Just an hour short to reach Kanpur, the car in which Vikas Dubey was being taken, overturned on the highway that was slick with rain and he tried to escape after snatching a gun, according to the police. He was shot dead, like many of his accomplices who, according to the police, had also tried to escape from custody.

Vikas Dubey snatched a pistol from one of the STF (Special Task Force) men escorting him after the accident. He then ran to a nearby field but was surrounded and was asked to surrender, which he refused to do, they added.

There was an exchange of fire and he was killed, they said.

STF officials said there was an encounter as Vikas Dubey, arrested for killing eight policemen on July 3, tried to escape when the vehicle overturned early in the morning.

“Four policemen were injured in the accident today. Vikas Dubey has been killed in police encounter,” said Mohit Agarwal, Inspector General, Kanpur.

Visuals after the incident showed Vikas Dubey being taken away on a stretcher. He was declared dead in hospital.

“After being chased by the police team, he was asked to surrender but he did not and started firing with the intention of killing them. The police team fired back in self-defense after which Vikas Dubey was injured. He was taken to a hospital, where he died during treatment,” Kanpur Police said in a statement.

Evading UP policemen on his trail for five days, Dubey had driven from Kanpur to Faridabad in Haryana, where he escaped from a hotel just before the police arrived. He then drove to Kota in Rajasthan and finally to Madhya Pradesh, without being checked on the 1,500-km journey.

Questions were raised on whether the gangster turned himself in at a time and place of his choosing. Police officer Mohit Agarwal had said: “We had caught many of his associates and a few were killed. So definitely he was trying to save his life and on the run.”

BSP leader Mayawati on Friday took to Twitter to demand a Supreme Court-monitored probe into Vikas Dubey encounter.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav has questioned the encounter, saying it was an attempt to save the government from the secrets Dubey could reveal.

Senior police officers told TheIndianExpress that Dubey could have possibly strategised his arrest to avoid being killed by the police in an “encounter”.

“There are CCTV cameras everywhere and the private security guards inside the temple premises don’t carry guns. A surrender before the police anywhere else would have been risky for him,” a senior officer said.

A petition filed in the Supreme Court last night had asked for security for the gangster and a CBI investigation into a series of encounter killings.

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Another notorious attack on journalist from UP. Government Railway Police personnel relinquished the humanity in him and assaulted a journalist, Amit Kumar, in Uttar Pradesh’s Shamli district. The victim was reportedly arrested and forced to drink urine.

In a series of videos, the officers, identified as SHO Rakesh Kumar, and constable Sunil Kumar can be seen beating up the journalist.

#WATCH Shamli: GRP personnel thrash a journalist who was covering the goods train derailment near Dhimanpura tonight. He says, "They were in plain clothes. One hit my camera&it fell down. When I picked it up they hit&abused me. I was locked up, stripped&they urinated in my mouth" pic.twitter.com/nS4hiyFF1G

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) June 11, 2019

In another video posted by journalist Prashant Kumar, Sharma can be seen explaining how the GRP personnel beat him up, saying that they were unhappy after he had reported on illegal venders on trains.

ANI reported that the two personnel — Rakesh Kumar and Sunil Kumar — who were seen beating up the journalist, were suspended.

Few days ago, 5 journalists were arrested for “objectionable comments” on the Chief Minister. The condition of journalists in UP is pathetic and doesn’t seem to improve.

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On one side, the government is spending crores on the campaigns to draw public towards the polling booth and on one side, the goons hired by the BJP are trashing those efforts. The residents of Tara Jivapur village in Uttar Pradesh’s Chandauli district witnessed this weird attack on democracy happened. They alleged that three men who claimed to be from the BJP had “forcefully” applied ink to their fingers and gave them Rs 500 on Saturday in a bid to prevent them from voting in Sunday’s seventh and final phase of Lok Sabha elections.

One of the villagers told news agency ANI: “They were from BJP and asked us if we’ll vote for the party. They told us now you can’t vote. Don’t tell anyone.”

Taking note of the allegations, Chandauli SDM K R Harsh said villagers are eligible to vote and action will be taken against the accused based on the complaint.

