LUCKNOW: It was touted to be a major press conference on completion of 100 days of the Yogi Adityanath government today, but the Uttar Pradesh chief minister took only one question leaving the mediapersons wondering.
Adityanath sought the cooperation of newspersons in helping him run the government when a scribe raised a question relating to the plight of small and medium newspapers in the state.
When another journalist rose to ask a question, the chief minister, with folded hands, took leave of the mediapersons.
The 45-year-old saffron-clad Adityanath was flanked by deputy chief ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma at the press conference at the Lok Bhawan, opposite the state legislature complex.
All the ministerial colleagues of Adityanath were seated on the dais along with the chief minister, who unveiled a booklet "100 din vishwas ke" on his government's performance since he assumed office on March 19.
After he read out the highlights, mediapersons prepared to shoot questions. But, he chose to avoid them.
The BJP government, which assumed office on March 19 after bagging 325 of the 403 Assembly seats along with its allies, faces major challenges, some of these being raising funds for the farm loan waiver and law and order issues, including communal clashes.
The loan waiver, a pre-poll promise of the BJP, has the finance department burning the proverbial midnight oil as it tries to offload the sudden fiscal burden of nearly Rs 36,369 crore.
This, coupled with Rs 34,000 crore for the implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations, has put an additional burden of Rs 70,000 crore on the state's coffers.