All-Woman PAC Battalions

UP Forms State’s First All-Woman PAC Battalions

The Uttar Pradesh government on Monday announced the formation of the state’s first three all-woman battalions of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC), informed CMO officials.

The move comes with the aim to entrust the responsibility of the security of the state to women.
Also, women’s help desks were set up at all 1,584 police stations in the state by appointing women to beat constables.

“In India, women are considered a form of ‘Shakti’. It is worth mentioning that, along with making the women’s power of the state strong, and self-reliant, giving them a safe environment is in the priority of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. “While the daughters and women of the state are becoming self-reliant by taking advantage of the schemes of the Yogi government by joining self-employment with employment, the Yogi government has also given them an important role in the police forces to give them a safe environment,” read an official statement.

The battalion has been named after Veer Naris. Under the program, 20 percent of the police force of the state was reserved for the appointment of women, so that women could be made self-reliant along with given security.

Three Provincial Sashastra Seema Bal PAC woman battalions are being established in the name of brave and courageous women in the state.

These three battalions are being named after Rani Avantibai Lodhi, Uday Devi, and Jhalkari Bai, who sacrificed their lives in the freedom struggle of India. They are being established at Badaun, Lucknow, and Gorakhpur. The process of posting 1262 posts in one women’s battalion of PAC is going on. This includes the posts of one senanayak, three deputy Senanayak, nine assistant senanayak, one shivirpal, 24 inspectors, 108 head constables, 842 scavengers, and cooks.

“In order to listen to the problems of daughters and women coming to the police station and for their speedy disposal, the Yogi government has set up women’s help desks in 1584 police stations (including GRP) by appointing women to beat constables. For this, a reception was set up especially for women in the police station premises so that they could feel free to speak to the female constable,” the statement added.

So far, 3,98,686 complaints have been received through the Women Help Desk, out of which 3,89417 complaints have been resolved. Similarly, a total of 47,855 cases have been registered against 1,14,269 accused through the help desk. Of these, 81,011 criminals have been arrested. Also, in 3,55,519 cases, the senior officers of the police stations took the feedback of women.

A total of 10417 women police beats have been constituted in 1535 police stations of the state. In these newly formed women police beats, 20740 women-beat police officers have been appointed.

“Women-beat officers play an important role in curbing crime and criminals by establishing communication with women in the village. Not only this, but she is also making women aware about the schemes and programs being run by the Yogi government for the welfare of women. Shakti Mobile was formed to prevent crimes related to women across the state, which is taking legal action against the criminals with the counseling of the victim’s family. 4.84 lakh women were assisted through women helpline,” noted CMO.

To crack down on online crimes against women, a women’s cyber cell was formed at the cyber police station by the state government.

Through this, prompt and effective action is being taken on cyberstalking and cyberbullying complaints on women’s cyber cell, the internet, and other social media apps.

“At the same time, 61 women’s reporting police posts, counseling centers, and women’s police stations were formed in remote tehsils of the districts. In these outposts and police stations, women are registering complaints regarding crimes related to women, and domestic violence. Quality disposal of cases like complaints of women, dowry harassment, domestic violence, and triple talaq is being done at these centers. 3195 Anti-Romeo squads were formed in the state to take action against the men who molest daughters. 28,33,893 shoahdas were checked by them at 6,75,143 places,” added the statement. (ANI)

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Akhilesh Politicising Kanpur Acccident

Akhilesh Is Politicising Kanpur Accident: BJP MP

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh Ashok Bajpai on Monday slammed SP chief Akhilesh Yadav for saying that the Kanpur accident was due to bad roads and added that instead of expressing grief, he was politicizing the incident.

Speaking to ANI, Ashok Bajpai said, “Instead of expressing grief over the Kanpur accident, Akhilesh Yadav is playing politics on it and I think it does not suit him.” The accident was unfortunate.”
Bajpai further slammed Akhilesh Yadav and said that during Yadav’s government, the entire road had potholes.

“During Akhilesh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh there were no potholes in the road, the entire road was covered with potholes. It is now that the conditions of roads have improved and are one of the best in the state,” the BJP MP told ANI.

BJP Upper House MP from Uttar Pradesh further told ANI, “I feel pity for Akhilesh Yadav because most roads have been constructed under the Bharatiya Janata Party government, whether it is the government of Uttar Pradesh or the central government. Be it the construction of national highways or expressways or local roads, such large-scale roads were never built after independence”.

