New Delhi: Day after 73 people died in a massive dust storm in his state and he faced a lot of flak from the opposition for not being present in Uttar Pradesh in this moment of crisis, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath currently on an election campaign in Karnataka, is rushing back on Friday night to visit the storm-ravaged Agra.
Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah on Thursday took a potshot at Adityanath saying he felt sorry for UP whose chief minister was busy campaigning in Karnataka instead of standing by his state.
“I am sorry your CM is needed here in Karnataka,” Siddaramaiah had tweeted. “I am sure he will return soon & attend to his work there.”
Adityanath was earlier scheduled to campaign in poll-bound Karnataka till Saturday noon. The state is due for elections on May 12 and Adityanath was being seen as a star campaigner for BJP who continued to campaign in the state on Friday, a day after the dust storm in UP.
Speaking to News18 from Karnataka, Yogi Adityanath said on Thursday, “Congress has had a tradition of breaking and dividing. From the partition of the country to the caste and religion based politics that we see today, all of it is a legacy of the Congress. Both Rahul Gandhi and Siddaramaiah are following the same Congress tradition. The BJP believes in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshta Bharat’ slogan. We also want a political unification of the country and from that point of view, the Karnataka election is very important to us.”
Soon, former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav, too, joined Siddaramaiah, saying Yogi should rather stay in Karnataka forever.
“CM should immediately return to the state and leave Karnataka campaign. People have chosen him to address their woes and not for politics of Karnataka. If even in such conditions he does not come back, then he should build his mutt there forever,” SP chief tweeted.
The chief minister will arrive in Agra on Friday night and visit the calamity-hit areas on Saturday morning, Principal Secretary Information Avanish Awasthi said.
Yogi will later leave for Kanpur to monitor the relief work there and in nearby districts.
A high-intensity storm ravaged Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan on Wednesday night, leaving 73 people dead and 91 injured in UP and a total of 124 people dead across several states in north India. Agra district was the worst hit, accounting for 43 deaths and injuries to 51 others.