News Analysis India

Tag: Uttar Pradesh

  • Two dead, 16 injured as bus collides with truck on Agra-Lucknow Expressway in Etawah district

    By PTI

    ETAWAH (UTTAR PRADESH): Two people died and 16 were injured when a bus collided with a truck on the Agra-Lucknow Expressway here, police said on Thursday. Etawah SSP Brijesh Kumar Singh said that the bus was on its way to Gonda from Delhi on Wednesday night when it crashed into the truck while trying to overtake it.

    The accident took place near Timrua village under the Saifai police station area, the SSP said, identifying the deceased as driver bus Dilip Shukla (36) of Pratapgarh and passenger Kishan Shukla of Gonda. The injured were admitted to Saifai Medical College.

    There were 65 passengers on the bus, the SSP added.

  • ‘Champion of anti-women mindset’: Priyanka Gandhi Vadra slams Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday attacked Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over the issue of crimes against women in the state and alleged that he was the champion of “anti-women mindset”.

    Her attack on Adityanath came as on this day, last year, the horrific Hathras incident took place in which a young Dalit woman was raped by four men. The woman died on September 29 at Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital during treatment.

    महिलाओं के खिलाफ अपराधों पर इतना खराब रुख रखने वाली सरकार के मुखिया से आप संवेदनशीलता की आस रख भी कैसे सकते हैं?वैसे भी यूपी के मुख्यमंत्री महिला विरोधी सोच के अगुआ हैं। वो कह चुके हैं कि “महिलाओं को स्वतंत्र नहीं होना चाहिए।” 3/3
    — Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) September 14, 2021
    “A year ago from today, a horrific incident of rape had happened in Hathras and instead of providing justice and security to the family, the Uttar Pradesh government had threatened the family and also snatched away their right to give their daughter an honourable funeral,” Priyanka Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.

    Government officials and BJP leaders had made statements to the effect that there was “no rape” and the energy of the entire government machinery was spent on character assassination of the victim, the Congress general secretary alleged.

    How can you even expect sensitivity from the head of a government that has such a horrible stance on crimes against women, Priyanka Gandhi asked. “Anyway, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh is the champion of anti-women mindset. He has said that ‘women should not be independent’,” she claimed.

    The victim was cremated in the dead of the night near her home on September 30. Her family alleged they were forced by the local police to hurriedly conduct her last rites.

  • Akhilesh Yadav contests PM Modi’s claim over crime in Uttar Pradesh, asks him to check data

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday challenged Prime Minister Narerndra Modi’s claim about the crime situation in Uttar Pradesh, asking him to check data of the Home Department and other central agencies.

    At a function after laying the stone of Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh State University in Aligarh, PM Modi earlier in the day said UP was run by gangsters and mafias before 2017. The Samajwadi Party (SP) was ruling the state then.

    In a scathing attack at the BJP, Yadav told reporters at a press conference here that it is good to set up a university but the party “runs the best training centre of telling lies”. He asked the BJP to pick “bulldozer” as its election symbol, referring to the alleged demolition of houses of some Ayodhya residents.

    Yadav also asked Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to get his eyesight tested, replying to the CM’s assertion that the Opposition leader lacked vision.

    Yadav told reporters that the UP government is not working according to the law and warned officials that his party is preparing a list of those who violated the law, stressing that they won’t be spared once his party’s government comes to power.

    When his attention was drawn to the PM’s comment over the law and order, Yadav said, “He should ask for the data of the Home Department or Dial 100 to see who is increasing the crime.” He asked the PM to go through the NCRB report and also see which state has been served maximum notices by the National Human Rights Commission.

    Yadav said the PM should also ask the Uttar Pradesh CM who are the top 10 mafia in the state. All are aware how the CM withdrew cases against himself, he said.

    He also accused the ruling party of failing to honour its own leaders, referring to the foundation laying of a university after former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in Lucknow in 2019 and asked about its status.

    He alleged that the government uses the work of other governments to honour its own leaders and assured that if his party came to power, they will set up a university or college at Vajpayee’s native Bateshwar village in Agra .