“I would like to inform Akhilesh Yadav that special attention has been paid to the quality of the construction of the road during BJP rule,” he added

Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday attacked the ruling BJP over road accidents in Uttar Pradesh, alleging that the Kanpur tragedy was a result of the poor condition of roads in the state.

In a statement issued from the SP headquarters on Sunday, Akhilesh alleged that the road accident victims are not even getting ambulances under the BJP government. He also alleged that the injured in the Kanpur incident, in which 26 people lost their lives, were taken to hospital on motorcycles.

Akhilesh said that roads across UP are in shambles and are marred with potholes. (ANI)

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Durga Puja Pandal Fire In UP

Durga Puja Pandal Fire In UP’s Bhadohi: 5 Dead

Five people, including three children, have so far died after a fire broke out at a Durga Puja pandal in Uttar Pradesh’s, Bhadoi district, police said on Monday.

The fire broke out on Sunday in the Aurai town at the pandal during the Aarti session to mark the Saptami or the seventh day of Navratri festivities.
Bhadohi DM, Gaurang Rathi said today, “The death toll in the Bhadohi Durga Puja pandal fire incident has risen to five. Three children and two women have died.”

Of the five deceased, three people – one Jai Devi and her two grandchildren- belonged to the same family, which has left the family in a state of shock.

Jai Devi’s husband said, “Along with my wife, three of her daughters-in-law and two grandchildren had gone to the pandal. While the woman and one of the children died in hospital, one more child died today morning at home”.

Earlier on Monday, it was reported that three people had died in the incident.

“The death toll has reached three in the Bhadohi Durga Puja pandal matter. A 12-year-old boy, a 10-year-old boy, and a 45-year-old woman died in the incident, “the DM said.” “

On Sunday night, the Bhadohi SP, Anil Kumar informed about the incident saying that the fire broke at the time of aarti.

“At around 9 pm, a fire broke out at Durga Puja pandal in Bhadohi as it was the time of aarti. Around 10-15 people were injured and were immediately rushed to the hospital,” the SP said.

Gaurang Rathi, the Bhadohi DM informed that the incident happened prime facie because of a short circuit.

“Around 150 people were present during the Durga Puja aarti when the fire broke out. 52 people were admitted to different hospitals. People having 30–40 percent burns have been admitted to trauma centers and every patient is stable. Prime facie, the incident happened due to a short circuit, further probe is on,” the DM said late Sunday night. (ANI)

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Kanpur Road Accident toll

UP: Death Toll In Kanpur Road Accident Rises To 26

The death toll in the Kanpur road accident in Uttar Pradesh, where a tractor trolley carrying pilgrims overturned, rose to 26 on Saturday.

The incident took place in the Ghatampur area of Kanpur district on late Saturday evening.

The tractor trolley carrying devotees was returning from Unnao. Following the accident, the police rushed to the spot and started the rescue operation along with the locals.

The injured were sent to the community health center immediately for treatment. Five injured people have been referred to Kanpur Hallet Hospital.

“A total of 26 people have lost their lives and others are injured. The pilgrims were returning from the Chandika Devi temple in Fatehpura. The injured people have been sent to Hallet hospital. The investigation is underway. “Rescue work has been completed,” said Vishak G Iyer, District Magistrate, Kanpur.

Further details into the matter are awaited.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh to the next kin of each of the deceased while the injured would be given Rs 50,000, said the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

“Distressed by the tractor-trolley mishap in Kanpur. My thoughts are with all those who have lost their near and dear ones. Prayers with the injured. The local administration is providing all possible assistance to the affected,” tweeted the PMO.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that the senior officers have been instructed to reach the spot immediately.

“The road accident in Kanpur district is very heart-wrenching. The District Magistrate and other senior officers have been directed to reach the spot immediately and conduct relief and rescue operations on a war footing and make arrangements for proper treatment of the injured. Wishing a speedy recovery to the injured,” tweeted CM Yogi.

“The loss of life in this accident is very sad. My condolences are with the bereaved family. “Praying to Lord Shri Ram to grant the departed souls a place at his feet and the families of the dead to bear this unfathomable loss,” he added. (ANI)

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Wall collapse

4 Dead, 9 Rescued As Noida Housing Society’s Wall Collapses; Yogi Condoles Deaths

Four people were killed after the boundary wall of a residential complex in Sector 21 of Noida wall collapsed on Tuesday morning.

According to Noida District Magistrate, Suhas LY, the incident took place after the boundary wall of the Jal Vayu Vihar Society collapsed during the cleaning work of a drain adjacent to it.
The drain cleaning was conducted by the Noida Authority.

