Lucknow: Voting for the bye-elections to Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh commenced on Sunday amid tight security. The bypolls were necessitated after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya vacated the Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats respectively following their election to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council. Termed by Adityanath a rehearsal for the 2019 Lok Sabha election the bye-elections are witnessing a triangular contest involving the ruling BJP the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress. Representational image. PTI The saffron party has fielded Kaushalendra Singh Patel from Phulpur and Upendra Dutt Shukla from Gorakhpur against the SP s Pravin Nishad and Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel respectively. The Congress has nominated Sureetha Kareem for Gorakhpur and Manish Mishra for Phulpur Lok Sabha seat. Ten candidates are in the fray from Gorakhpur while 22 candidates are contesting from Phulpur. Apart from the Provincial Armed Constabulary and homeguards 65 companies of central paramilitary forces have been deployed to ensure peaceful bypolls. In Gorakhpur parliamentary constituency there are 970 polling centres and 2141 polling booths while in Phulpur there are 793 polling centres and 2059 polling booths. According to the Election Commission there 19.61 lakh voters in Phulpur parliamentary constituency while there are 19.49 lakh electorate for Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat. As many as 4 728 Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines are being used in the bypoll and provisions for webcasting from 95 critical booths have been made. Gorakhpur is significant for the BJP as it is the bastion of the chief minister who represented the seat in the Lok Sabha five times. Prior to Yogi Adityanath the seat was represented in Parliament by his mentor Yogi Avaidyanath thrice. Phulpur once represented by India s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru witnessed a saffron surge in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and Maurya won there. Follow LIVE updates on UP by-election here
.story-content span .story-content p .story-content div color:#000!important;font-family: open sans Arial!important;font-size:15px!important ALSO READ Yogi govt taking credit for Lucknow Metro my other projects: Akhilesh Buoyed by civic poll sweep Adityanath to roll out 12 new policies in Dec Improved policing boosted investors confidence in UP: Yogi Adityanath Mission 2019: CM Adityanath to constitute Team Yogi after Gujarat results Yogi Adityanath in consolidation mode: Disbands government schemes posts span.p-content div id = div-gpt line-height:0;font-size:0 On February 3 2018 local policemen of Jhinjina village in Uttar Pradesh s Shamli district waited to nab an extortionist near a temple where he was supposed to come and collect the bounty. None of them had anticipated what they would lay their hands on. The police had received a complaint that the man had demanded Rs 10 million from a local panchayat member as blood money for not killing his family members. When two men on a motorcycle came to the designated spot to collect the extortion money they were apprehended by the police. The two men - one carrying a .32 bore pistol and the other a .315 rifle - opened fire on the policemen. After a protracted gun fight when the sound of shooting subsided the policemen began their combing operations. They stumbled upon an injured man named Akbar (alias Moosa) a resident of a nearby village in Shamli district in addition to cash guns and live ammunition. Akbar who suffered gunshot wounds in the battle was taken to hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. On digging out the man s credentials the policemen found that Akbar was wanted in 13 cases - that included charges of robbery criminal intimidation stealing property dacoity carrying dangerous weapons and drug running. For the residents of villages in Shamli who were victims of Akbar s reign of terror his killing couldn t have come at a better time. Akbar is one of the 32 criminals shot dead by the Uttar Pradesh police since the Bharatiya Janata Party stormed to power in the state. The state s chief minister Yogi Adityanath has told the legislature that there have been more than 1 000 encounters since he has come to power. His government isn t finished yet. In addition to eliminating outlaws over 2 500 have been arrested and bounties have been placed on the heads of over 1 700 criminals. Uttar Pradesh s residents have often lived in fear. Women and girls even in big cities such as Lucknow and Kanpur have been victims of sexual harassment catcalls and stalking. The state s western region (where Akbar was killed) is particularly notorious for extortion gun running and rapes. A look at the condition of the state and prisons inherited by the Yogi Adityanath government from his predecessors partly explains his government s trigger-happy approach. Even for a state like Uttar Pradesh where poor criminal record keeping is accentuated by police reluctance to register cases the crime situation and prison scenarios are shocking. (See Graphic) Between 2008 to 2016 when the Bahujan Samaj Party led by Mayawati and the Samajwadi Party led by Akhilesh Yadav were in power kidnapping cases in the state shot up by 193 per cent - higher than the national average. During Mayawati s tenure kidnapping and robbery cases had shot up by 64 per cent and 51 per cent respectively. There was no let down in murder cases during her tenure with killings rising more than the national average. During her successor Akhilesh Yadav s tenure it was the state s women who bore the brunt of the criminality. Between 2012 to 2016 