The Congress had deferred all poll campaigns across Uttar Pradesh in view of recent spike in coronavirus cases across the country. Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had cancelled an event scheduled to take place in Gautam Buddh Nagar district on Thursday.
New Delhi: The Congress party postponed its ‘Mahila Marathon’ campaign planned across Uttar Pradesh ahead of state Assembly polls due to the COVID-19 situation in the country. The marathon, a part of the Congress party’s election campaign theme ‘Ladki hoon, lad sakti hoon’, was planned across Noida, Varanasi and other parts of Uttar Pradesh in the coming days. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra first gave the election slogan last month.
The Congress had deferred the ‘Ladki hoon, lad sakti hoon’ election campaign in view of recent spike in novel coronavirus cases across the country, according to a report by news agency IANS. This comes a day after videos from the ‘Mahila Marathon’ in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly on Tuesday showed that the event led to a stampede-like situation with girls tripping and falling over each other. An FIR was lodged against Congress district chief Mirza Ashfaque Saqlaini and other unidentified persons following a “stampede-like situation” during a marathon organised by the party in Bareilly.
Bareilly Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Rohit Singh Sajwan said, “A case was lodged on Tuesday night against the organisers of the marathon after a probe by the district administration. A police officer said that three girls fell and sustained injuries during the marathon.”
The SSP said, “We will identify others responsible for the event during further investigation.”
City magistrate Rajiv Pandey said, “Permission was given for 200 children. However, the number of those who actually turned up for the event was much higher.”
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) took suo-moto cognizance of the incident. In a letter to the Bareilly district magistrate, NCPCR asked the district magistrate to submit an action taken report within 24 hours.
“The commission has taken suo moto cognizance from a news report wherein it has been brought to the notice of the commission that a ‘women marathon’ event was organised by the Congress in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh wherein during the programme, due to stampede-like situation, many children fell on each other. It is also noticed by the commission that the slippers and shoes of these children also got scattered,” read the letter written by the Principal Private Secretary to NCPCR Chairperson Dharmendra Bhandari.
“An action taken report with regard to the status of treatment of the injured children in the said incident may please be furnished to the commission within 24 hours and a detailed fact-finding enquiry report may also be shared with the commission within 7 days of receipt of this letter,” the letter stated.
The letter also claimed that prima facie, inviting children in such political activities appears to be in violation of Section 75 of Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, and also a violation of Covid-19 guidelines issued by the state government.
What Congress said
Congress spokesperson Anshu Awasthi alleged that the notice sent by NCPCR was part of a conspiracy hatched by the BJP. “The women of UP have been empowered by the leadership of Priyanka Gandhi. The BJP is doing everything to stop the women from participating in politics. They are using the commission to target us. But we will not stop. Where was the commission when children were walking barefoot during the lockdown imposed due to Covid,” said Awasthi.
Meanwhile, senior Congress leader in Bareilly, Supriya Aron said, “People had gone for pilgrimage to Vaishno Devi and died there after the stampede. What will you call that? It is human nature to move ahead and reach first. These are young girls who are still in school and ran a little bit. I request the mediapersons that if anyone feels offended, I apologise. The entire media wants Congress to come back.”
Yogi Adityanath cancels Noida event
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had cancelled an event, a government function, scheduled to take place in Gautam Buddh Nagar district on Thursday as it reported surge in COVID-19 cases, according to a report by NDTV.
On Tuesday, the Uttar Pradesh government ordered closure of all schools up to Class 10 till January 15 and extended the night curfew by two hours in view of steady increase in COVID-19 cases. In the districts where the number of active cases exceeds 1,000, not more than 100 people will be allowed at marriage ceremonies and other events. Public places like gyms, spas, cinema halls, banquet halls and restaurants will operate at 50 per cent capacity. The night curfew will be imposed from 10 pm to 6 am from Thursday, according to a statement. The decisions were taken at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, on a day the state reported 992 new infection cases.
Currently, no UP district has more that 1,000 coronavirus cases. The CM said genome sequencing has confirmed 23 Omicron variant cases in the state. Tracing and testing of those who came in contact with them should be done, the CM said. He directed that it should be made mandatory for devotees coming to Prayagraj Magh Mela to produce a negative RT-PCR test report, which should not be older that 24 hours.