Police and fire personnel were deployed at the spot.

While nine workers have been rescued, the personnel of NDRF and Fire Brigade teams are conducting searches.

“As a precautionary means, the areas near the Jal Vayu Vihar are currently being searched and rescue and fire teams have deployed here,” Suhas LY, District Magistrate, Noida said.

A guard of the society told ANI that 13 persons were deployed in the repair and maintenance of the drain when the boundary wall collapsed around 10 am.

Officials said nine workers have been rescued so far.

Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath expressed his grief over the loss of lives in the incident and has directed senior officials to reach the spot immediately and continue rescue operations on a war footing.

“Unfortunately, four people died. 9 people were shifted to a hospital for better treatment. NDRF and Fire Brigade teams are conducting the last search mission. FIR will be lodged and action will be taken,” Alok Singh, Commissioner of Police, Noida said.

The Noida District Magistrate said a detailed investigation will be conducted to ascertain the cause of the wall collapse.

The DM said that one of the injured is undergoing treatment at the district hospital. (ANI)

‘Govt Showed Unusual Hurry In Forming SIT To Probe Zubair Case’

Nutan Thakur, a lawyer in the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court, feels Yogi Government action in AltNews case smacks of unethical bias

I have been following the cases registered against AltNews co-founder Mohammad Zubair in Uttar Pradesh under various Sections of IPC. In all, there are six first information reports (FIRs) filed against the fact-checker Mohammad Zubair.

These FIRs mainly pertain to making alleged sarcastic comments against a news channel anchor, hurting sentiments of Hindu community, making objectionable comments on religious deities, uploading provocative posts etc. in Sitapur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Ghaziabad, Muzaffarnagar and Hathras districts of the state. Each case is being handled by a separate Investigating Officer (IO).

One fine day, out of the blue, the Uttar Pradesh government orders setting up a special investigation team (SIT) headed by an IPS officer to oversee the bunch of cases. As the proceedings go, all the IOs will now need to submit their findings or evidence to the SIT head.

There are separate provisions in the CRPC and a proper channel for the formation of an SIT but the “unnecessary haste” shown in the Mohammad Zubair case apparently reflects a political bias.

As far as I can make out, none of the charges is as complicated that an Inspector or a Sub-Inspector rank officer in a station (where the FIR is registered) cannot investigate and submit a charge sheet.

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And contrary to the official claim, I am sure this will not only slow down the investigation but also affect the morale of ground-level investigation officers. For, this (formation of SIT) is also, in a way, about questioning their ability.

It has been about a week since the formation of the SIT, but nothing new has come out yet. As far as the process goes, team members are selected for the SIT after which it begins it probe. So, if you see, this could also be a ploy to further delay the investigations and keep the case in suspension. Such delay tactics are often used to keep an accused in custody and deny him bail from a court of law.

Zubair claims himself to be a fact-checker and none of the cases against him (in UP) are related to his ‘vocation’. I have not gone through his ‘findings’ but if his ‘acts’ have come to such a level that he has been booked for other offenses, his primary ‘occupation’ is also a matter of investigation.

But here, the purpose of registering criminal cases against Zubair seems dubious. It is more like to teach him a lesson for standing up against a particular ideology. Such retributive actions only reflect the ‘anxiety’ of the Uttar Pradesh government to prove its muscle power in silencing the critics.

As told to Rajat Rai

‘Yogi Govt Tactics Can Break Samajwadis’ Bones, Not Our Resolve’

Dilip Kumar Pandey, 27, president of Samajwadi Student Association, Mau, alleges that BJP won Uttar Pradesh by polarising people and manipulating EVMs

I have been associated with the Samajwadi Party for the past 10 years. I had joined the movement when I was just 18. A year after joining the party, in 2012, it formed the government in Uttar Pradesh under the leadership of Akhilesh Yadav ji. In those five years, he brought major developments in the state.

But all his development works were undone when the BJP came to power. The state has been set back by at least 25 years in terms of progress. In this election, we tried our best to win the people’s trust. We aimed to bring back the glory to the state.

In our manifesto, we focused on youths, education, jobs and farmers. We wanted to corner the government on these issues in which they failed badly.

And the response we got during election rallies and roadshows was immense. A sea of the crowd that was turning up to listen to Akhilesh ji was the vindication of his popularity and the change people wanted to see.