rapes in the state rose by 145 per cent. Gang rapes which have been recently included as a separate crime head by the Home Ministry increased by 19 per cent even as gang rape cases across India showed a marginal decline. There was a three-fold increase in the number of assaults on women with an intention to outrage her modesty during this period while cases of sexual harassment more than doubled. Kidnapping cases meanwhile spiked by 79 per cent during Akhilesh Yadav s tenure. By 2016 the state witnessed the maximum number of guns and ammunition seized anywhere in India. It topped the charts in crimes against children. The state had the highest number of crimes against Dalits - one in every four crimes against India s lowest castes was committed in the state. The Western part of Uttar Pradesh where the police have carried out most of the encounters reported the maximum crimes in the state. While crime rates would be higher in India s most populous state Uttar Pradesh s criminals seem to have been impervious to the force of law used against them in the past. In many ways the state s patronage of criminals by the previous governments has neutralised the fear of incarceration and incentives of reformation. Home Ministry figures show that the number of murder convicts jailed in Uttar Pradesh rose 120 per cent between 2008 to 2015. In comparison the number of murder convicts jailed across India during this period rose by 15 per cent. Despite this massive increase in convicted murderers being thrown behind bars there was a 21 per cent increase in attempts to murder in the state. Cases of murder also increased in the state while they showed a decline across India. While jailing criminals did not help contain murders successive state governments failed to even deter other heinous crimes such as rapes. The number of convicted rapists increased by a third in jails across the state but rape cases spiked by 145 per cent. Sexual assaults on women also saw a triple-digit increase during this period. What further makes the crime situation dire in Uttar Pradesh is that while jails don t deter new criminals they also seem to have little effect on habitual offenders. Almost seven per cent of the criminals in jail had been behind bars more than once. Instances of recidivism among criminals declined across India while witnessing a rise in Uttar Pradesh. Even inside jail there seems to have been little incentive to reform the state s criminals. Uttar Pradesh had the highest instances of jail breaks across India and only a fraction of those who escaped from prison were ever apprehended again. Compounding this problem is the paucity of reformative facilities available in the state s jails for prisoners. Despite having the highest number of inmates among all states in India it has one of the lowest number of such prisoners receiving vocational training in jails. The state s burgeoning prisons hold over 88 000 convicts and under-trials. Less than 1 per cent of these prisoners are imparted vocational training that could potentially channelise their criminal energies towards less destructive endeavours. Even among those who are imparted vocational training or have engaged in some kind of productive enterprise their output is abysmal. The state s inmates produced just about Rs 150 million worth of goods in 2015 that s a per capita output value of around Rs 1 700. In comparison states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu which have a fraction of the prisoners in Uttar Pradesh produced goods worth Rs 230 million and Rs 480 million respectively. The vicious cycle of criminality in the state has shown its impact on the state s business environment. Reserve Bank of India statistics show that gross fixed capital formation in the state plummeted 39 per cent between 2012 to 2015. Even as the invested capital in the state increased the productive capital in the state fell by 12 per cent during the same period. An impact of reducing crime on a region s economy and its people can be borne out by what is happening in Philippines whose President Rodrigo Duterte was one of the ASEAN chief guests at this year s Republic Day parade. A look at the daily briefings of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency shows that there have been killings and arrests almost every day after Duterte came to power in July 2016. Philippines media reports suggest that there has been a 22 per cent drop in crime since 2016. Human Rights Watch estimates that more than 3 000 criminals (including suspected drug users) have been killed after Duterte came to power. While crime has reduced there is also enhanced optimism about the impact of Duterte s crackdown on his country s economic prospects. The World Bank estimates The Philippines grew in the first half of 2017 faster than Indonesia Thailand Malaysia and Vietnam but slower than China. Following strong growth in the immediate months after the new administration assumed office in July 2016 the economy had a slow start in the first half of 2017. While the demographic dynamics geographical attributes and criminal profiles of Uttar Pradesh might be different from Philippines there is no denying the fact that diminishing the state s criminality could go a long way in boosting the business profile of the state. After all law & order would be one of the things on the minds of many an investor who had promised to pump in more than Rs 4 trillion in the state during a recently concluded investors summit. With Yogi Adityanath adopting an Iron Fist approach Uttar Pradesh could at best get a temporary reprieve from criminals who had made parts of the state a living hell for its law abiding residents. But his government would have to ensure that this Bang Bang policy doesn t backfire in the times to come. .