“Complainants are present at the police station. We will take action as per the complaint they file. They are still eligible to cast votes as elections hadn’t begun then. They will have to mention in the FIR that ink was forcefully applied,” he told ANI.

Chandauli is among the 13 Lok Sabha seats in which polling began on Sunday morning. Uttar Pradesh BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey is seeking reelection from Chandauli.

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Prime Minister Modi was in full form in the Meerut rally. He related the increased security of the nation with surgical strikes and the recently conducted anti-satellite weapon test. He also took a jibe on the alliance of regional UP parties – SP, RLD, and BSP and made the word SaRaB from the initials of their names.

Modi kick-started his campaign by referring the surgical strikes. “Zameen ho, aasmaan ho ya phir antariskh, surgical strike ka saahas aapke is chowkidar ne dikhaya hai (This chowkidar has shown the courage to carry out surgical strike, be it on land, in the sky or space),” said PM Modi. He later targeted previous regimes at the Centre. He said that the governments in the past believed in slogans instead of “taking right decisions” to ensure safety and security of the nation. “Nation has seen many governments that gave slogans but it has for the first time seen a government that takes prompt decisions,” he said.

On Opposition’s demand for evidence of Air-Strike, he turned to the public for their opinion. “Do we need sapoot (obedient son) or saboot (evidence),” said PM Modi responding to the Opposition.

On the report card of the government, he assured the public that he would present his government’s report card in the coming days while fixing accountability of the rival parties. He said, “I will give an account of my work but at the same time seek an account from my opponents. Sabka hisab hoga, baari baari se hoga, tabhi to hisab barabar hoga (Everyone will be accounted for, one by one, only then justice will be served).”

On Grand Alliance of the Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Lok Dal and the Bahujan Samaj Party, PM formulated an acronym “SaRaB” (picking the initial letters of the three parties) and translating it as liquor. Modi said, “Stay away from ‘SaRaB’ in the election for the good health of Uttar Pradesh.”

The rally was aimed at galvanizing the BJP’s support base in the entire western Uttar Pradesh. As usual, he took all the credit of the hard work done by the armed forces and DRDO. The Western UP will vote in the first phase of the Lok Sabha Polls. The constituencies of Meerut, Baghpat, Muzaffarnagar and Bijnor will vote in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections on April 11. Uttar Pradesh will vote in all seven phases of the national election that ends on May 19. Counting of votes will take place on May 23.

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The government at center and state have fought several elections, promising the construction of Ram Temple at Ayodhya. The magnitude of concern showed for the birth-place of Lord Rama is inversely proportional to that of the birth-place of Lord Buddha. Sidharth Nagar is the birth-place of Lord Buddha and it is struggling for attention from the government.

About Sidharth Nagar

Sidharth Nagar is a district in Uttar Pradesh. It is near the India-Nepal border. It is known for the ruins of Shakya Janapada is one of the most backward districts in India. This is the center of trafficking scams as the district shares its border with Nepal. Siddharth Nagar is also near to the city of “The CM” – Gorakhpur. It has a high rural population with agriculture being the source of bread for the families.

Siddharth Nagar is completely opposite to what the Siddhartha or Lord Buddha desired. Its citizens are living in trenches of poverty. The civic amenities are almost dysfunctional in the city. Black-outs are quite frequent in the city despite claims of electrification by our Prime Minister. Recently, two AK-47 rifles went missing from near the India-Nepal border. Siddharth Nagar is always in the headlines due to wrong reasons only.

Siddharth Nagar – Deflating Government’s claims

Despite the presence of BJP governments in the center and state, the development didn’t reach Siddharth Nagar. It deflates all the claims of Modi and Yogi governments. The frequent blackouts deflate the scheme of 100% electrification claim of the government. The uncontrolled trafficking of weapons and people gives a glimpse of law and order in the district. Siddharth Nagar also failed miserably in civic amenities. According to a story done by Amar Ujala, there are streets which sink in darkness post dust due to unavailability of street lights. Public toilets are only on paper with open defecation a dark reality. Swatchh Bharat Abhiyan hasn’t reached Siddharth Nagar yet. In spite of these flaws, the government is focussing on cattle safety as it is evident in the instructions given by the Deputy of District Magistrate.