ALSO READ: ‘Women Safety Worsoned Under Yogi Rule In UP’

We tried our best to win the elections but we failed. Probably, the BJP was able to polarise people on Hindu-Muslim issues. Or they managed to manipulate the EVMs. I don’t see any consolidated reason that made us lose the elections. I also seriously doubt the neutrality of the election commission. The elections are no more fair in this country. The entire country witnessed how EVMs were illegally ferried in lorries and were captured by our workers. The BJP has manipulated the entire system.

But, this failure has not broken the SP workers rather strengthened us. We are Samajwadis. Sticks and stones may break our bones, but they will not be able to crush our determination. We work among the people and for the people. It’s because of our continuous efforts, the party performed very well in the elections.

Our seats have gone up from 47 to 125. In 39 seats, which we lost, the vote margin was less than 2,000. Similarly, there were around 90 seats where the margin was less than 5,000 votes. The vote share of the party also rose from 22% to 32%. If you consider the postal ballots, 51.5 per cent of votes were cast in favour of the SP alliance.

We are now preparing for the general elections in 2024. The BJP has failed in every respect in governance at the Centre also. They can’t control inflation, they don’t have any foreign policy, China has intruded into our territory and this list goes on…

We believe that our leader Akhilesh Yadav ji will have a bigger role to play in the fight against the BJP at a country level.

Akhilesh ji has a vision for this country. When you meet him, you’ll become his fan. We believe that he can pull this country out of the current problems.

As told to Md Tausif Alam

High Timewomen Safety Became An Electoral Issue

‘Women Safety Hasn’t Improved, But Worsened Under Yogi’

Raveena Nijjar, a 26-year-old employee with a software group in Noida (Uttar Pradesh), says it is high timewomen safety became an electoral issue

I have been catcalled, molested and harassed at public places, not once but multiple times. This is not just my story but the story of every woman out there in India. But this story becomes more horrible for women when it comes to Uttar Pradesh.

I am a 26-year-old girl, who works in a software company in Noida and consider myself strong and independent. I think I am brave and project myself as one. Despite this outward self-assurance, there’s deep down a constant fear of being harmed — molested, kidnapped, raped — when I am alone out there on the road.

I have seen BJP electoral campaign which speaks about women feeling safe in the state under Yogi Adityanath rule. I beg to differ. Instead of improving, the situation has only deteriorated in the past few years. There’s been continuous rise of crime against women and the intensity of the crime has been increasing each passing day.

You open the newspaper and you see horrible stories of crime against women splashed all over — raped for protesting against sexual advances, burnt alive for dowry, acid poured for refusing proposal… the list goes on. If you further focus at the place of the news, you’ll see the state of Uttar Pradesh where a majority of such incidents are happening.

On top of this, the saddest part is the attitude of political parties towards our safety. It’s bizarre and outrageous to make such claims that the incumbent government in Uttar Pradesh has addressed the issue of women safety in the state.

ALSO READ: The Monk Who Sold Hardline Hindutva

Though the recent claim by the current government that UP women can go out at night without fear is not even close to the truth, this can be a point that women should not let go. If a political leader has talked about it, women should come together, rally around this and press for it in this election in Uttar Pradesh. We don’t need such lip service; we need real safety.

Our political leaders are far from reality on the ground. I believe that it’s time for women in Uttar Pradesh to hold political parties accountable and demand safety for themselves. We should make it an election issue now. High time.

This country is talking about increasing the participation of women in the workforce. But this participation will only increase when the government addresses the core issue of women safety. I work at night shifts and the shift ends at an odd hour, when the entire road is deserted. It’s every day’s fear for me and other girls to reach home safely.

I have spent some time in other states like Karnataka (in Bengaluru) and Maharashtra (in Mumbai). As a woman, I have felt safer travelling around there. But, when you land in Uttar Pradesh (in Noida), you suddenly feel many pair of eyes chasing you. However, the situation is better in cities compared to the hinterland of the state, where the horror stories of crime and injustices against women can send shivers down your spine.

As told to Md. Tausif Alam

Life Safer for Women in UP

‘Yogi Didn’t Change Policemen, He Changed Policing’

Shruti Gupta, an independent Chartered Accountant in Lucknow, says initiatives like emergency response and pink booths have made life safer for women in UP

I am a Chartered Accountant and till about a few years ago, I was working with a private company in Lucknow. Three years ago, I started my own firm, along with my husband (also a CA) and feel good about taking that decision. What caused this transition and gave me the confidence to take the plunge is directly associated with the law and order situation of Uttar Pradesh in general and Lucknow in particular.