By: PTI | Lucknow | Published: March 8 2018 5:27 pm Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath (File) Related News Gorakhpur Phulpur bye-elections: Yogi Adityanath s charisma vs SP-BSP combineUP by-elections: Gorakhpur Phulpur go to polls tomorrow all you need to knowYogi Adityanath invokes Aurangzeb rule goes all out to hold Gorakhpur marginUttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday directed district police chiefs to ensure security of statues of known figures following Dalit icon B R Ambedkar s statue being vandalised in Meerut. The chief minister s directions comes amid a spate of incidents targeting statues and busts of icons in the country. Maintaining law and order is the priority of the state and the government will take strict action against those involved in vitiating it. District police chiefs should remain alert and ensure security of statues of icons he said here. Strict action should be taken against those involved in the Meerut incident and measures should be taken to ensure that such incidents do not recur Adityanath said. The statue of the Dalit icon was vandalised on Tuesday and replaced yesterday by the administration. In Kolkata a bust of Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee was damaged yesterday following the razing of statues of Soviet icon Vladimir Illyich Lenin in Tripura. The bust of Dravidian movement founder E V Ramasamy Periyar in Tamil Nadu s Vellore was also desecrated triggering widespread protests across the state. For all the latest India News download Indian Express App More Related News Ambedkar statue vandalised: Adityanath tells police to ensure security Mayawati says book vandals for sedition UP rights panel probes 4 encounters with 1 FIR script: Suspects on bikes fired at cops Tags: Yogi Adityanath No Comments.
Azamgarh: A statue of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar was allegedly vandalised on Saturday in a village in Azamgarh adding to the string of such incidents in the country targeting political icons and social reformers.The statue of Ambedkar installed in Rajapatti village under Captanganj police station area was found vandalised this morning by the villagers who informed the police SP rural Narendra Pratap Singh said. Infuriated over the incident locals started gathering in the area. Police and senior officials rushed to the village and pacified them the SP said.The repair work has started and efforts are on to identify the miscreants the SP said.Strict action will be taken against all those found involved in the incident the SP added. CommentsThis is the second incident of its kind in the state after a statue was vandalised on Wednesday in Meerut and was later replaced.Similar incidents have also been reported from other parts of the country with statues of communist leader Vladimir Lenin social reformer Ramasamy Periyar s and Jan Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee being vandalised in recent days.
By: PTI | Azamgarh | Published: March 10 2018 8:35 pm The statue of Ambedkar installed in Rajapatti village under Captanganj police station area was found vandalised on Saturday morning. (Photo: Twitter/ANI) Top News WATCH: What happened when Shashi Tharoor took a Hindi vocabulary test?TV actor found hanging at her flat in KolkataFamily Time with Kapil Sharma teaser: Kapil has moved past his controversial phase says waqt bura tha Miscreants allegedly vandalised the statue of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar in a village in Azamgarh adding to the string of such incidents in the country targeting political icons and social reformers. The statue of Ambedkar installed in Rajapatti village under Captanganj police station area was found vandalised on Saturday morning by the villagers who informed the police SP rural Narendra Pratap Singh said. Infuriated over the incident locals started gathering in the area. Police and senior officials rushed to the village and pacified them the SP said. The repair work has started and efforts are on to identify the miscreants the SP said. Strict action will be taken against all those found involved in the incident the SP added. This is the second incident of its kind in the state after a statue was vandalised on Wednesday in Meerut and was later replaced. Similar incidents have also been reported from other parts of the country with statues of communist leader Vladimir Lenin social reformer Ramasamy Periyar s and Jan Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee being vandalised in recent days. For all the latest India News download Indian Express App More Top News Murder at School: The crime that shook the Capital also changed two families forever Pro-freedom slogans raised at Sri Sri s event in Srinagar people leave midway KKumarpushpMar 11 2018 at 2:33 am120 million Dalits should join together and burn down Hindu temple in there areas because Hindus are demolishing Dr Ambedkar statue.once Dalits will start demolishing Hindu temple then these bar barricades Hindus will stop demolishing Dr Ambedkar statue.(0)(0) Reply Sudalaimani SoundararajMar 10 2018 at 9:57 pmThe Bramins in RSS and BJP are responsible for damaging the statue of the father of Indian cos tution. The bramin population in India is almost two percent only . But these people bent on damaging the thirty percent people s icon Ambedkar statue. Whereas the SC/ ST / OBC population is more than eighty percent. So far SC / ST people are keeping quiet but this trend will not continue for ever. Stop damaging the statues of Ambedkar and Periar otherwise these people have to give heavy price.(2)(0) Reply יִםךטאַרןמןאטMar 10 2018 at 9:02 pmHindu-Fascism in full swing(1)(0) Reply
