News Analysis India

Tag: Uttar Pradesh

  • Two arrested in Uttar Pradesh’s Ballia for ‘abusive’ video against PM Modi, CM Yogi Adityanath

    By PTI

    BALLIA: Two people were arrested on Saturday for allegedly posting a video on social media containing abusive language against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, police said.

    The video was posted on Twitter, Facebook, and WhatsApp and showed two people using abusive words against the BJP leaders, the police said.

    They said a case in this connection was registered Friday against Prakash Verma and Ramesh Yadav of Sher (Badki Seria) village on the complaint of Mantu Ram, the in-charge of Bansdih Road police station.

    Verma and Yadav had allegedly posted the video on these sites on September 23, they said.

  • Muslims should bow to ‘Indian culture’; Ram, Krishna, Shiva were their ancestors: Uttar Pradesh Minister

    By PTI

    BALLIA: Uttar Pradesh minister Anand Swaroop Shukla has said that lord Ram, Krishna, and Shiva were the ancestors of Indian Muslims and they should bow to the “land and culture of India”.

    In provocative remarks here, the minister of state for parliamentary affairs also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath have defeated the mindset which intended to create an Islamic State in the country by raising the flag of Hindutva and “Indian culture”.

    Presenting the account of Adityanath government’s work during the last four-and-a-half-years before the media on Thursday evening, Shukla said: “The ancestors of the Muslims of India are lord Ram, Krishna and Shankar (Shiva). They do not need to see the land of Kaaba. These people should bow to the land and culture of India.

    ” After Syria and Afghanistan, some people from different countries want to make the world an Islamic State. Some in India have this mindset too.

    But, the Modi and Adityanath governments at the Centre and state have raised the flag of Hindutva and “Indian culture” in the country and defeated this mindset, Shukla said.

    Referring to controversial posters put up in Sambhal recently, Shukla said they were the outcome of Samajwadi Party’s support to Islamic terrorists and its MP Shaifur Rehman Barq’s statement supporting the Taliban.

    Posters calling Sambhal the land of the “ghazis”, an apparent reference to Islamic warriors, had come up ahead of AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi’s meeting there earlier this week.

    The BJP had strongly objected to the posters, after which they were removed by workers of the All-India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM).

    Shukla said ghazis have been completely eradicated from Uttar Pradesh.

    Such powers will not be able to raise their heads in future, he said.

    Attacking Owaisi, Shukla said his ancestors wanted to make Hyderabad a separate nation but could not succeed.

    “There are still people with such mentality. These are stupid people. Their ancestors became Muslims out of fear. This kind of thinking cannot flourish under the Modi and Adityanath governments,” he said.

  • Uttar Pradesh Congress vice-president Lalitesh Pati Tripathi quits party

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Lalitesh Pati Tripathi, vice-president of Congress’ Uttar Pradesh unit and great grandson of former chief minister Kamlapati Tripathi, on Thursday said he has resigned from all posts and primary membership of the party.

    He shared a video of his announcement at a press interaction on Twitter in which he said it had become untenable for him to continue in the party as workers who had given their “blood and sweat” for the Congress were not being respected.

    Tripathi’s announcement to quit the Congress came after days of speculation that he is likely to resign and join the Samajwadi Party.

    However, the former Marihan MLA denied he was joining any party as of now, and asserted that he would take a decision on his future course of action after consulting his supporters.

    Tripathi said it was an emotional decision for him to move away from the commitment of more than 100 years that his family had shown, but in the present circumstances “when the families that had given their blood and sweat for the party and the workers who braved beatings for the party movement were not being respected, his conscience does not allow him to continue in any position”.

    “I thank Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for giving me many major responsibilities. I will always be grateful to them,” Tripathi said.

    The development comes as a jolt to the Congress which is preparing for the assembly polls in the state next year and has asserted that it will fight the elections without aligning with any big political party.