When I was an employee, my daily concern was to wrap up work in time and reach home before it was dark. Even though Lucknow is a cultured city, traveling late for a woman alone caused concerns. Since accounts is stream where, several times in a year, workload get heavy, it would be stressful. This affected work and family both.

I always thought it would be better to start one’s own independent business but everyone in the family and friends circles advised against us. For, it would mean dealing with unwanted elements, even paying up extortion money to avoid unpleasant incidents.

However, two years of Adityanath Yogi taking over as Chief Minister and we could see a change in the situation. Crime rates dropped and there was a marked improvement in the law and order, be it organised law-breakers or petty street incidents. I would say that CM Yogi didn’t change the police staff but he changed the policing.

One particular incident on a late evening during lockdown sealed my decision to start my own accounting services setup. On that day, despite the lockdown, an important work warranted our physical presence in the office. By the time our work was wrapped up, it was dark and no scope of finding a public or private vehicle to return home.

ALSO READ: BJP Did Good Work In UP, But Also Polarised Society

We had heard of Yogi Govt initiative of emergency helpline 112 but were apprehensive about it, having seen how state services function in Uttar Pradesh. Yet, I took a chance and called the emergency response line.

Much to my surprise, a polite lady answered the call and patiently took down my details. I was told that help was on its way and the lady sub-inspector, Reena Choudhary, also gave her personal mobile number in case of any emergency. And lo, soon enough a PRV (Police Response Vehicle) van arrived at our office with female cops. I was dropped home with a request to avoid violating Covid curbs in future.

The same year, 24×7 Pink Police Booths, to assist women in distress emerged in the city. Such progressive steps were unimaginable in Uttar Pradesh. I needed no further persuasion to set up my own accounting firm. Having worked in the sector for three years, I could generate a respectable client base and, a few hiccups later, we soon reached a break-even point. From there, it was easy to turn corners and now I am happy to see a stable structure in place.

I sincerely want to thank the new dispensation in Lucknow to give the courage and confidence to a woman to start on her own. As I mentioned earlier, the change was not brought about by transferring of police personnel and placing one’s own people in place, as was the norm in earlier governments, but by changing the policing system. With a vigilant police presence in the city, there is no scope for miscreants. It is heartening to see women in khaki guarding the nook and corner of Lucknow on swift-moving pink scootys.

The stress and silly mistakes that came with it are now a thing of the past. I have a much relaxed work atmosphere and there is peace of mind. Parents and relatives, who were opposed to the idea of launching a business venture in UP, are happy and satisfied now. Discipline flows from the top and this is what we saw in last five years.

As told to Rajat Rai

63 Criminals Killed In Encounters Under Yogi Rule

The Monk Who Sold Hardline Hindutva

This is indeed a diabolically crass crossword tangle, juxtaposed within the terribly tangled twists of UP politics. The absurdity of this bad theatre unfolds the incestuous dilemmas of a typically clichéd Catch-22 spectacle, and though much of it is behind closed doors, the neon lights are out blinking green and red. With extreme Hindutva and the power play of the RSS-BJP and Sangh Parivar as backdrop, and a rising Samajwadi Party with a formidable alliance on the other side.

Anything can happen in this thriller, the end seems unpredictable, and that is why the excitement and the suspense.

For the first time since 2014, the BJP and RSS are feeling “unsafe” in Uttar Pradesh. And this is the reading on the spot, on the dot, at the epicenter of the Hindi heartland, by seasoned journalists based out there (and not in Delhi), and who have faced the brunt of the mobs since the black day of the Babri Masjid demolition in Ayodhya. Not only the BJP, it seems both Yogi and Modi are feeling unsafe, insecure, shaky, jerky, stuck on a sticky wicket.

And herein lies the obsessive infatuations of power play; Season One of this Soap Opera is out there, free of cost, for all of us to see. Including for the politically sharp UP voter, more addicted to the underbelly of caste and power politics, then on the nuances of the political economy of development. That is why what it is and what makes UP the king-maker in Delhi, and also the worst state in terms of the Human Development Index. But no one cares a damn, neither the establishment, nor those who are toiling down there, in the invisible margins of ‘history from below’.

The first clue of this dark thriller replete with catharsis and anti-catharsis was given by Amit Shah. Call it a Freudian Slip, it indicated the prophetic fatedness of power. He said that Yogi’s victory in UP in these assembly polls will pave the way for the victory of Narendra Modi in 2024! Thus is the interwoven complexity of victories and defeats. That is, if Yogi loses now, Modi too must lose three years later. That is his fatedness. But if Yogi wins, then, what happens?

