News Analysis India

Tag: Uttar Pradesh

  • Two cases of Kappa variant of COVID-19 detected in Uttar Pradesh

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: Two cases of Kappa variant of COVID-19 have been detected in Uttar Pradesh, according to an official statement issued on Friday. Genome sequencing of 109 samples was done at King George’s medical college here in the past few days.

    The Delta Plus variant of COVID-19 was found in 107 samples, while the Kappa variant was found in two samples, the statement issued after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s routine review meeting said. “Both the variants are not new for the state. The facility of genome sequencing is being increased in the state,” it added.

    At present, the daily positivity rate in the state is 0.04 per cent. When asked about the Kappa variant, Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Amit Mohan Prasad said earlier also cases of this variant were found in the state.

    “There is nothing to worry about. This is a variant of coronavirus and its treatment is possible,” he said. When asked in which districts this variant was found, Prasad did not divulge details and said it would create fear among people.

  • Uttar Pradesh Police stopping people from joining farmers stir at Delhi borders: Rakesh Tikait

    By PTI
    GHAZIABAD: The Uttar Pradesh police is stopping people of the state from joining the farmers’ protest against three central farm laws at Delhi’s borders, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) spokesperson Rakesh Tikait claimed on Thursday.

    The farmer leader levelled the charge during a press conference at Ghazipur on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border where he has been leading the protest with hundreds of supporters since November 2020.

    He alleged that several people from Purvanchal area in eastern part of the state were either not getting public transport to reach Delhi or were being stopped by the local police.

    “Trains are not running. If people are found wearing caps or carrying flags (of protesting farmers unions), they are stopped from proceeding to Delhi borders,” Tikait claimed.

    “In UP, people from Purvanchal cannot reach here because regular trains are not in service. If somebody somehow gets a reservation in a train but the information reaches the police, they stop the person from travelling,” he alleged.

    “Today, the situation is such that people cannot come to Delhi to participate in the farmers’ movement,” he claimed.

    Tikait also announced at the press conference that the BKU would be intensifying its protest at district level in Uttar Pradesh from August 1 to highlight the problems being faced by the farming community.

    “We shall be taking this cause directly to the people at district level now,” Tikait said.

    Farmers at three border points of Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur in Delhi are camping since November 2020 with a demand that the Centre withdraw the three new contentious farm laws and make a new one guaranteeing minimum support price (MSP) for crops.

    The government, which has held multiple rounds of official meetings with the protestors, maintains that the laws are pro-farmer.

  • Will contest on all 403 seats in Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls: Chandrashekhar Azad

    By PTI
    BULANDSHAHR: Azad Samaj Party chief Chandrashekhar Azad here on Thursday said his outfit will contest on all 403 seats in Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls next year.

    Employment to the youth, checking crime, women empowerment, food security, health and right to education will be the issues that will be raised by his party, he said during a cycle rally here.

    Taking a dig at the Cabinet reshuffle at the Centre, he said changing ministers will do nothing unless the government is changed.

    He also criticised Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, alleging that the crime graph is rising but he is silent.

  • ‘Democracy being ripped off’: Priyanka Gandhi on violence during block head nominations in Uttar Pradesh

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday accused BJP workers of indulging in violence during the process of filing of nominations for the block head elections and alleged that democracy was being “ripped off” in the state.

    One person was injured during a clash between supporters of rival candidates during the filing of nominations for the election of block panchayat head in Uttar Pradesh’s Sitapur district on Thursday.

    A similar case was reported in Kannauj with Opposition parties alleging the misuse of state machinery by the Bhartiya Janata Party.

    Reacting to the development and sharing a video of the violence on Twitter, Priyanka Gandhi said, “PM sahab and CM sahab should also congratulate” on how their workers in UP indulged in stone-pelting and firing, looted nomination papers, beat up journalists and “misbehaved with women” at many places.

    “By blind-folding the law and order system, democracy is being ripped off,” the Congress general secretary said in a tweet in Hindi.

  • Barred from playing video games, boys flee homes in Uttar Pradesh; rescued

    By PTI
    GORAKHPUR: Three boys, aged between 12 and 15 years, were rescued two days after they ran away from homes when their parents barred them from playing video games on phones, police said on Thursday.

    Rohan Singh Chauhan (15), Ravi Chauhan (12) and Pratur Gaur (12) of Gulriha area fled their homes on Tuesday night.

    On Wednesday, their parents searched for them and later informed the police.

    A report under Section 363 (kidnapping) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered and a reward of Rs 25,000 announced for information on the missing boys.

    The police, however, rescued them from Gorakhpur railway station and handed them over to their parents within 12 hours on Thursday afternoon, Inspector Vinod Agnihotri at Gulriha police station said.

    They told police that they wanted to go to Lucknow to earn money to be able to buy mobile phones, the inspector said.

  • 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.

  • Seven ministers from poll-bound Uttar Pradesh; OBC & SC get lion’s share

    By Express News Service
    LUCKNOW:  With an eye on the 2022 Assembly elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inducted a maximum seven new ministers from Uttar Pradesh in the Union Council of Ministers.  Knowing well that the non-Yadav OBC and non-Jatav Scheduled Castes (SC) had played an integral role in BJP’s historic 312 seats in 2017, the Wednesday’s Cabinet expansion kept in mind addressing the caste arithmetic of UP, as barring one new minister, Ajay Kumar Mishra ‘Teni,’ all others hailed from the OBC or the SC segment.

