Uttar Pradesh witnessed violent clashes in several places in the last 24 hours, all allegedly in the name of political might. The incidents occurred during the local bodies elections in the state in which the BJP claims to have won 635 of the total 825 seats of block panchayat chiefs. The opposition, however, alleged misuse of official machinery by the ruling party.

Clashes were reported from 17 UP districts during the election process and this includes the beating of a journalist on camera allegedly by a senior police officer, attack on a senior cop allegedly by BJP workers incited by an MLA, stone-pelting by the supporters of Sudama Devi of the Samajwadi Party in Hathras, and attack on the police by SP workers in Sonbhadra.

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The standout question – if the law and order failure is so visible in local elections then what will happen in the state elections due early next year?

The authorities in the Yogi Adityanath government say that strict action will be taken against those responsible for it.

The beating of a journalist by a senior police official in the state’s Unnao district has brought a lot of criticism to the state authorities.

A video has gone viral in which Journalist Krishna Tiwari is being thrashed by one of the senior UP officials, and a few BJP men. He alleged that Chief Development Officer (CDO) Divyanshu Patel and some Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers attacked him while he was covering the story.

The video was shared by a few senior journalists as well. Tiwari, who had gone to report from a polling centre in the Bangarmau area of the district, said despite knowing that he was a journalist on the job the official continued to beat him, and he was reportedly joined by a local BJP leader and workers.

Unnao District Magistrate Ravindra Kumar, according to news agency ANI, said, “We held talks with media persons. CDO has also apologised. I assure you that a fair investigation will be done in the matter.”

The Committee Against Assault on Journalists (CAAJ) also tweeted about the incident.

In another incident, a group of men allegedly from the ruling BJP attacked the policemen on duty in Etawah. The officer in the video is apparently informing his senior on a call about the situation in the area. He is heard saying that a group of people, allegedly from the BJP, attacked them. The attackers were even carrying local-made bombs, he said.

There has been no official statement, however, by the UP Police in this connection.

In a similar incident in Sonbhadra, the SP workers clashed with the police.

Opposition parties, including the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress, have accused the ruling BJP of misusing power and official machinery in the panchayat elections. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, however, has claimed a “historic victory in the polls”. “In the elections for Block Panchayat Chiefs, the BJP is winning more than 635 seats with its allies and supporters. This number will increase further after the final results are out,” Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said at a news conference.