That is the clue which no one can predict. Either way, it seems a double whammy for Modi. Bad prophecy and bad faith and bad breaking news multiplied three times over.

The BJP, Yogi and Modi are unsafe in UP because they can see the rapidly shifting electoral sands, and they just can’t be sinking sinking drinking water. Yogi reportedly desperately wanted to contest from Ayodhya. He wanted a national profile and thereby become the new Hindutva Hriday Samrat. Obviously, the top brass in Delhi hated this idea. And no one knows what the top brass in Nagpur or Delhi’s Jhandewalan want or think – they being so secretive!

The clear indication is, as a hardened journalist from deep inside the Hindi heartland said, Yogi has become a bone in the throat of the Sangh Parivar, especially Modi. They can’t swallow him, nor they can throw the bone out. The RSS, which originally seems to have propped him up from nowhere, seems to be finding itself in the same dilemma – much as they tried to find another extremist Hindutva icon to replace the ‘Acche Din Messiah’ at the Centre. That is why this Catch-22 scenario.

When Yogi was first promoted during and after the last assembly elections in the state, journalists would wonder what to do with the press release he would routinely sent – he was holding no official position in the BJP. He was a BJP MP from Gorakhpur, head of the sprawling and influential Math, and much more far-right of even the BJP. He simply had no locus standi whatsoever! Nor was he a mass leader in UP or elsewhere. So why promote him?

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Yogi’s promotion was thus taken with a pinch of salt across the BJP, as well as in the secular media. His consequent actions therefore were predictable, inevitable and proved the real worth and meaning of this man. He did exactly what he was supposed to do. From the encounters, to the brutal assaults on peaceful anti-CAA protesters, to unleashing the Romeo Squads against young couples. And the burning pyre in the night of a girl violently brutalized in Hathras, barricaded from all sides by the repressive state apparatus, was seen as a sign of how a regime can turn so short, nasty and brutish.

So those who thought that Hathras depicted the final truth, had to only wait for the third surge of the killer Delta epidemic, even while the health system totally collapsed in UP, and dead bodies started floating on the holy river, with the sandy shores of Ganga full of dead bodies buried hurriedly with tattered clothes flying as miserably tragic signposts. So much so, dead bodies were being cremated in parks and public spaces, and huge fences were quickly erected outside cremation grounds in Lucknow to stop reporters and photographers to capture the mass tragedy.

And, yet, an ad campaign was soon unleashed apparently costing crores. The same tactics – turn the truth topsy-turvy, tell a lie a million times so that it appears as the truth, camouflage the bitter reality and tell the world how lovely it all is. It kind of triggered a sick taste in the mouth even as the cremations continued and so did the mass mourning, in UP and across India. That sick taste continues to remain, and will continue to haunt Yogi, Modi and the BJP in the days to come.

The Gorakhpur Math, locals say, started in as a secular monastic Shaivite mode, close to the Bhakti ethos, assimilating all currents and respecting all communities and religions, almost treading on the same path as the wisdom of Kabirpanthis. The Nath cult was universally tolerant and secular. The turn towards extremism came with Mahant Digvijay Nath participating in the sacrilege by installing idols at the Babri Masjid, joining the Hindu Mahasabha and contesting elections. He was also one of the accused in Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination.

His rise and fall was followed by Mahant Avaiydanath, the guru of Yogi Adityanath, both ‘Bisht and Thakur’, who turned the original Nath philosophy upside down and pushed it into hardline Hindutva, even more extreme than the softer, moderate line followed in the early days by the Jan Sangh, with leaders like Atal Behari Vajpayee at the helm. The muscle-flexing and street power they hold in Gorakhpur with huge property in their grasp, with the aggressive vanguards of the Hindu Yuva Vahini calling the shots, is well known in the town. Yogi is a product of this ethos. Indeed, associated with the BJP as a winning candidate from Gorakhpur, he is not really a die-hard BJP or Sangh Parivar loyalist. That is another dilemma for the party.

The situation thereby is complex: Modi is apparently not with Yogi, and Yogi is apparently not with Modi. And not only that, even backward leaders like Keshav Chandra Maurya, the current deputy CM, and several MLAs, are apparently not with Yogi. Maurya is eyeing the CM post for long. Hence, there is a hidden rift within rift within the fragile fortress, and a possibly simmering implosion. Truly, when it comes to UP, anything can happen. 

Come what may, as of now, the BJP is on a sticky wicket. And the ground below its feet seems to be slipping. Surely, as Amit Shah so prophetically predicted, perhaps, paving the way for 2024.