News Analysis India

Tag: Uttar Pradesh

  • Uttar Pradesh reports 310 new COVID-19 cases, 50 deaths

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: With 50 fresh COVID-19 fatalities in the state, the death toll in Uttar Pradesh rose to 21,963, while the tally climbed to 17,03,458 with 310 fresh cases, according to a health department bulletin on Wednesday.

    Of the 50 fresh deaths, 10 have been reported from Lucknow, four from Shahjahanpur, three each from Lakhimpur Kheri, Jhansi, Ghazipur, two each in Kushinagar, Gorakhpur, Sonbhadra, Ayodhya, Sant Kabirnagar, Basti, one each in Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Kanpur Nagar, Saharanpur, Bulandshahr, Pilibhit, Mathura, Pratapgarh, Hardoi, Gonda, Etawah, Aligarh, Amroha, Kannauj and Banda, it said.

    Of the 310 new COVID-19 cases, 29 have been reported from Lucknow, 22 from Meerut, 17 from Ghaziabad, 16 each from Varanasi, Muzaffarnagar, Prayagraj, 14 from Gorakhpur, among others, the bulletin said.

    In the past 24 hours, 927 COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals, taking the total number of those recovered to 16,74,999. The recovery rate in the state now stands at 98.3 per cent. The number of active COVID-19 cases stands at 6,496 of which 3,921 are in home isolation.

    In the past 24 hours, more than 2.86 lakh samples have been tested in the state, while over 5.41 crore samples have been tested in the state so far, the bulletin added.

  • Some don’t leave opportunity to defame Ram Janmabhoomi: UP Dy-CM Dinesh Sharma on fraud allegations

    By PTI
    LUCKNOw: Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma on Monday hit out at those alleging corruption in purchase of land in Ayodhya by the Ram temple trust, saying some people do not leave any opportunity to defame the Ram Janmabhoomi.

    The Samajwadi Party, the Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress have alleged that the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust has purchased a land worth Rs 2 crore at an inflated price of Rs 18.5 crore.

    “The official answer (to allegations of corruption) will be given by officials of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. I would say in one line that there are some people in the opposition who do not like anything positive in context to the Ram Janmabhoomi. Sometimes they say Lord Ram was fictional, and that the Ram Setu did not exist. They also taunt,” Sharma told reporters here after attending a meeting of the Uttar Pradesh Cabinet.

    He said when all the obstructions for the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya were cleared, the opposition started an “anargal pralaap” (nonsensical hue and cry).

    “They do not hesitate in leaving any opportunity to defame the Ram Janmabhoomi,” Sharma said.

    To a question about a possible expansion of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath headed Cabinet, the BJP leader said, “Such decisions, be it on expansion or reshuffling in the council of ministers, is taken by the high command and the organisation.”

    “The organisation is authorised to do this, and an organisational meeting is held to discuss this,” Sharma said.

    He said that at the Cabinet meeting, preparations to deal with a probable third wave of the Covid pandemic were discussed.

    Discussions were also held on the condition and functioning of primary health centres that have to be adopted by public representatives, the deputy chief minister said.

    On whether any discussion was held for the upcoming assembly elections or on the recently-held panchayat polls, Sharma said, “This was not an election meeting. Election meetings are held at the organisational level.”

    “This meeting was about the preparations for the third wave of the coronavirus. What has been done till now and review and monitoring of government schemes that have been implemented,” he said.

  • Security tightened at Union Minister Sanjeev Balyan’s home in Uttar Pradesh

    By PTI
    MUZAFFARNAGAR: Security was tightened at Union Minister Sanjeev Balyan’s residence on Monday after Hindu Kranti Dal activists tried to stage a dharna outside the BJP leader’s house over his meeting with zila panchayat member Shahnawaz.

    The activists alleged that Shahnawaz is allegedly involved in a cow slaughter case and that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) should keep a distance from such people.

    As the activists tried to go to the minister’s residence, police intercepted them.

    Later, they staged a dharna at Mahabir Chowk here and gave a memorandum to city magistrate Abhishek Singh.

    Central para-military force has been deployed outside the Civil Lines police station area to contain any untoward incident.

    Reportedly, the BJP leader visited Shahnawaz to seek support for a zila panchayat chairman candidate backed by him.

  • Day after flagging threat to life from liquor mafia, TV journo found dead; cops probe all angles

    By Express News Service
    LUCKNOW: A national news channel journalist was found dead in Uttar Pradesh’s Pratapgarh district late on Sunday night — just a day after he wrote to UP police about a threat to himself and his family from liquor mafia.

    Sulabh Srivastava, who worked with the ABP News channel in Pratapgarh district, was found dead near the Katra Crossing under Kotwali police station area between 10 pm and 11 pm.

    He was returning from Lalganj to Pratapgarh on his bike after media coverage. “Primary investigations suggest he died after his motorbike hit an electric pole/hand pump. But all other possible angles are being probed in the case,” Pratapgarh ASP East Surendra Dwivedi said on Monday.

    Just a day before the incident, Srivastava had written to the additional director general of police (ADG-Prayagraj Zone) about a threat to himself and his family from the liquor mafia due to his recent news reports on illicit liquor dens in Pratapgarh district.