  • Conversion case: Uttar Pradesh ATS gets 10-day remand of Islamic scholar Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh ATS on Thursday got a 10-day remand of Islamic scholar Maulana Kaleem Siddiqui, who was arrested for running a “conversion syndicate”.

    The Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) had arrested Siddiqui on Tuesday for illegal conversion of people to Islam.

    Siddiqui was produced in a court on Wednesday and the ATS had sought a 10-day custody to probe the case, ADG (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar said.

    The Special Additional District and Session Court (NIA/ATS) awarded the custody after going through evidence presented by the prosecution, the officer said.

    The remand period will start at 10 am from September 24.

    Maulana Siddiqui will be interrogated to get more information from him about his links, he said.

    Siddiqui, a well-known Islamic scholar from Meerut, was arrested three months after Delhi’s Jamia Nagar residents Mufti Qazi Jahangir Alam Qasmi and Mohammad Umar Gautam were apprehended by the ATS.

    Qasmi and Gautam were running Islamic Dawah Centre, an outfit allegedly working on the ISI funding for converting deaf-mute students to Islam, according to officials.

    The ATS has so far arrested 10 people in connection with the conversion racket, Kumar said.

    Those arrested were booked under relevant sections of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2020 and the Indian Penal Code, as per officials.

  • Come forward to protect cows, culture, says Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath to religious bodies

    By PTI

    GORAKHPUR: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday appealed to religious bodies to come forward for the protection of cows and culture, saying mere speeches can’t serve the purpose.

    Adityanath said this during a programme held to mark 52nd death anniversary of Mahant Digvijaynath and seventh death anniversary of Mahant Avaidyanath at the Gorakhnath temple here.

    The chief minister said so far no religious body has come forward to adopt cows from shelter homes and added that religion can only be protected when its real values are understood.

    “The government is doing its work but people have to come forward as cows can’t be protected with the attitude of taking milk and leaving them on roads,” the CM said.

    “Only speeches can’t protect cows but for this, it is necessary to get associated with the system and work with respect and devotion,” he added.

    “Religious organisations should come forward for the protection of cows, Sanskrit and culture,” he appealed.

    Adityanath further said currently six lakh cows are in shelter homes under the ‘Sahbhagita Scheme’.

    If anyone adopts a cow from a shelter home, he will get Rs 900 per month from the government, he said.

  • BJP returning to communal politics ahead of polls with its development claims exposed, says Mayawati

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: BSP president Mayawati on Thursday alleged the BJP has returned to its narrow communal agenda ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections with its tall claims on development getting exposed.

    “The BJP has returned to its narrow agenda before the upcoming UP assembly elections with its tall claims on development being proved to be hollow,” Mayawati said in a tweet in Hindi.

    “Now the party has returned to playing with religious sentiments and Hindu-Muslim division, etc., but people will not be deceived again, which is clear from their mood,” she said.

    The former chief minister said the latest Reserve Bank data, showing stagnant per capita income in UP and people remaining “poor and backward”, also proves that the BJP’s claims of development are mere hot air.

    She asked why the situation was such despite a “double engine government”.

    The BJP has claimed that its “double engine” — the party-led governments at the Centre as well as in the state — has ushered in development in the state.

  • Samajwadi Party workers ‘purify’ places visited by Uttar Pradesh CM Adityanath in Sambhal

    By PTI

    SAMBHAL: Samajwadi Party youth workers undertook a “purification” exercise of the places visited by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Sambhal district by sprinkling ‘Gangajal’.

    A video of the purification exercise on Wednesday has gone viral.

    A case was lodged later and Samajwadi Party Yuvjan Sabha state president Bhavesh Yadav and 8-10 others were arrested, Superintendent of Police Chakresh Misra said on Thursday.

    The chief minister had inaugurated and laid foundations of projects worth Rs 275 crore and addressed a public meeting at Kaila Devi in Sambhal district on Tuesday.

