Tej Pratap Yadav, the elder son of Lalu Prasad Yadav, has turned into a big fan of UP CM Yogi Adityanath. During a recent visit to Mirzapur, he publicly said that Yogi would score a hat-trick in the forthcoming polls. “BJP will return to power in UP,” he said. He didn’t stop there. The former Bihar minister, who was in the news during the recent Bihar polls for opposing his own family, also said that ‘I do not support Akhilesh’. Tej Pratap’s video call with the SP chief had gone viral during the polls. He fielded his own candidates on several seats under the banner of Janshakti Janta Dal, but Akhilesh supported RJD, led by Tejashwi, the younger brother of Tej Pratap.
Pradhans turn admins for villages for 6 months
UP CM Yogi Adityanath has signed an order to make all village pradhans the administrators of their panchayats for the next six months. The decision was taken as the tenure of 57,000 village pradhans was ending this month and elections are yet to be scheduled. With the caste survey to fix reservations just starting and UP assembly polls just nine months away, it’s unlikely that the panchayat polls would be held soon. Earlier, when panchayat elections could not be conducted before the completion of the tenure, government officials such as Assistant Development Officers or Block Development Officers were appointed as administrators.
Bahubali neta becomes preacher of Sanatan
UP’s Bahubali neta Raghuraj Pratap Singh turned a religious preacher at a recent discourse in Prayagraj. “All Muslims today were Hindus in the past. They did not come from Arabia. Those who were faithless and meek converted from their religion. The brave ones and sacrificing people remained steadfast in their religion, Sanatan,” he said. He went on to say that if Sanatan becomes weak, the Constitution will be in danger. In an indirect reference to the India bloc, he said, “Many people must have been seen saying, “Jai Samvidhan” (Hail Constitution).’ But let us tell you, the day India ceases to be Hindu-majority, they will tear up the Constitution and throw it away.”
Namita bajpai
Our correspondent in Uttar Pradesh
namita.bajpai@newindianexpress.com