    “Even after over four years, this government is changing names and colours, claiming the work done by the SP government as its own. As they know that their government is on its way out, the language of its head has changed,” the SP chief said, apparently referring to CM Yogi’s “Abba Jaan” jibe in Kushinagar recently.

    He said a few years ago when the CM had gone to Kushinagar, children and the poor were given soaps and shampoos to first take a bath and then meet him. Such a person cannot develop the state, he said. To Yogi’s assertion that Akhilesh Yadav lacked vision, the SP leader asked the CM to get his eyesight tested.

    He also suggested that the BJP should pick “bulldozer” as its election symbol after two Ayodhya residents from the Ramkot area told him that their houses were razed by the administration.

    Maniram Yadav told the former CM that they have been living in the area for the past three generations and believed that their “achchey din” will come once the Ram temple is constructed but now “feel like committing suicide”.

    Countering claims of the state government that unauthorised buildings have been demolished, the former CM said there are many houses, specially very old ones that do not have layouts passed by the authorities, citing the example of the official residence of the CM in Lucknow.

    He assured that once his party comes to power, it will restore the dignity of those whose houses have been demolished by building new ones for them.

  • Country belongs to all, maintain restraint in comments: JDU on Yogi Adityanath’s ‘abba jaan’ remark

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The country belongs to everybody, be it Hindus, Muslims, Christians or any other community, and political parties should maintain restraint in their comments, JDU president Lalan Singh said on Tuesday as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s ‘abba jaan’ remark in a public speech stoked a row.

    “Terms like ‘unity in diversity’ are used for our country. The country belongs to all. No remarks should be made that harm the country,” Singh, a confidant of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, told reporters when asked for his reaction to the BJP leader’s comments.

    In this context, he also took a swipe at JMM leader and Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren for his remarks allegedly aimed at Bhojpuri and Magahi-speaking people of the state. “Everybody has a right to settle in whichever part of the country they like,” he said.

    Addressing a programme in Kushinagar on Sunday, Adityanath had alleged that people did not get rations before 2017 like they do now. “Because then, people who say ‘abba jaan’ used to digest the rations. The rations of Kushinagar used to go to Nepal and Bangladesh. Today, if anybody tries to swallow the rations meant for poor people, he will land in jail,” the chief minister had said.

    ‘Abba jaan’ is the Urdu term for father.

    In his press conference, the JD(U) president, a Lok Sabha MP from Munger, also played down the decision of his party, the biggest BJP ally, to send its senior leader K C Tyagi to a rally being organised in Jind on September 25 by INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala, seen as part of efforts for forming a non-BJP, non-Congress front.

    “We are strongly part of the NDA (BJP-led alliance),” he said, and dismissed talks about a third front, saying his party will attend the rally as it is being organised to mark the birth anniversary of Devi Lal, a towering third front leader of his era.

    Singh also cited Kumar’s old association with Chautala. Chautala had invited the Bihar chief minister, who has expressed his inability to attend it. The JDU leader also named former MLA Khiru Mahto and Gulab Mahto as the party’s president and vice-president respectively for its Jharkhand unit.

    Singh said the JDU used to be a strong party in the state and added that the appointments are part of its effort to strengthen the regional party in different parts of India.

    The party will also strongly fight the upcoming assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh and Manipur, he said, adding that it would like to be a part of the BJP-led alliance and fight on its own if the tie-up does not happen.

    JDU sources said the party is likely to organise its national executive meeting in Uttar Pradesh in November and its office-bearers meeting in Manipur as it works to tone up its organisational machinery in the two states.

  • Local SP leader shot at by unidentified assailants in Uttar Pradesh

    By PTI

    GHAZIABAD: A Samajwadi Party leader in Uttar Pradesh was shot at by unidentified assailants near his house here Monday, police said.

    Dinesh Nagar is the former president of Lohiya Vahini.

    He was attacked near his house in Panchwati colony of Loni border police station area around 11 am, police said.

    A bullet pierced stomach and he was immediately rushed to the GTB hospital Delhi.

    He remains at hospital but is recovering after surgery to remove the bullet, Superintendent of Police (SP) Iraj Raja said.

    Police are probing the case from different angles as the SP leader could not give a clear statement.

    The CCTV footage of the area is being scanned through, the officer said.