Buddhists are not in high numbers and cannot be categorized as a vote-bank. Due to this, the government is treating the birth-place of their Lord Buddha in such a way. No promise ever made for the development of Siddharth Nagar. It could become one of the major tourist attraction due to its historical significance. Due to negligence that potential seems a lost cause.  The citizens of Siddharth Nagar have lost all hopes with the government and now they just want them to provide basic amenities. Even for that too, cows have become the priority.

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Making derogatory comments on the opposing politicians is the essence of Indian Politics. Though it is not something to be proud of and as the elections approach, the ‘hate-speech’ become frequent.

Recently, a lawmaker of BJP in Uttar Pradesh, Sadhana Singh, grab eyeballs with her comments on BSP supremo – Mayawati. She said that Mayawati “was a blot on womankind”. Sadhana also accused her of “selling her dignity for power”.

“She (Mayawati) has no self-respect… she was almost molested earlier and yet… in history, when Draupadi was molested, she took a vow to seek revenge… but this woman, she lost everything, but still sold her dignity for the sake of power. We strongly condemn Mayawati ji. She is a blot on womankind. A woman who gulped insults for comfort and power … is a blot on womankind,” Sadhana Singh, the legislator from Mughalsarai, said at a rally on Saturday.

When her remarks drew attention, she expressed ‘regret’ over her comments. “I had no intentions of disrespecting anyone. I express regret if someone was hurt by my words,” she said in a statement.

Sadhana Singh’s comments referred to the infamous episode when Mayawati was assaulted by Samajwadi Party workers at a guest house in Lucknow in 1995. This incident triggered decades of animosity and would have continued forever. It ended when the two parties decided to come together for the national elections in Uttar Pradesh. The announced a “gathbandhan” or alliance at a joint press conference by Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav last week. The BSP chief said that she had decided to put the past behind her “for the sake of the nation”, seemingly aimed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi who had, at a rally, taunted her for “forgetting” that episode while allying with the Samajwadi Party.

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The BSP-SP alliance hammer the final nail in the coffin of Congress in UP as they finalize on seat proportion. They will contest on 38-38 seats each out of 80 Lok Sabha seats.

Their only concession for the Congress is to spare the two seats — Amethi, which is Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s constituency, and Sonia Gandhi’s seat Raebareli. Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav announced they were leaving two seats for “other parties” but didn’t elaborate.

On this grand alliance, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that it would bring anarchy, corruption and political instability in the state.

“This is a coalition of casteist, corrupt and opportunistic mindset that doesn’t want development and good governance. Public knows everything and this unholy alliance will be given a perfect answer,” says Yogi Adityanath.

BSP-SP rivalry needs no mention. Nearly 25 years ago, the Samajwadi Party, then led by Akhilesh Yadav’s father Mulayam Singh, and the BSP had an acrimonious falling out after their shaky coalition government in Uttar Pradesh crashed. The two parties parted as sworn enemies in 1995 after Samajwadi workers roughed up Mayawati at a guest house in Lucknow for pulling out of their coalition government.

“For the sake of the nation, we decided to rise above the Lucknow guest house incident and again come together,” Mayawati stressed, a clarification aimed at PM Modi, who had at a recent rally in Agra scorned her for “forgetting” that episode while allying with the Samajwadi Party.

Akhilesh Yadav added emphatically: “I want to tell all my workers, any insult to Mayawatiji is a personal insult to me.”

The syrupy new found love among ‘bua-bhatija’ has only one motive – keeping BJP at bay. Since UP alone accounts for 80 seats, every party knows that it is the ‘king-maker’ state. Performing well in UP clears the road to form the majority. Both BSP and SP knows that tackling BJP individually would be quite dangerous. So, they are uniting their forces and giving BJP a run for their money. Let’s see if this ‘mahagathbandhan’ is ductile or brittle and how it would fare after the 2019 polls.

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A few days ago, Chief Minister of UP, Yogi Adityanath, in his speech, directed all the district magistrates to ensure that farmers don’t face any problem due to stray animals. He also ordered to shift those stray cattle to ‘Gau Sanrakshan Kendras’ by January 10.

The farmers in Bhadivar village in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj district wanted the solution immediately. That’s why they locked more than 100 cattle in the school premise. Due to this, classes had to be conducted in the open.

Principal Kamlesh Singh said that when he reached 9 am, he found over 100 stray cattle locked inside the premises of the school in Shankergarh development block.

“The school starts at 10 am. As the school gate was locked and over two dozen agitating farmers, armed with sticks, were sitting outside the gate, as many as 40 students were made to sit and study outside the premises. The agitating villagers were not in favor of opening the gates,” he said.

The sub-divisional magistrate, Bara, DS Pathak said the villagers were agitated as the stray cattle have been destroying their crops for the last several months. “We got the school premises vacated by 1.30 pm. Measures will be taken to ensure that such an incident is not repeated,” he said.

According to reports, residents of Bhadivar village and its surrounding localities in Shankergarh block have been suffering from the stray cattle menace for the last few months. Failing to get any relief despite lodging a complaint with tehsil officials, they were forced to lock as many as 100 animals inside the primary school.

The situation of stray animals is getting worse day by day. The government spends a fortune on cows. They have brain-washed the public to that extent that they believe cow protection is their only reason to be alive. People are killing their compatriots in the name of the cow. But, what they do with their ‘Goddess/Mother Cow’? They leave them to eat garbage, litter in public, wander on fields, etc. Is this the way should you treat your Goddess/Mother? Or, is it just a newer form of hypocrisy to lure votes and generate hatred among citizens?

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Police blames the ‘drunkard’ rats as they drunk around 1000 litres of liquor. These ‘high’ mice have migrated from Bihar as their police blamed them for 9 lakh litres of missing alcohol.

According to The Times of India, some cans in which the liquor was stored were missing, while several cans were found empty with holes in them. The liquor was seized from illegal manufacturing units.

Superintendent of Police Abhinandan Singh said an inquiry would be conducted to ascertain how the liquor went missing. “Cantonment police station head muharrir [clerk], Naresh Pal, who was posted here recently, opened the door of the malkhana [storeroom] and found some liquor cans empty,” Singh said. “He also saw rats near the seized liquor cans.”

Rats have a history with the administration. Mice drank around 9 lakh litres of alcohol in Bihar in the past. In September 2017, two Bihar ministers had even blamed the rodents for flooding in the state. In Assam, mice destroyed currency notes worth more than Rs. 12 Lakhs. These notes were deposited in SBI ATM in Assam’s Tinsukia district.

The blame game continues. Since mice don’t associate with any party, they cannot fight back the allegations. So, it is safer to allege rats and hide administrative short-comings and corruption.

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It seems quite a routine for our Prime Minister to blame its predecessors in order to hide its failure. It doesn’t require any second thought that Namami Gange was a failure. But, in order to accept the mistake, our PM is busy in slamming its predecessors.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday accused previous governments of not being able to rejuvenate the Ganga despite spending thousands of crore of rupees and said to keep the river ‘nirmal’ (clean), the intentions also needed to be clean.

He said meaningful results are achieved when the government works with transparency and honesty.

“For maintaining the ‘nirmaltaa’ (cleanliness) of the Ganga, the power of money is not enough, clean intentions are also needed. We, with full honesty and clean intentions, have undertaken a campaign to clean river Ganga,” Modi said while inaugurating the ‘One District, One Product’ summit here.

“When the government works with transparency, honesty and public partnership, then the results are definitely meaningful,” he said.

“Otherwise, you all have been witness to a number of schemes from Ganga Action Plan to Ganga Basin Authority being made,” he added.

Citing a recent report on pollution in the Ganga, Modi said, “There has been a drop in pollution levels in river Ganga. As ‘Namami Gange’ campaign is moving ahead, the target of a clean and free flowing Ganga is becoming more clear. Aquatic animals including fish have started returning to the Ganga.”

Though the recent report suggests that only at Haridwar, Ganga can be considered clean. Don’t know which report our PM is referring to. Though a lot of restrictions have been put in order to clean the river, but no restriction has been placed on the tributaries which bring pollutants into the river.

The old habit of altering the past and blaming the former government is the trade-mark of BJP and the harsh reality of Indian politics. In order to work and undo the wrongs, the Government is keen to blame its predecessors for its own failures too.

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