in the compensation announced by the government, but “want justice”.

    The minister should be “sacked” and those involved in the act should be arrested.

    “All the police force was deployed to stop us and it surrounded victims’ families so that no one could reach there to meet them. But you (government) did not deploy your force to arrest the criminal. Where was the police on the day the incident took place. Is police only to stop leaders,” she said.

    ​VIEW GALLERY | ‘Fascism’, ‘Jallianwala Bagh’, ‘Hitler’: Lakhimpur Kheri farmers’ killing leads to strong reactions by Opposition leaders

    She alleged that the copies of post-mortems given to the families of the dead were illegible.

    “I will continue my fight till the minister is sacked and his son is arrested. I have pledged this before the families,” she said.

    The Uttar Pradesh Police has lodged a case against the minister’s son Ashish Mishra in connection with the violence, but no arrest has been made yet.

    Four of the dead were farmers, allegedly knocked down by vehicles driven by BJP workers travelling to welcome Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya to an event in the area.

    The other four were two BJP workers, a driver of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Kumar Mishra, and Raman Kashyap, a journalist working for a private TV channel.

    While the first three were allegedly lynched by the agitating farmers, the scribe, according to his father, died after being hit by a vehicle when he was covering news of farmers’ protest against Maurya’s visit to Ajay Kumar Mishra’s native place.

  • ‘Uttar Pradesh government’s probe in Supertech twin towers case misleading’, alleges AAP

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party alleged on Wednesday that the Uttar Pradesh government’s probe into the Supertech twin-tower case was a mere “hoax” to mislead people. It urged Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for a deeper investigation into land allotments to builders in Noida.

     The Gautam Buddh Nagar unit of the AAP also raised doubts over the findings of a government-formed special investigation team (SIT), which found 26 officials of the New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (NOIDA), including only four serving officials, guilty in the case.

    AAP’s district spokesperson AK Singh said the findings of the SIT report became publically known through the media two days ago, in which action has been recommended against 26 NOIDA officials.

    He alleged that the role of many NOIDA officers had not been mentioned in the SIT report and only some officials are being made the “scapegoat”.  He demanded a probe into their role, according to a statement by the AAP. 

  • Uttar Pradesh govt gives permission to Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi to visit Lakhimpur Kheri

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh government has given permission to Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and three others to visit Lakhimpur, a top official said here.

    Earlier in the day, the state government had denied permission to Rahul Gandhi for the visit, and an official spokesperson had said that no one would be allowed to visit the violence-hit district to vitiate its atmosphere.

    “Permission has been given to five leaders of Congress, including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, to visit Lakhimpur,” Additional Chief Secretary, Information, Navneet Sehgal told PTI.

    The Congress delegation comprising 5-members including Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, CMs of Chhattisgarh & Punjab along with one more person will be allowed to go to Lakhimpur Kheri @NewIndianXpress @TheMornStandard @khogensingh1
    — Namita_TNIE (@Namita_TNIE) October 6, 2021
    READ MORE | ‘Fascism’, ‘Jallianwala Bagh’, ‘Hitler’: Lakhimpur Kheri farmers’ killing lead to strong reactions by Opposition leaders

    Priyanka Gandhi is in detention at the PAC compound in Sitapur since Monday morning.

    She was on her way to meet the families of farmers killed in Sunday’s violence in Lakhimpur Kheri when she was stopped.

    ALSO WATCH:

  • UP govt allows five-member Congress team including Rahul, Priyanka to visit Lakhimpur Kheri

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: With politics intensifying over the Lakhimpur Kheri violence with each passing moment, the Uttar Pradesh government allowed a five-member delegation of the Congress to visit Lakhimpur Kheri on Wednesday. The Congress’s Waynad MP Rahul Gandhi had reached Lucknow along with the CMs of Chhattisgarh and Punjab — Bhupesh Baghel and Charanjeet Singh Channi on Wednesday afternoon.

    As per Congress sources, the three leaders will first proceed to Sitapur, take party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi along and then go to Lakhimpur Kheri. Priyanka who was detained at the PAC guest house in Sitapur has been released from police custody. However, the Congress delegation will not be allowed to stay in the trouble-torn district. Meanwhile, the state government has also allowed other political teams comprising five members to visit Lakhimpur Kheri.

    This has led Samajwadi party chief Akhilesh Yadav and AAP RS MP Sanjay Singh to decide to go to Lakhimpur.

    Earlier, Congress leaders Sachin Pilot and Pramod Krishnan had left for Sitapur by road through Ghaziabad.

    The Congress delegation comprising 5-members including Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, CMs of Chhattisgarh & Punjab along with one more person will be allowed to go to Lakhimpur Kheri @NewIndianXpress @TheMornStandard @khogensingh1
    — Namita_TNIE (@Namita_TNIE) October 6, 2021
    READ MORE | ‘Fascism’, ‘Jallianwala Bagh’, ‘Hitler’: Lakhimpur Kheri farmers’ killing lead to strong reactions by Opposition leaders

    In the meanwhile, highly placed sources confirmed that the UP government has sent a detailed report on the Lakhimpur violence which had claimed eight lives on Sunday to the Union Home Ministry.