  • Four criminals arrested after encounter with cops in Uttar Pradesh

    By PTI

    SIDDHARTHNAGAR (UTTAR PRADESH): Four criminals were arrested Monday morning following a brief exchange of gunfire with cops here, officials said. One of the criminals, Moharram, sustained a gunshot wound to the leg, while a sub-inspector, Chandan Kumar, was hit in the hand in the encounter, the police said.

    More than a dozen cases are lodged against the criminals, and police were searching for them, they said.

  • Floods make life miserable in eastern Uttar Pradesh: BSP supremo Mayawati

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Monday said lives of lakhs of families have become miserable due to floods in eastern Uttar Pradesh. She said that the government should provide immediate relief to people affected by the deluge.

    2. स्पष्टतः उचित सरकारी मदद के अभाव में अति-विपदा में जीवन व्यतीत कर रहे लोगों को अपने सामर्थ्य के हिसाब से मदद करने वाले बीएसपी के लोगों से पुनः अपील है कि वे बाढ़ पीडितों को बेसहारा न छोड़ें तथा उनके प्रति अपनी मानवीय जिम्मेदारी का यथासंभव निर्वहन जारी रखें।
    — Mayawati (@Mayawati) September 13, 2021
    “Due to floods in Uttar Pradesh, especially in Purvanchal region, again this year, the lives of lakhs of families have become miserable after widespread devastation and destruction. The expected government help is only on paper,” the BSP supremo said in a tweet in Hindi.

    She also urged party workers not to leave the people affected by the floods behind and help them in whatever way they can.

  • Priyanka Gandhi tours Rae Bareli constituency to energise workers in view of UP assembly polls

    By PTI

    RAE BARELI: Faced with a stiff challenge to halt Congress’s slide in Uttar Pradesh, party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday began a tour of Sonia Gandhi’s Rae Bareli constituency to energise workers for the electoral battle for UP scheduled early next year.

    Priyanka Gandhi, during her meeting with party workers, said that the Congress this time, plans to declare candidates well in time for the state assembly elections, a party leader told PTI.

    Beginning the two-day tour of her mother’s parliamentary constituency, Priyanka Gandhi made the first pit stop at a Hanuman temple in Churuva on the Lucknow-Rae Bareli border, and offered prayers.

    Rae Bareli, the bastion of the Gandhi family since the days of Indira Gandhi, has five assembly seats out of which two are with the Congress and the BJP each, and one is with the Samajwadi Party.

    Congress president Sonia Gandhi represents the Rae Bareli constituency in the Lok Sabha.

    The parliamentary constituency of Rae Bareli consists of Bachhrawan (SC), Harchandpur, Rae Bareli, Sareni and Unchahar assembly segments.

    In the 2017 UP assembly elections, the Congress registered wins in Harchandpur and Rae Bareli assembly constituencies.

    Rakesh Singh and Aditi Singh won from Harchandpur and Rae Bareli respectively.

    BJP’s Ram Naresh Rawat won from Bachhrawan (SC) and Dhirendra Bahadur Singh won from Sareni.

    Unchahar is represented in the state assembly by Manoj Kumar Pandey of the Samajwadi Party.

    Elaborating on Priyanka Gandhi’s meeting with party workers, spokesperson of the District Congress Committee of Rae Bareli Vinay Dwivedi told PTI, “Office bearers of the district unit and city unit of the party met Priyanka ji.

    Members of various frontal organisations, party candidates and zila panchayat members of the Congress also met her.”

    At the meeting, she said that party candidates will be declared well in time as the declaration of candidates was rather late in the previous elections, Dwivedi said.

    He added that the meeting which started on Sunday morning continued till evening.

    “She also went to Tiloi in the neighbouring district of Amethi, after some party workers from Amethi informed her about an accident.

    She will tour the rural area of Rae Bareli before leaving for Lucknow,” he said.

    Priyanka Gandhi visited Dodarpur village in Amethi’s Tiloi area where three children died in a wall collapse on September 6.

    The Congress general secretary reached Todarpur village at around 8 pm and met family members of the deceased.

    Priyanka Gandhi consoled them and assured of all possible help.