    A day later, Yadav and SP Yuvjan Sabha workers undertook the ‘shuddhikaran’ (purification) exercise of the venue of the chief minister’s public meeting and helipad by sprinkling waters from the Ganga river.

    Talking to the media during the exercise, Yadav claimed he conducted the purification drive as Adityanath has “insulted” Maa Kaila Devi by not visiting the temple when he was here.

    A resident of Sambhal filed a complaint at the Bahjoi police state alleging that Yadav’s action has upset followers of Adityanth who is also a religious leader.

    Samajwadi Party president and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav has often alleged that when he vacated the chief minister’s official residence at 5, Kalidas Marg in Lucknow after his defeat in the 2017 assembly elections, seers and priests had undertaken “purifying rituals” at the sprawling bungalow to make it ready for Yogi Adityanath.

    Yadav had also said that he would get the fire brigade to spray ‘Gangajal’ on it after returning to power in 2022.

  • Teenage girl gang-raped in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar

    By PTI

    MUZAFFARNAGAR: A 16-year-old girl was allegedly raped by three men in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh, police said on Thursday.

    According to the police, the men took the girl to a jungle after threatening her with a pistol when she had gone to throw garbage on Wednesday.

    The accused left the girl in the jungle after rape.

    She was rescued by her family member who had gone out searching for her after she failed to return home.

    According to a complaint filed with the police, the accused attacked the girl’s family members when they confronted them.

    A police officer said a case has been registered against the accused, identified as Rajive, Guddu and Ashu.

    The trio are on the run.

  • UP government recommends CBI probe into Mahant Narendra Giri’s suicide case

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: In a major late-night development on Wednesday, the Uttar Pradesh government recommended a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the death of Mahant Narendra Giri, president of Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad, who was found hanging at his Baghambari Muthh in Paryagraj on Monday evening.

    The state government recommended the probe by central investigation agency to ascertain the cause of the death of Mahant who allegedly committed suicide fearing disrepute and maligning of his image by one of his disciples Anand Giri.

    A note allegedly written by the late seer was also recovered from the room where his body was found hanging from the ceiling fan.

    ALSO READ | Mahant Narendra Giri death case: Culprits will not be spared, says Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath

    However, the state government had set up a Special Investigation Team of senior police officials on Tuesday to establish the cause of death and also the circumstances in which the seer allegedly ended his life.

    Meanwhile, Prayagraj police have arrested three persons including Anand Giri, Adya Tiwari, head priest of Bade Hanumanji temple and Tiwari’s son Sandeep as all three were mentioned in the alleged suicide note left behind by the late Mahant who had held the three responsible for pushing him to commit suicide.

    On Wednesday afternoon, Anand Giri and Adya Tiwari were produced in the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) of Prayagraj and the court sent them into 14-day judicial custody. It is believed that the decision of the state government to recommend CBI probe came following a demand by the saint’s community and also a few PILs filed in Allahabad High Court subject to their admission.

    In another development, the guard deployed in the security of the late Mahant was removed and a departmental probe was issued against him. Security guard, Ajay Singh’s name was also cropping up in connection with the seer’s mysterious death. Mahant Narendra Giri was enjoying the ‘Y’ category security provided to him by the government.

  • Samajwadi Party to contest 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls in alliance with RLD, regional parties: Akhilesh Yadav

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: The Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Lok Dal and some smaller parties will contest the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls together, and an announcement in this regard would be made soon, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said on Tuesday.

    He said besides the RLD, talks have reached the final stage with the Mahan Dal and Dr Sanjay Chauhan’s outfit.

    Yadav said the “cleanup” of the BJP will begin from western Uttar Pradesh and the saffron party will be wiped out by the time it reaches Ballia (in eastern Uttar Pradesh).

    He also confirmed the SP’s alliance with his uncle Shivpal Yadav’s Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia).

    The SP chief was speaking at a media event here.

    Yadav has already declared that his party will have no tie-up with bigger parties like the Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), and would rather prefer smaller regional parties as partners in the crucial election.