    Earlier, UP minister Sidhharthnath Singh had claimed that the situation was under the state government’s control. “Let the bodies be cremated. Then we will let everyone (political leaders) go to Lakhimpur Kheri,” he said.

    However, after the conduct of a second post mortem of deceased farmer Gurvinder Singh under the supervision of a panel of doctors which had gone to Bahraich from Lucknow as per the demand of the family, the report confirmed that he had not received any gun shot during the commotion on Sunday. His death occurred due to excessive blood loss and trauma.

    ALSO WATCH:

  • Yogi Adityanath says BJP government set precedence for good governance in UP

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: Ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections early next year, the state government led by chief minister Yogi Adityanath has decided to celebrate the completion of 4.5 years of its governance in the state by planning a week-long extravaganza which started on Sunday and would conclude on September 26.

    On the occasion, while CM Yogi chose to list out his government’s achievements during an interaction with media persons on Sunday, main opposition party’s chief Akhilesh Yadav launched another broadside on the ruling dispensation by addressing it as an arrogant government under the rule of which all sections of society were suffering.

    Counting his government’s highlights of 4.5 years, CM Yogi claimed that the BJP government had set a precedence of good governance in the state. He credited the party’s state organization for working with the state government in coordination to take the state forward on the path of development under the able guidance of and Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the last 4.5 years.

    While enumerating the accomplishments of his government, CM Yogi said the law and order and security of the state improved a great deal during this period which gave a congenial atmosphere to industrial houses or making investments in UP and this led the state to jump to the second position on national ‘Ease of Doing Business’ ranking during the period.

    “Uttar Pradesh is attracting investment at a steady pace today. Earlier the state was in 14th positiUttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath took the chance to list the ‘achievements’ of the BJP government led by him, as they celebrate the completion of 4.5 years of their governance in the state.on in the national ‘Ease of Doing Business’ ranking, but now we have made it to the second position,” Adityanath said, adding, “the state has attracted investment worth Rs 3 lakh crore in the past 54 months and has emerged as a hub of export.”

    The CM claimed that his government had worked to ensure security not only for business houses but also an environment of security was created for the women, and the common people.

    Attributing the improvement in law and order scenario to the state government’s crackdown on mafia and organised crime syndicates which were operational in the state, CM Yogi said the administration attached properties of criminals worth over Rs 1,800 crore demolished illegal encroachments. “We’ve dealt with criminals and mafias with strictness and under the framework of law, irrespective of their caste and religion,” the CM claimed.

    The Chief Minister patted the back of law enforcement authorities saying that Uttar Pradesh, where riots used to take place during all festivals and religious events earlier, remained free from communal conflagrations during his tenure.

    “The perception of Uttar Pradesh has changed in the country. This is the same state where riots had become a trend earlier with communal violence after every three days, but in the past 4.5 years there was no riot,” the chief minister asserted.

    Claiming that UP has been among the top implementers of 44 central welfare schemes during the last 4.5 years, the CM said that as many as 42 lakh people from economically weaker sections of the society were given houses since his government came to power in the state in 2017.

    “We have provided more than Rs 5 lakh crore to people under the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme while around 4.5 lakh youth of the state got employment in the past 56 months. There is transparency in the recruitment for new jobs and transfer and postings of bureaucrats in the state during all this period,” said Yogi adding that earlier, the transfer and postings used to be a money mintingoption for the political masters in previous governments.

    Adityanath said that the victims of natural calamities have received compensation within 24 hours. He also delved into detail about the steps taken for the welfare of farmers, clearing of their cane dues to the tune of Rs 1.45 lakh crore, and revival of sick sugar mills.

    The Yogi Adityanath government, which came to power in 2017, completed 54 months on Sunday. On this day, state BJP leaders including all MLAs and MLCs, and MPs participate in events organised at all 27,700 ‘shakti kendras’ across the state.

    A cluster of booths is referred to as ‘shakti kendras’ by the BJP. Between 6 and 8 booths make one ‘shakti kendra’ in the organizational system of the party. In every Vidhan Sabha (constituency), there are 35-40 shakti kendras. “All the leaders have been assigned their respective ‘shakti kendras’ to reach for participation,” said a senior BJP leader.

    Meanwhile, taking a swipe on the BJP government Samajwadi Party chief and former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav took to Twitter and posted: “Fifty-four have passed, six months left of this arrogant government;  of the atrocities on farmers, poor, women, and youth; of unemployment, inflation, hatred, and stagnation of business, the rhetoric of this government.”

