Mayawati says its supporters feared jungle raj' if SP returned, voted for BJP
Lucknow (PTI): Mayawati on Friday blamed the casteist media for driving away Muslims from her Bahujan Samaj Party and said the fear of a 'jungle raj' if the Samajwadi Party came to power made its other supporters shift to the BJP.
Plummeting to its lowest ever tally of winning only one seat in the current Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, Mayawati said it was the media's aggressive propaganda showing the BSP as the "B team of the BJP" that drove away Muslims and anti-BJP voters from it.
"This decision by the Muslims harmed the BSP because the party's supporters among the upper castes, backwards and other communities were made to fear that the 'jungle raj' will return to UP again if the SP is elected to power. That is why these communities went to the BJP, Mayawati said.
Lies like the BSP contesting elections not as strongly as the SP were also spread. This was widely publicized, while the truth is contrary because the BSP's fight with the BJP is political as well as ideological, she added, adding this also took away the anti-BJP Hindu votes, too, from her party.
She also said that the Muslim community has made a mistake by trusting the SP instead of the time-tested BSP. The Mayawati-led party had contested all the 403 seats on its own but managed to win just one -- Rasra in Maharajganj.
Had there been a triangular contest in Uttar Pradesh then the results would have been as per the expectations of BSP. Then BJP could have been stopped from coming to power. In all, the Muslim community was with BSP but its vote went to SP," she said.
Mayawati urged the leaders and workers of her party not to get bogged down with the results, but to learnt from the defeat and take the party forward.
The BSP had fielded 97 Muslim nominees in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh polls while the SP had fielded 64 candidates from the minority community.
Thirty six of the 36 winning Muslim candidates are from the Akhilesh Yadav-led party. In addition to jailed Azam Khan, his son Abdullah Azam and Nahid Hasan from Kairana won on SP tickets. Muslims constitute around 20 per cent of the population in Uttar Pradesh.
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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.
