Lucknow: Elated over the victories in the Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav credited the outcome to BJP's "misgovernance" and also thanked once arch foe and BSP leader Mayawati for supporting his candidates.

After Samajwadi Party candidates were declared elected from both the constituencies, Akhilesh Yadav said this was a fitting reply to the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Uttar Pradesh and that the results carried a "message and direction".

"I am thankful to the people of these two places," he told the media.

"Jo sarkaar janta ko dukh deti hai, janta usko sahi jawaab deti hai," he said. "Acche din toh aaye nahi, janta ek ho gayi aur BJP ke bure din laane ka kaam kiya." (A government which gives pain to the people gets a fitting response from the people. Good days never dawned for the people and so bad days have started for the BJP.)

Yadav also raised questions over the functioning and integrity of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and said that the margin of victory would have been "in lakhs, not in thousands" had the voting been done through ballot papers.

Celebrations broke out in many parts of the state as Samajwadi Party cadres smeared each other with Holi colours and raised slogans in favour of the BSP-SP alliance.

"Bua-Bhatija Zindabad" slogans rent the air at some places. BSP and SP flags fluttered together.

The Samajwadi Party's Nagendra Singh Patel emerged victorious in Phulpur with a margin of 59,613 votes.

Pravin Nishad beat his BJP rival in Gorakhpur, a seat held by the BJP since 1989, by 21,881 votes.

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Bengaluru: The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has removed a tobacco-related advertisement from one of its buses after a concerned citizen flagged the issue on social media.

On April 8, Siraj Madaka shared a photo on X, of a KSRTC bus, with its back panel displaying advertisement of a smokeless tobacco product, which is popular among young people. In his post, Madaka expressed concern over the promotion of products harmful to public health on government-owned vehicles, as reported by The New Indian Express on Saturday.

“Displaying advertisements for products harmful to health—such as tobacco, cigarettes, and alcohol—on government-owned buses is not good for society. For the sake of society, it is better not to display such advertisements on government-owned buses. Please pay attention,” Madaka wrote.

Dr Vaishnavi K, the Officer on Special Duty to the Chief Minister, took note of the complaint and forwarded it to KSRTC. In response, the Chief Traffic Manager (CTM) removed the advertisement from the bus.

On April 17, the CTM issued a letter to Dr Vaishnavi stating that a notice had been sent to the advertising agency responsible for placing ads on KSRTC buses, the report added.

The notice instructed the agency not to display advertisements related to tobacco, liquor and related products, drugs, obscene content, or any items that are legally banned.