LUCKNOW: This month s Lok Sabha bypolls in Gorakhpur and Phulpur and the Rajya Sabha elections will be major tests for the BSP and the SP to assess the potential for their new bonhomie and judge the public appetite for any future alliance. The elections will also be an opportunity for a public scrutiny of the Opposition unity especially after BSP chief Mayawati dropped hints recently that her party was willing for a quid-pro-quo deal with the SP and the Congress for the Rajya Sabha polls. On Sunday she however ruled out the possibility of an electoral alliance for the Lok Sabha bypolls. Mayawati said if SP and BSP legislators transfer their votes to defeat the BJP in Rajya Sabha and UP Legislative Council polls it should not be seen as an electoral alliance. Our party after holding deliberations with the SP has decided that our party worker will go to Rajya Sabha. In return we will help them in Legislative Council polls she said. The Lok Sabha bypolls are scheduled for March 11 and the elections for Rajya Sabha seats will take place on March 23. The Lok Sabha seats were vacated by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya after the UP assembly polls last year. Gorakhpur is Adityanath s home turf. Senior BJP leader in Uttar Pradesh JPS Rathore said: In this Rajya Sabha election one candidate needs 37 first preference votes to sail through and emerge victorious. Arithmatically the BJP is easily winning eight out of 10 seats. On the ninth seat there could be some sangharsh (contest). At present we have 28 additional votes Rathore added. In the 245-member upper house of Parliament Uttar Pradesh has 31 seats being the most populous state of India. Nine of them are due to fall vacant in April. The seats are represented by Naresh Agarwal Jaya Bachchan Kiranmay Nanda Chaudhary Munwar Saleem Alok Tiwari and Darshan Singh Yadav (all SP) Munquad Ali (BSP) Pramod Tiwari (Congress) and Vinay Katiyar (BJP). Their term ends on April 2. Apart from this election is likely to be held for the 10th Rajya Sabha seat which fell vacant following Mayawati s resignation. She resigned on July 20 2017 nine months before her term was to expire alleging that her voice was being muzzled. With the BJP and its allies storming to power in Uttar Pradesh after the 2017 assembly elections the saffron party is set to wrest a lion s share of these seats in the Council of States as the Rajya Sabha is known. In the 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly the BJP and its allies have 324 seats (BJP s Noorpur MLA died in a road accident in February) followed by the Samajwadi Party - 47 MLAs the BSP - 19 the Congress - seven and the RLD one. During the previous biennial polls to the Rajya Sabha two years ago the SP managed to win six seats by virtue of its strength in the assembly whose members vote in the indirect polling. Confident that the BJP can easily win the Rajya Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh ally http://pagebin.com/LdHH8MWx Apna Dal (Sonelal) leader Arvind Sharma said: Once UP sends new representatives to the Rajya Sabha the BJP-led NDA government will be in a better position in the upper house of Parliament where key bills get stuck in the absence of majority (for the ruling party). Mayawati has also said that the BSP has not fielded any candidate from Phulpur and Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seats but this does not mean party workers will not cast their votes. They will in fact exercise their voting rights appropriately. As per my earlier directives the BSP workers will vote for a candidate who will be in a position to defeat the BJP and there is nothing wrong in it. She said if the BSP votes for the Congress in Madhya Pradesh then the Congress can send one (of its party worker to) Rajya Sabha. If the Congress wants to ensure an easy win for its candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls in Madhya Pradesh then the seven Congress MLAs (in UP) should cast their vote (for the BSP in Rajya Sabha polls) after showing them to the BSP agent. But UP BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi claimed that the BJP will register easy wins and there s no doubt about it. In fact the BSP is confused... Both SP and BSP are in a state of gloom and are fighting for their existence. He added the Congress too is in shock as the BSP has decided to support the SP instead of helping the Congress.
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