    Meanwhile, Congress national general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tweeted over the incident. “Liquor mafia is on killing spree across the state, spanning from Pratapgarh to Aligarh, but UP government is silent. The state government was sleeping, despite a journalist having exposed the truth and alerting the authorities about threat to his life. Does the UP government have reply to the tears of journalist Sulabh Srivastava’s family,” she questioned through her tweets.

  • Woman accuses Lucknow hospital doctors, staff of raping her mother, victim dies later

    By PTI
    AMETHI: A woman here has alleged that her 40-year-old mother was beaten up and raped by doctors and medical staff at a Lucknow hospital from where she was discharged a day before her death.

    Family members of the deceased said she died on the night of June 12 while being taken to another hospital in the state capital.

    The daughter alleged she approached Union minister Smriti Irani, who was on a visit to Amethi, on Saturday as the police refused to pay any heed to her.

    Amethi District Magistrate Arun Kumar has constituted a team on Irani’s instructions to probe the allegations.

    The woman said her mother was admitted to the Amethi Joint District Hospital, Gauriganj, on June 6 as she was unwell, but her condition deteriorated, and she was referred to the Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences in Lucknow the next day.

    She alleged that her mother was initially kept in the emergency ward of the Lucknow hospital and then shifted to a bed on the fourth floor but no family members were allowed to visit her.

    The daughter claimed that when she finally was allowed to meet her mother after repeated requests, she found out her condition was critical.

    She alleged that her mother told her she was beaten up and raped by doctors and staff.

    A spokesperson of the Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Sansthan, however, refuted the allegations.

    “No such allegation of rape of a woman has been reported and no complaint has been received. If there is a complaint, an inquiry will be conducted,” he said.

    The woman further said her mother was discharged from there on Friday night in an unconscious state and again admitted to the Gauriganj district hospital.

    She informed Irani about the incident the next day, after which the MP spoke to the district magistrate, superintendent of police and the chief medical officer of Amethi.

    Medical Superintendent of Amethi Joint District Hospital, Gauriganj, Dr P K Upadhyay said the woman was being shifted to a hospital in Lucknow on Saturday night as she had developed black fungus, but she died on the way.

    District Magistrate Arun Kumar said an inquiry committee was set up comprising the Gauriganj deputy collector, the deputy superintendent of police and the ACMO, and action will be taken after the committee hands in a report.

    Superintendent of Police Dinesh Singh said a medical examination was conducted on the woman on Saturday but refused to elaborate further.

  • Uttar Pradesh: Three bodies found floating in Ganga

    By PTI
    KANNAUJ: Three bodies, including that of a woman, were found floating in the Ganga on the Kannauj-Hardoi border, police said on Sunday.

    The bodies, found on Saturday, have been handed over to the Hardoi police, they said.

    Kannauj SP Prashant Verma said the bodies were found floating in the river near the Badnapur Ghat on Saturday.

    Since the bodies were spotted in the area under the Hardoi district, the Hardoi police was informed, and they were handed over to the Hardoi police, Verma said.

  • Uttar Pradesh’s health services in bad shape, CM Yogi only concerned about power, says SP chief Akhilesh Yadav

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: Health services in Uttar Pradesh are in a very bad shape due to the neglect of the BJP government which has given private hospitals an opportunity to loot people during the Covid crisis, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav alleged on Saturday.

    In an apparent reference to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s New Delhi visit, Yadav said BJP leaders are only concerned about staying in power.

    “There is no control of the government on private hospitals. The black marketing of medicines and injections continues unabated. Corona curfew and lack of oxygen has added to the woes of the people,” the SP chief was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the party.

    Yadav said the condition of the health system is such that a serious patient was carried on a cot for eight kilometres to the hospital in Tilovgaon village in Mirzapur.

    Under the BJP rule, serious patients are not even getting ambulances, he claimed.

    The SP government had started the 108 ambulance service but it was ruined by the BJP.

    There have also been shameful incidents like the one involving a patient being taken to a hospital in Kanpur on a handcart and a garbage truck used to carry a dead body, the former chief minister said.

    “Private hospitals have left no stone unturned to forcibly rob patients during the Corona crisis. Patients were allowed to die by shutting off oxygen at Paras Hospital in Agra,” he claimed, stressing the rates fixed by the government for treatment and sale of essential medicines were not followed anywhere.

    Attacking the chief minister, Yadav said: “The chief minister was busy in talks with his top leadership in Delhi and people were suffering in the state. Instead of connecting with the pain and suffering of the people, BJP is only concerned about staying in power. This is the democracy of BJP.”

    Adityanath had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence on Friday.

    Later, he also met Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president J P Nadda.

    On Thursday, the chief minister had a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

  • CM Yogi Adityanath calls on PM Modi amidst chaos in Uttar Pradesh

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Friday.

    Adityanath met Modi at his residence, a day after meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

    The chief minister, who is on a two-day visit to the national capital from Thursday to meet the BJP top brass, is also scheduled to meet party president JP Nadda in the afternoon.

