11 UP ministers fail to win their seats
Lucknow(PTI): As many as 11 ministers in the Adityanath government failed to win in the 2022 assembly elections, despite the BJP registering an impressive victory.
According to the Election Commission website, of the 402 seats the result of which were declared, BJP won 255. Its alliance partners Apna Dal (Sonelal) bagged 12 and NISHAD Party six.
Samajwadi Party has won 111 seats. Its ally RLD bagged eight seats and SBSP six. The Congress and Jansatta Dal Loktantrik led by Raghuraj Pratap Singh won one seat each and BSP got one.
Among the ministers who lost is outgoing deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya who lost to the Samajwadi Party's Pallavi Patel by 7,337 votes in the Sirathu seat.
Patel is the vice-president of Apna Dal (K), a Samajwadi Party ally.
Sugarcane minister Suresh Rana lost the Thana Bhawan seat in Shamli district to the RLD's Ashraf Ali Khan by over 10,000 votes.
Another minister, Chhatrapal Singh Gangwar, was defeated by Ataur Rehman of the Samajwadi Party on the Baheri seat in Bareilly district by 3,355 votes.
Rural development minister Rajendra Pratap Singh alias Moti Singh lost the Patti seat in Pratapgarh to the Samajwadi Party's Ram Singh by 22,051 votes.
Chandrika Prasad Upadhyay, another minister in the Adityanath government, lost to Anil Kumar of the Samajwadi Party in Chitrakoot by 20,876 votes.
Anand Swaroop Shukla lost the Bariya seat in Ballia district to Samajwadi Party's Jaiprakash Anchal by 12,951 votes. Shukla had last time contested from Ballia seat but was fielded from Bariya seat this time, replacing sitting MLA Surendra Singh.
State's sports minister Upendra Tiwari lost the Phephna seat in Ballia to Samajwadi Party's Sangram Singh by 19,354 votes. Minister Ranvendra Singh Dhunni was defeated by Usha Maurya of Samajwadi Party at Hussain Ganj seat in Fatehpur district by 25,181 votes.
Lakhan Singh Rajput was defeated by Pradeep Kumar Yadav of the Samajwadi Party on Dibiyapur seat in Auraiya district by 473 votes and the state's basic education minister Satish Chandra Dwivedi was defeated by SP candidate and former speaker of the assembly Mata Prasad Pande at Itwa seat in Siddharthnagar district by 1,662 votes.
Another minister, Sangeeta Balwant was defeated by SP's Jai Kishan at the Gazipur seat by 1,692 votes.
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89 killed as storm, rain batter UP; relief work underway
Lucknow (PTI): At least 89 people were killed after a strong storm and heavy rain pounded several districts of Uttar Pradesh, uprooting trees and electric poles and damaging houses, according to the Relief Commissioner's office.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath took cognisance of the loss of lives and damage caused by the unseasonal rain, thunderstorms and lightning on Wednesday and directed officials to ensure relief reaches the affected families within 24 hours.
In a post on X on Thursday, the Relief Commissioner's office said, "Due to bad weather on May 13, including storms, rain, hailstorm and lightning, reports of 89 deaths, 53 injured persons, 114 livestock losses and damage to 87 houses have been received in the state, which has been taken cognisance of by the Hon'ble Chief Minister."
It said the chief minister has directed all divisional commissioners and district magistrates to verify the incidents "with full sensitivity" and ensure financial assistance is distributed to affected families within 24 hours while establishing direct communication with them and extending other necessary help.
The Relief Commissioner's office said it is continuously monitoring the situation through direct coordination with district officials and necessary funds are being made available to districts.
According to a list issued by the Prayagraj district administration, seven deaths were reported in the Handia area, four in Phulpur, three in Soraon, two in Meja and one in Sadar due to the storm and rain.
In Bhadohi, district administration sources said at least 16 people died in storm-related incidents.
Additional District Magistrate Kunwar Virendra Kumar Maurya said trees and electric poles were uprooted in several areas while many houses were damaged in the storm.
Fatehpur Additional District Magistrate Avinash Tripathi said nine people were killed and 16 injured in storm-related incidents in the district.
"Eight people, including five women, died in Khaga tehsil, while a woman died after a wall of a house collapsed in Sadar tehsil," he said.
In Pratapgarh, four people died in separate incidents of wall and cemented shed collapses and lightning strikes amid strong winds and rain, officials said.
Superintendent of Police Deepak Bhukar said Bhim Yadav (25) died after he was trapped under the debris of a cemented shed that collapsed in Ojha Ka Purwa village in the Lalganj Kotwali area.
He said Bhushan Pandey (56) died after a wall collapsed in Sari Swami village under the Baghrai police station area.
Bhukar said Shanti Devi (46) of Narangpur village and Lal Bahadur (44) of Chhatrapur Shivala Raghna village also died in storm-related incidents.
In Kanpur Dehat district, two persons died in rain-related incidents, the officials said.
Police sources said a 19-year-old woman, Ruchi, died after being struck by lightning in Bhauthari village under the Rasulabad area while standing under a neem tree with goats during heavy rain. Several goats also died in the incident.
A 60-year-old man standing nearby was injured, they added.
Additional District Magistrate (Finance and Revenue) Dushyant Kumar said reports regarding human and livestock losses have been sought from local officials and financial assistance will be provided as per government rules.
In Deoria, Komal Yadav (62), a resident of Bhimpur Gaura village, died after being struck by lightning, district administration sources said. Two others were injured in the incident.
In another incident, Ramnath Prasad (65), a resident of Neruari village, died in a lightning strike.
In Sonbhadra district, Madhav Singh (38) died after being trapped under a tree uprooted during the rain and the storm.
Adityanath directed the district magistrates and officials of various departments to visit the affected areas and provide all possible assistance to the victims and their families.
He also instructed the officials to remain alert and ordered the revenue and agriculture departments, along with insurance companies, to conduct a survey of the damage and submit a report to the government.
