Akhilesh Yadav's Facebook account restored; MeitY says no role in 'suspension'
Lucknow (PTI): Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav's official Facebook account, which was allegedly suspended earlier, has been restored, party sources said on Saturday.
Sources in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) told PTI that Yadav's account was blocked by Facebook, and not by the government.
Yadav took to his account and shared a quote by Jayaprakash Narayan on Saturday morning, to commemorate the socialist leader's birth anniversary.
"By 'Sampoorn Kraanti' (complete revolution), I mean seeing the most oppressed person in society at the pinnacle of power," the post read.
While SP spokesperson Deepak Ranjan confirmed the suspension and subsequent restoration of the social media page, the party's chief spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary told PTI, "I am not yet aware if it has been restored, but the main issue is who was behind this suspension? The act was a clear attempt to block democratic opinion and truth."
SP leaders earlier accused the BJP government of imposing an "undeclared emergency to suppress every opposing voice", following the alleged suspension of the account with more than 8 million followers.
The sources said it was suspended on Friday, at around 6 pm.
The page is regularly used by the SP chief to share his views, highlight the government's "shortcomings", and connect with supporters.
Reacting to the suspension of the account, SP Lok Sabha MP from Ghosi, Rajeev Rai had said in a post on X in Hindi, "Facebook's blocking of the account of the leader of the third-largest party in India's Parliament, the former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, honourable @yadavakhilesh, is not only condemnable but also an attack on India's democratic system. If this happened at the behest of the ruling party, it is a sign of cowardice."
He had also warned that attempting to suppress socialists' voice is a "mistake".
SP spokesperson Fakhrul Hasan Chaand, in a post on X, had alleged that an undeclared emergency had been imposed by the BJP government.
"But the Samajwadi Party will continue to oppose the BJP's anti-people policies," he said.
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Tigress found dead in Chandrapur after attacking forest guard
Chandrapur (PTI): A tigress was found dead in a forest range in Maharashtra's Chandrapur district on Sunday, just an hour after critically injuring a forest guard during an operation to steer her and her three cubs away from human settlement, officials said.
The tigress, identified as T-84, was found dead in the vicinity of Ratnapur village under the jurisdiction of Sindewahi Forest Range, they said.
The exact cause of the big cat's death will be ascertained after an autopsy, a senior officer of the forest department said.
According to officials, the tigress, aged 9 to 10 years, had wandered close to the village, along with her three cubs, and locals had attempted to drive her away from the spot, after which she retreated into a field.
On being alerted, a team of forest guards and other staff tried to move the tigress back toward the forest, and during this process, the three cubs got separated and the tigress attacked forest guard Sajjan Parekar, who sustained critical injuries, they said.
The injured forest guard was immediately admitted to a hospital in Sindewahi for primary treatment and later shifted to Chandrapur for further medical care.
An hour after the attack, the tigress was found dead in a paddy field, the official said.
According to preliminary information, the tigress's organs were intact and in good condition. The carcass has been sent to the Transit Treatment Centre (TTC) at Chandrapur for a high-level examination and post-mortem.
The forest department has launched a search operation to track the missing cubs, the official said.