    Akhilesh has further written: “Such a government is not needed as its truth has been: Thug ka Saath, Thug ka Vikas, Thug ka Vishwas, Thug ka Prayas.”

  • Uttar Pradesh government advertisement with ‘Kolkata flyover’ image sparks fresh TMC-BJP row

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: The Trinamool Congress on Sunday took strong exception to the use of a purported image of a Kolkata flyover in an Uttar Pradesh government advertisement to project the economic progress of the state under its Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

    Noting that it was yet to be confirmed that the image was that of a Kolkata flyover, West Bengal BJP claimed that while the UP government constructs expressways, flyovers come crashing down under the Mamata Banerjee regime in the eastern state.

    The advertisement titled ‘Transforming Uttar Pradesh under Yogi Adityanath’ showed an image of a flyover painted in blue-and-white colours synonymous with the TMC government along with high-rises and industries juxtaposed below a cut-out of Yogi Adityanath.

    “Before 2017, UP was not taken seriously with regard to investment, but in his four-and-a-half-year rule, that negative perception has been broken and in 2020, it has emerged as the second largest economy in the country,” the message in the advertisement read.

    The Indian Express, which had carried the advertisement, issued a corrigendum saying, “A wrong image was inadvertently included in the cover collage of the advertorial on Uttar Pradesh produced by the marketing department of the newspaper. The error is deeply regretted and the image has been removed in all digital editions of the paper.”

    However, the TMC, left no opportunity to ridicule the BJP over the episode, claiming that the saffron party has now indirectly accepted the “development spree” under the Mamata Banerjee government and even tried to appropriate it.

    Transforming UP for @myogiadityanath means stealing images from infrastructure seen in Bengal under @MamataOfficial’s leadership and using them as his own!Looks like the ‘DOUBLE ENGINE MODEL’ has MISERABLY FAILED in BJP’s strongest state and now stands EXPOSED for all! https://t.co/h9OlnhmGPw
    — Abhishek Banerjee (@abhishekaitc) September 12, 2021
    “Transforming UP for @myogiadityanath means stealing images from infrastructure seen in Bengal under @MamataOfficial’s leadership and using them as his own! Looks like the ‘DOUBLE ENGINE MODEL’ has MISERABLY FAILED in BJP’s strongest state and now stands EXPOSED for all!” TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee tweeted.

    “Mr.@narendramodi is so helpless to save his party that other than changing CMs, he has also had to resort to using pictures of growth & infrastructure seen under @MamataOfficial’s leadership, as his own. #BengalModel > #BJPRuledStatesModel Mr Modi?” Mukul Roy, who has returned to the TMC after winning a West Bengal assembly seat on a BJP ticket, tweeted.

    Mr. @narendramodi is so helpless to save his party that other than changing CMs, he has also had to resort to using pictures of growth & infrastructure seen under @MamataOfficial’s leadership, as his own.#BengalModel > #BJPRuledStatesModel Mr Modi? pic.twitter.com/USNOjrq03I
    — Mukul Roy (@MukulR_Official) September 12, 2021
    State Transport Minister Firhad Hakim said, “By posting the image of our pride Maa flyover of Kolkata as one built in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP government in the northern state has touched a new low of falsehood. It also indirectly admitted the spree of development under the rule of Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal and tried to appropriate it as its own.”

    The West Bengal BJP tried to save face saying that even if the image was indeed that of Maa flyover, the TMC government does not have any other infrastructural development to flaunt. “Several expressways have been built under the Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh. In comparison, West Bengal has witnessed several flyover collapses in the last few years. It is yet to be confirmed whether the image is that of Maa flyover as claimed by the TMC. But their knee-jerk reaction to the advertisement proves they don’t have anything else to flaunt. Even if it is indeed the image of Maa flyover, it was nothing but a mistake and does not take away Adityanath’s credit for accelerating UP’s growth,” West Bengal BJP general secretary Sayantan Basu said.

  • How long UP govt will hide ‘corruption’, asks Priyanka

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday hit out at the UP government over irregularities listed in a CAG report, asking how long it will cover up “corruption”.

    The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report was tabled in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly on August 19.

    The report has highlighted faulty-budget making process and also loss accrued to the state government on account of irregularities in many departments’ functioning.The CAG also suggested that the UP government should make budget estimates more realistic.

    “The CAG report has exposed scams worth thousands of crores in many departments of the UP government,” Gandhi claimed in a Hindi tweet.

    “Till when the government will cover up its corruption? Thousands of crores of people of UP have been lost in scams and the government has no answers,” she added.

    The Congress leader, who is also the in-charge of the UP affairs at the AICC, also pointed to a sharp rise in prices of diesel and stagnant sugarcane rates.

    In another tweet, Priyanka Vadra said despite a regular increase in prices of diesel and electricity for farmers, the price of sugarcane has not seen any rise since 2017.