Slugfest over bulls entering rally venues in UP

A stray bull breached the barricade and entered the venue of an SP-BSP-RLD joint rally in Uttar Pradesh on April 25.

Updated on: Apr 30, 2019, 07:46:34 IST

Hindustan Times, Lucknow | By Pankaj Jaiswal

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A rally of the UP Opposition alliance in Kannauj saw an unexpected visitor on April 25. A stray bull breached the barricade and entered the helipad, making sure Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati’s chopper could land only after getting an “all clear” signal. The incident left a constable and a civilian injured.

Even Yogi Adityanath’s April 23 rally in Hardoi saw bulls triggering a scare. (HT File Photo)

Even as the Samajwadi Party called it a “security breach”, Akhilesh Yadav attacked the Yogi Adityanath government in a tweet. “Vikas (development) is asking: Can’t you see how the rage of orphaned bulls is rising. A bull came to give a memorandum against the BJP government, and it took out its anger on an innocent police constable...,” he said.

An SP leader said, “Stray cattle have become a poll issue this time as there is a big rise in abandoned cattle.” Mayawati said: “Such is the desperation and frustration of BJP that they are sending stray animals to disrupt our rallies.”

Even Adityanath’s April 23 rally in Hardoi saw bulls triggering a scare.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Pankaj Jaiswal
Pankaj Jaiswal is Bureau Chief, Uttar Pradesh. He covers-analyses politics, and assists Hindustan Times reporters across the state. He has 30 years of experience in print media reporting. Based in Lucknow, he started his journalism career at a national English daily in Kanpur after graduating from Christ Church College. He joined Hindustan Times, Lucknow edition, as part of the launch team in 1997. He’s covered everything from rural distress to science, environment, wildlife, and crime. He has travelled extensively in Uttar Pradesh for rural, development, political, and election reporting. His continued interest in rural issues, rural distress, and development journalism has fetched him a handful of prestigious awards and fellowships. Pankaj is a photojournalist too. He clinched the Statesman Award for Rural Reporting—First Prize in 2009 and Third Prize in 2006—for exposing Bundelkhand’s devastating drought and distress: crop failures, farm suicides, migration, debt, and the injustice of meagre compensation cheques between Rs 10 and Rs 20 to farmers by the government from crop loss. He also has been awarded with Hindustan Times internal 'Journalist of the Month' citation over half a dozen times. His relentless reporting in Hindustan Times pulled the Bundelkhand crisis out of obscurity and forced it into the national spotlight, prompting media and government action on one of India’s most neglected regions. Over a decade, he filed hundreds of hard-hitting stories, travelling repeatedly from Lucknow deep into Bundelkhand. He also received the Special Mention KC Kulish International Award 2009. Pankaj also did long-haul political reporting on the most intense political family feud—’The Yadav Family Feud’—between 2016 and 2022.Read More