    Asked about the chance of any tie-up with the AIMIM, he did not show any inclination.

    Speaking at the conclave of News 24 immediately after Yadav, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi hit out at the SP and the BSP for taking 75 per cent Muslim votes by raking up the fear of the BJP but doing nothing to uplift their living standards.

    In a scathing attack, the Hyderabad MP said prominent non-BJP parties are racing with the saffron party to prove themselves to be a greater champion of the Hindutva cause and charged these parties with promoting majoritarianism in the country.

    “Days are not far when India will have majoritarianism as State policy like Israel,” Owaisi, who has announced that the AIMIM will contest 100 seats in the Uttar Pradesh polls, said.

    He trashed Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s claim of no riots in Uttar Pradesh during his rule of four-and-a-half years.

    The 2019 NCRB report says 5,819 communal fights took place in the state, Owaisi said, asserting that it is official data and could be verified.

    He alleged that since the BJP has nothing to show in the Uttar Pradesh polls, Adityanath and others are using words like “abbajaan” and “chachajaan” as part of “divisive” politics.

    He said such like expressions are part of “dog-whistle politics”.

    On the attack at his residence in Delhi on Tuesday, Owaisi said the incident happened at a short distance from a police station and it shows the efforts to “silence” the minority community.

    He also used the incident, in which some right-wing activists have been arrested, to dispel the charge that the “AIMIM plays a friendly match with the BJP in polls”.

    Owaisi alleged that Muslims are being targeted in Uttar Pradesh and reeled out figures that among those killed in police encounters in the state, 37 per cent were from the minority community.

    Yadav said if voted to power, the SP will not implement the “black farm laws” in Uttar Pradesh and will improve the “mandi” system in the state.

    He asserted that in the upcoming polls, Uttar Pradesh will get a new government and that the people of the state want “progressive politics”.

    Hitting out at the state government for the poor law-and-order situation, Yadav said Uttar Pradesh tops in terms of custodial deaths, the NHRC has served maximum notices to the state and a fugitive IPS officer is yet to be caught.

    Taking a dig at the BJP, he said, “The double-engine government is colliding with each other.”

    Asked to comment on his strategy in the upcoming polls as compared to the 2012 election, the SP chief said he believes in the English phrase, “strike the iron when it is hot”.

    He also said the BJP’s strength is its publicity of lies.

    To a question on comparing the organisational strength of the BJP and the SP, Yadav said his party had defeated the ruling party candidates from the parliamentary constituencies earlier represented by the chief minister (Gorakhpur) and deputy chief minister (Phoolpur) in 2018.

    On being asked whether he would be able to match the BJP’s money power in the polls, Yadav said, “A cycle (SP’s poll symbol) does not need diesel or petrol.”

    Earlier, national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) Rakesh Tikait claimed that the BJP will not get more than 140 seats in the Uttar Pradesh polls.

    Tikait also said he has no faith in EVMs, adding, “We will not contest any polls.”

    He praised former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and said the credit for land acquisition goes to him.

    “Prime Minister Narendra Modi will leave office in the middle of his term and become the president. Yogiji must be promoted and he should become the prime minister,” Tikait said sarcastically.

    To a question, he said, “Is the BJP the custodian of the Har Har Mahadev slogan? We are Raghuvanshis and Ayodhya is our place of birth.”

    BSP national general secretary Satish Chandra Misra termed the BJP as “enemy number one” because it has “completely ruined the state”.

    To a question, he said the elephant (BSP’s poll symbol) is the friend of the public.

    Misra’s comments came a day after Adityanath said the ration meant for the common man were gobbled by the “elephant” when the BSP was in power in Uttar Pradesh.

    Misra dismissed any possibility of a poll alliance with the SP.

    To a question on whether the BSP will support the BJP in case of a hung Assembly, he said, “No support will be extended to the BJP at any cost.”