    She also inquired about the well-being of two other children who were injured in the accident.

    The deceased were Vansh (5), Satyam (10) and Divyanshi (7).

    The injured were Ashish (9) and Shiva (7).

    The Congress was reduced to seven seats in the 2017 UP assembly polls and now the grand old party is looking at the party secretary general for a turnaround in the heartland of politics.

    The Congress’s fortunes took a downward slide after the Ram Janmabhoomi issue took centre-stage in the early 90s.

    Upon her arrival in Rae Bareli, Priyanka Gandhi was welcomed by party leaders and workers.

    Subsequently, she was welcomed and garlanded in Bachhravan, Harchandpur, Jagdishpur village and Civil Lines area of the city.

    From there, her cavalcade proceeded towards the Bhuyemau guest house, UP Congress media panelist Priyanka Gupta said.

    The neighbouring Amethi Lok Sabha constituency consists of the assembly segments of Tiloi, Salon (SC), Jagdishpur (SC), Gauriganj and Amethi.

    In the 2017 elections in the state, the BJP emerged victorious in the constituencies of Tiloi, Salon, Jagdishpur and Amethi, while the SP registered a win from the Gauriganj assembly constituency.

    Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tasted defeat at Amethi in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections at the hands of Union minister Smriti Irani.

    Meanwhile, Priyanka Gandhi slammed the Yogi Adityanath dispensation over the use of a purported image of a Kolkata flyover in an Uttar Pradesh government advertisement, saying the people of the state have seen through their “false claims” and are going to change the chief minister and the government.

  • Faux Pas? ‘Transforming UP’ ad features Kolkata flyover image; TMC mocks BJP

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: The Trinamool Congress on Sunday ridiculed the Uttar Pradesh government for the use of a purported image of a Kolkata flyover in a full-page advertisement showcasing achievements of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, while giving it a backhanded compliment for acknowledging the “great work” done by Mamata Banerjee, his West Bengal counterpart.

    Asserting that it was yet to be confirmed that the image was that of ‘Maa Flyover’ of Kolkata as claimed by several people including politicians on social media, the West Bengal BJP alleged 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 large photograph of the UP chief minister who is a senior BJP leader.

    Lol the image on the bottom left is from Kolkata – of the Maa Flyover.Zoom in & you can also see the iconic Kolkata yellow ambassador taxi on the flyover.“Transforming UP” means spending millions on newspaper ads around India & stealing pics of development in Kolkata? pic.twitter.com/AgbkyaHo62
    — Saket Gokhale (@SaketGokhale) September 12, 2021
    The advertisement features Kolkata’s iconic yellow taxi on the flyover and a star hotel beside it, according to several Twitter users.

    “The state government (of UP) has to be responsible, there is no passing the buck,” TMC national spokesperson and leader of the party in the Rajya Sabha Derek O’Brien said, claiming that the newspaper concerned was put under pressure to release a statement taking the blame for the goof up.

    The Indian Express which 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.

    ” O’Brien said he has been with an advertising agency for several years and can vouch that the client has to approve any advertisement before being released in the media.

    “This is a blunder.

    The only positive part of it is that they (BJP) are acknowledging the great work done by the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal,” he said at a press conference here, adding, “Imitation is the best form of flattery.

    ” O’Brien claimed that the Mamata Banerjee government has fared better than the Yogi Adityanath administration in several key sectors such as money spent on construction and length of rural roads, 100-day work scheme, crimes against SC people and the number of hospital beds.

    The senior TMC leader provided some data on those sectors without giving their source.

    He sarcastically said the data provided by him can be used by the Yogi Adityanath government to release more advertisements.

    Other TMC MPs such as Abhishek Banerjee, Mahua Moitra and Firhad Hakim also ridiculed 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.

    TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee tweeted: “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!” Former saffron party national vice-president Mukul Roy, who returned to the TMC after winning the assembly poll on BJP ticket, claimed in a Twitter post that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is so helpless to save his party that other than changing CMs, he has also had to resort to using pictures of growth and infrastructure seen under Mamata Banerjee’s leadership.

    The West Bengal BJP tried to save face over the goof-up saying 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 UP.

    In comparison, West Bengal has witnessed several flyovers collapses in the last few years,” West Bengal BJP general secretary Sayantan Basu said.

    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, he said.

    Addressing the press conference, O’Brien claimed that the TMC and Mamata Banerjee are the only serious challengers to the BJP in national politics and people believe that Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah can be defeated in the 2024 Lok Sabha election under her leadership.

    The Rajya Sabha MP also claimed that the ground situation in Tripura is such that people in the state are ready for a change and the BJP will be dethroned in the 2323 assembly election.

    Stating that Yogi Adityanath, whose state Uttar Pradesh goes to polls in 2022, had addressed 11 rallies in West Bengal during the assembly elections held earlier this year, O’Brien claimed that his claims of the benefits of a “double engine government” (same party rule in Centre as well as state) have been proved to be hollow and false.

  • Uttar Pradesh jails no more ‘fun’ centres for criminals: CM Yogi Adityanath

    By PTI

    SANT KABIR NAGAR: Jails in Uttar Pradesh are no more “fun” centres for criminals and they have turned into “reform homes” for them, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Sunday.

    The chief minister proclaimed it while inaugurating and laying foundation stones for 122 developmental projects worth Rs 245 crore in Sant Kabir Nagar district.

    The projects also included the district prison built at Rs 126 crore.

    “We have converted state jails into reform homes where criminals are being given an opportunity to reform. The UP jails are no more places of fun for criminals,” an official statement quoted the chief minister as saying on the occasion.

    “There was a time when the power used to be a slave of mafias. Today the government bulldozers run on their houses,” Adityanath said.

    The chief minister warned that his government will not let mafias have their say.

    “Our message to mafias is very clear. If mafias want to make the lives of the poor, farmers and traders hell, our government will not let this happen,” he said.

    Expressing satisfaction over the newly built jail in the Sant Kabir Nagar district, the chief minister said the prisoners from here will not have to be sent to Basti district and this prison would become a model reform home.

    Adityanath also accused the previous governments of making the state a synonym of “dynastic politics, nepotism, appeasement, dacoity, hooliganism and riots”.

    “The jobs for youths were auctioned and the poor were deprived of their morsels. Jobs were earlier mortgaged. If anyone tries to auction a job today, we will get their house auctioned,” he added.

    The UP government has given over 4.5 lakh government jobs to youths on the basis of their merit, with complete transparency, the UP CM said, adding that recruitment for around 90,000 more government jobs is to start soon in UP.

    The recruitment of 30,000 women policemen is an important step in this direction, the chief minister said, adding the government is continuously taking up several schemes like Mission Shakti, Kanya Sumangala and destitute women pension in their interest.

    He reiterated that youths preparing for various competitions will get a ‘competitive examination allowance’ in the state.

    The Uttar Pradesh government has also decided to distribute tablets along with digital access to youths of the state.

    The chief minister also envisaged turning Sant Kabir Nagar into a hub of readymade garments.

    “Once Khalilabad in this district used to be a big centre of looms and handlooms.

    In such a situation, why can’t it become a hub of readymade garments?” he asked.

    “If we link women with the market by giving them modern sewing machines, every house will start making readymade garments. In such a situation, we can even overtake Bangladesh and Vietnam in terms of production of readymade garments,” he added.

    Adityanath also recalled another strong point of the district, its utensils industry in Bakhira, and said it would be another source of growth for Sant Kabir Nagar.

    “It was forgotten by the previous governments, but we are working towards making Bakhira’s utensils industry recognised on the global stage.

    It will become a major source of employment for youths and women at the local level,” he said.

    Adityanath also announced his government’s plan to set up a medical college in the district under the PPP model.

    Expressing concern over the flood situation in Sant Kabir Nagar, the CM said the government is providing relief kits in sufficient quantities to every victim.

    Adequate availability of anti-snake venom and the anti-rabies vaccine has been ensured in the flood-affected areas, he added.

    “Sant Kabir Nagar will not lag behind any district now on the scale of development,” he said, adding the land of Baba Tameshwarnath and great Sufi saint Kabir was on the path of development.

    “Political announcements were made for development earlier too but they were never implemented. But in the last four and a half years there has been a change,” Adityanath said.