Express News Service
LUCKNOW: Cutting short his campaign trail in poll-bound Karnataka in the wake of the loss of 70 lives in rain and thunderstorm in UP on Wednesday night, CM Yogi Adityanath rescheduled his programme to reach Agra on Friday evening.
Notably, Opposition, including Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah had tweeted on Thursday referring to Yogi’s absence from the state when more than 70 people had lost their lives in a thunderstorm.
Yogi, who was in Karnataka to campaign for the upcoming assembly elections, decided to leave Karnataka a day ahead of his plan to visit Agra, which had the maximum number of casualties 47 of 70 in the state in Wednesday night’s storm.
“The CM will reach Agra on Friday evening and stay overnight in the Taj city. On Saturday morning he will inspect storm-affected areas and may meet some of the affected families. Then he will proceed to Kanpur. At both places, he will be holding review meetings with the administration and taking stock of the relief measures post-destruction. He will then return to Lucknow on Saturday evening and will then leave for Karnataka again either on Saturday itself or Sunday morning where he will remain for the next three to four days,” said the government sources.
On Thursday, while offering his condolences for the massive loss of life and property, Karnataka Chief Minister and senior Congress member Siddaramaiah tweeted: “At least 64 people have lost their lives due to a storm in Uttar Pradesh. My heartfelt condolences to the families who have lost their loved ones. I am sorry your CM is needed here in Karnataka. I am sure he will return soon and attend to his work there.”
While BSP chief Mayawati attacked both CM Yogi and PM Modi saying that they were not bothered about the destruction and deaths in the state while being busy with poll meetings in Karnataka, SP chief and former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav also demanded that the CM return to UP at the earliest.
“The CM should leave campaigning for the Karnataka elections immediately and return to UP. He has been elected to solve the problems of UP and not Karnataka. If he does not return even under these circumstances, he should make his muthh in Karnataka,” Yadav had tweeted.
UP Congress chief Raj Babbar too spoke out against Yogi’s absence.
“People lost their lives due to a natural calamity but what makes it worse is the UP government’s attitude. The UP CM should have been in the state supervising the relief and rescue but he is in Karnataka, busy with campaigning,” Babbar said.
However, the CM office claimed that relief was provided to the affected people and more than 90% of it was completed by Thursday night itself.