    With the Patel (Kurmi) caste being second only to Yadavs in numbers in the OBC, two new inductees Pankaj Chaudhary and Anupriya Singh Patel are from the same caste, which has traditionally aligned with the BJP. The return of Anupriya (daughter of powerful Kurmi community leader late Sonelal Patel) in Team Modi is being seen as a timely effort by the BJP to keep Apna Dal (S) in good humour.

    The third OBC leader to make to the Union Cabinet is BL Verma. He belongs to the influential Lodh Rajput community which has a strong presence in central UP and Braj region.The three new SC inductees are Kaushal Kishore (who is considered close to Amit Shah), five-time MPs Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma and SPS Baghel.

    Through the re-induction of powerful SC leader Dr Virender Kumar (presently the third time MP from Tikamgarh) of Madhya Pradesh’s Bundelkhand region, the BJP has tried to strike a chord with the SC voters of adjoining Bundelkhand region of UP also.

    Keeping Brahmin vote in mind, the NDA inducted two-time MP from Lakhimpur Kheri seat Ajay Kumar Mishra ‘Teni.’The Cabinet expansion, however, didn’t have any new minister from the Jat caste which is at the forefront of the nationwide farmers agitation. 

    NISHAD Party gets raw deal from CentreApart from the Jat community which did not find place in the revamped Union Council of Ministers, another notable exception was BJP ally NISHAD Party, whose president Sanjay Nishad has recently tried to play pressure politics with the BJP, demanding that he be declared deputy chief minister face of the ruling alliance while going into the 2022 polls.

  • SP Singh Baghel, BL Verma: Two prominent OBC faces from Uttar Pradesh

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: SP Singh Baghel and BL Verma who made it to the Union council of ministers on Wednesday are two prominent OBC leaders from Uttar Pradesh.

    A five-time MP, Satya Pal Singh Baghel currently represents Agra in the Lok Sabha as a BJP MP.

    A party-hopper, 61-year-old Baghel was a member of the Lok Sabha in 1998, 1999 and 2004 as a Samajwadi Party MP, representing the Jalesar seat in Uttar Pradesh.

    After three terms as an MP, Baghel was suspended from the SP.

    He then unsuccessfully contested two Lok Sabha elections as a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate.

    In 2014, Baghel was elected to the Rajya Sabha as a BSP nominee.

    Baghel became president of the BJP OBC Morcha in 2015 and two years later he became a BJP MLA from Tundla before getting elected to the Lok Sabha again, this time on a BJP ticket from Agra.

    This is his first stint as a central minister.

    A member of the Rajya Sabha, 59-year-old B L Verma is an OBC leader who started off as an active party worker from Budaun in Uttar Pradesh.

    He became UP BJP vice-president in 2018 and as a member of the upper house of Parliament, he is in the Committee on Welfare of Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

    A first-time Union minister, Verma was earlier president of the Braj region unit of the saffron party.

    A prominent leader among the OBC communities, especially the Lodhi community in western UP, he is considered close to former chief minister Kalyan Singh.

    At present, Verma holds the post of the chairman of UP State Construction and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited, enjoying the rank and status of a minister of state.

  • Former district panchayat member shot dead in Uttar Pradesh’s Ballia

    By PTI
    BALLIA (UTTAR PRADESH): A former district panchayat member was on Wednesday shot dead by some unidentified people here, police said.

    Balveer Singh alias Jaleshwar Singh (35) was in a car with Sabal Singh (40), who is the husband of another district panchayat member, when they were attacked by the bike-borne assailants, Superintendent of Police, Vipin Tada said.

    The incident took place near Chiraiya turn in Bairiya area, police said. While Balveer Singh, who had several cases of murder and loot registered against him, died on the spot, Sabal Singh sustained injuries, police said.

  • Uttar Pradesh espionage case: NIA files charge sheet against ex-army man, Godhra resident

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday filed a charge-sheet against a former army personnel and another person arrested for allegedly sharing confidential information about the Indian Army with an operative of Pakistan’s spy agency ISI.

    The charge-sheet was filed in a special NIA court here against Saurabh Sharma, an ex-army man who is a resident of Hapur in Uttar Pradesh, and Anas Yakub Giteli of Gujarat’s Godhra under relevant sections of the IPC, the Official Secrets Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

    The case relates to sharing of confidential information about the Indian Army by Sharma with a pseudonymous entity operated by Defence/ISI agents of Pakistan, an official of the premier investigation agency said.

    Pakistan’s spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) had hatched a conspiracy to obtain restricted and confidential information from the officials of Indian Army by luring them through a woman operative, called Neha Sharma, officials said.

    Sharma, being a serving signalman in the Indian Army, had shared strategic and sensitive information such as deployment/movement of troops, location, strength and composition of parties of the Indian Army, the NIA official said.

    In consideration for supply of such sensitive information, he had received funds from multiple sources, including Pakistani sources and co-accused Giteli, the NIA official said.

    Sharma also received funds from Anas Yakub Giteli’s elder brother Imran Giteli who has already been charge-sheeted in the Vishakhapatnam espionage case being investigated by the NIA, the official said, adding that further investigation in the case was underway.