    His visit comes close on the heels of the party holding a series of review meetings in Lucknow, which had fuelled speculation of a ministerial reshuffle in the state.

    During his meeting with Shah, Adityanath presented a copy of the report ‘Solution of Migrant Crisis’.

    His visit to the national capital started a day after Jitin Prasada quit the Congress and joined the BJP.

    After Adityanath met Shah, Prasada called on the Uttar Pradesh chief minister here.

    ALSO READ: MLAs feel CM Yogi Adityanath aloof, relies more on babus

    BJP MLC A K Sharma, a former IAS officer who is seen as a trusted hand of Modi, is also in Delhi to meet party leaders and allies.

    Though there is no official word on whether there will be a Cabinet expansion in Uttar Pradesh, sources said Prasada, who comes from a noted Brahmin family of the state with political heft, and Sharma may be accommodated in such an eventuality.

    BJP’s general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh had earlier this month visited the state to review the party’s preparations for the assembly elections and held meetings with key ministers and organisation leaders.

    Senior BJP leader Radha Mohan Singh, who is in-charge of the party’s affairs in Uttar Pradesh, had also visited the state.

  • Uttar Pradesh MLAs feel CM Yogi Adityanath aloof, relies more on babus

    By Express News Service
    LUCKNOW:  The recent Lucknow visit of BJP national general secretary (organisation) BL Santosh and the outcome of his deliberations with state party functionaries, ministers and legislators is likely to figure prominently during Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath’s meetings with top leaders in New Delhi.

    A report summing up the deliberations is believed to have been submitted by Santosh to the party’s national leadership. According to insiders, party functionaries who met the central leaders, had voiced concern over  the dominance of select bureaucrats in governance, which has resulted in a large number of MLAs not getting concerns of their areas addressed by their own government.

    Importantly, Santosh and the party’s UP in-charge Radha Mohan Singh, during their recent Lucknow visit, had patiently heard state party leaders, including organisation functionaries, senior ministers and MLAs to take stock of the situation on ground ahead of next year’s Assembly polls.

    ALSO READ: Cabinet shuffle buzz on, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath to meet PM Modi today

    They told the leaders from Delhi that with work in their areas not done by their own government, many MLAs have told party bosses about the difficulty they would face going back to the voters before the polls with unfulfilled promises.

    The deliberations during the recent visit by Santosh had also taken stock of the party’s not so encouraging performance in the recently held panchayat polls. If informed sources are to be believed, then the party-supported candidates performed badly in 50-plus assembly segments, which presently have BJP MLAs.

    The CM met Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday and is likely to meet BJP’s national president JP Nadda and PM Narendra Modi on Friday. Before leaving for Delhi, the CM had a meeting with state party president Swatantra Deo Singh and state party general secretary (organisation) Sunil Bansal. The meeting happened just a few hours after ex-Union minister and Congress leader Jitin Prasada joined the BJP in Delhi.

  • Cabinet shuffle buzz on, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath to meet PM Modi today

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  Amid hectic parleys within the BJP to control damage in Uttar Pradesh after the second wave of the pandemic left a devastating trail, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday called on Union home minister Amit Shah. Adityanath is slated to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, with indications suggesting the CM may not be able to avoid a state Cabinet reshuffle. 

    Earlier, BJP chief J P Nadda briefed Modi on the inputs collated by party general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh and state in-charge Radha Mohan Singh, who had camped in Lucknow for two days. Modi is reportedly closely monitoring the BJP’s preparations for the state polls next year, with regular exchange of inputs between him and Nadda as well as RSS leaders.

    ALSO READ: MLAs feel CM Yogi Adityanath aloof, relies more on babus

    While the CM had recently termed the buzz of a Cabinet reshuffle as media speculation, sources said he will eventually have to fall in line as the top leadership is keen on a few changes ahead of the February 2022 state polls. A K Sharma, MLC and former official in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), is widely speculated to get a key portfolio in the state Cabinet. 

    While the CM hasn’t been amenable to the idea so far, a top ranking BJP functionary told this newspaper that Sharma would be given an important assignment in the state. Sharma, incidentally, was in the national capital when Adityanath called on Shah. 

    Sources said BJP leaders and top RSS functionaries concur that while Adityanath should lead the party in the polls, a few changes in his ministerial team are needed to dispel the perception that he’s running a highly centralised administration, against which even the MPs and MLAs reportedly nurse grievances. However, the CM is known to enjoy the patronage of the RSS leadership. For the record, Adityanath described his meeting with Shah as a courtesy call, saying he sought guidance.

    Raut lauds modi amid maha pawar point

    Mumbai: Days after Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had a one-on-one with the prime minister in Delhi, Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut lauded Narendra Modi, saying he is the top leader of the country and the BJP. But tamping down speculation, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said their government will not only complete its term, the allies will contest the LS and the state elections together 

    Stay with amarinder as CM, says panel

    Chandigarh: The report of a Congress panel set up to address the ongoing rift in its Punjab unit, suggested continuing with Amarinder Singh as the CM and making him the face of the state elections. It also recommended accommodating rebel Navjot Singh Sidhu and revamping the state unit. The report was submitted to party president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday