Author: Sakshi Shrivastava

On Friday, the Supreme Court asked the Uttar Pradesh government to refund crores of rupees that were recovered from anti-CAA protesters of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in view of proceedings initiated in 2019.   This order came in response to the UP government’s withdrawal of 274 recovery notices to pay damages for the destruction caused to public property during protests against the CAA act in December 2019. These notices were issued prior to the enactment of a 2020 law laying down the recovery procedure specifying that the tribunals constituted under the new Act will deal with the issue afresh.  …

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made a sharp reply to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday for criticizing the current government’s economic and foreign policies. Singh, in his video, said, The BJP government lacked an understanding of economics due to which farmers, women, entrepreneurs, and students are facing problems. Sitharaman swiftly rebutted the attack by calling him a PM who is only remembered for the ‘notorious status of India being brought to a fragile five economy’ and asked him whether he could only speak up for electoral purposes.    In an interaction with journalists, hours after Singh released his video message,…

On February 15, BSP supremo Mayawati held a public meeting in UP on the occasion of Ravidas Jayanti. She paid glowing tributes to Saint Ravidas and appealed to the voters of UP to extend their support in the ongoing Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls. She said that the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is the only well-wisher of the people.   The BSP chief said that the mystic poet and reformer wanted a government that gave everyone ‘roti, kapda, makan,’ but other parties don’t take that message seriously. Every year they try to gain political mileage on his birth anniversary by visiting his…

Uttar Pradesh completed its second phase of voting out of seven phases on February 14. The turnout was 63.3% until 5 PM in the 55 constituencies spread over nine districts, around two percent less than in 2017. Amorpha recorded the highest voter turnout at 71.63%, with Saharanpur coming in second place with 71.15%. Six seats in Shahjanpur recorded the lowest turnout in the second phase at 55.85%. Overall, all districts polled lower than in previous elections, but Shahajahanpur recorded a maximum decline of five percent. The nine districts– Saharanpur, Bijnor, Rampur, Sambhal, Amorha, Moradabad, Budaun, Bareilly, and Shahjahanpur– are considered…

On Monday, February 14, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath issued his comments on the ongoing Hijab row in the country, saying that the system should be run as per the Constitution and In India’s institutions religious beliefs can’t be imposed  “The system should be run as per the Constitution. We can’t impose our likes or dislikes on the institutions of the country. Can I ask all people and workers in UP to wear saffron? It is their choice. But in schools, there is a dress code. This is the matter of schools and discipline in schools,” he said.  https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1493047877668831235?s=20&t=1GbIHBESIL9qUXtXH-7OIQ …

On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a public rally in Kannauj for the third phase of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. Comparing UP to Gujarat, he said that there used to be similar riots in Gujarat once upon a time, but like in Gujarat, Yogiji’s government has stopped the riots. He appealed to the voters to not allow such hooliganism to flourish again by choosing history sheeters candidates and contesting from jail. PM Modi asserted that even this time, BJP would win the election. The only question is by how much. He said, “Ayegi to BJP hi, ayenge to…

Hijab row takes international stage, Opposition attempting to instigate Muslim women for political gains: PM Modi  Hijab Row took the international stage on Wednesday this week as Nobel prize winning Malala Yousafzai took to Twitter to condemn the controversy in Karnataka. She said, “refusing to let girls go to school in their hijabs is horrifying.” She called for Indian leaders to stop the marginalization of Muslim women while sharing a news report on Muslim girls being forced to choose between their education or wearing a hijab.     French football star Paul Pogba also posted a story on his Instagram sharing…

As political parties start to battle it out for the constituencies of Uttar Pradesh on Thursday, they have released their manifestos wooing the voter with various poll promises.  This week, Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), Samajwadi Party, and Congress released their manifestos. All of them offered some kind of freebie to different sectors of society to woo the voters. All of them mainly focus on the farmers, the poor, women, and the youth. The Congress actually released three different manifestos, ‘Bharti Vidhan’ for the youth, ‘Shakti Vidhan’ for women, and ‘Unnati Vidhan’ for the general UP population.    Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) opted…