National
Adityanath, Deputy CMs, to contest MLC bypolls (Lead)
Lucknow, Aug 30 (IANS) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his two Deputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma are among five candidates put up by the BJP for the September 15 MLC bypolls in the state.
State ministers Swantatra Dev Singh and Mohsin Raza, the sole Muslim candidate in the state government, will also contest the bypoll.
The bypolls were necessitated due to the resignation of four Samajwadi Party (SP) and one Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLCs.
The five BJP candidates are not members of either House of the state legislature. They have to become members of either House by September 19, six months from the date they were sworn in as ministers.
Earlier, the Election Commission had released the poll schedule for four seats – vacated by Bukkal Nawab, Yashwant Singh, Sarojini Agarwal, and Ashok Bajpai of the SP, giving some anxious moments to MoS Transport Swatantra Dev Singh and Minority Welfare MoS Mohsin Raza as only one of them could have made it to the House.
The poll panel however solved the problem of the BJP by releasing the poll schedule for the fifth seat vacated by BSP’s Jaiveer Singh. The term of Nawab and Singh was to end in 2022 and that of Agarwal and Bajpai in 2021. However, they quit this month all of a sudden. Sarojini Agarwal, Ashok Bajpai and Bukkal Nawab have since joined the BJP.
The notification for bypolls to the seats was issued on August 29, and the last date of filing nominations is September 5. The last date of withdrawal of candidature is September 8.
Polling will be held on September 15 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Counting of votes will be done on the same day at 5 p.m.
The poll process will be completed before September 18, the poll panel said.
By choosing to go to the Upper House, Adityanth joins the list of his predecessors Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati, who too were members of the Legislative Council.
Adityanath, who was sworn in as Chief Minister of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Uttar Pradesh on March 19, is a member of the Lok Sabha from Gorakhpur.
Maurya, who is Deputy Chief Minister, is a Lok Sabha member from Phoolpur. Dinesh Sharma, another Deputy Chief Minister, was the Lucknow mayor before he was sworn in as Adityanath’s deputy.
Both Adityanath and Maurya are yet to quit their respective Lok Sabha seats.
Opposition parties say the BJP maneuvered the resignation of SP and BSP legislators to facilitate the entry of the Chief Minister and four others to the Upper House as “they were afraid of going to the people and taking the direct election route”.
–IANS
md/rn
National
Foodman Vishal Singh Honored for Hunger Free World Mission in Bangkok
Lucknow: Vishal Singh, a renowned social worker from Lucknow, also known as Foodman, has once again made India proud. He was honored by the Happy Hands Gloves Cooperative Limited Company in Korathai, Thailand, for his work with the Hunger Free World Mission.
The Hunger Free World Mission’s meeting was held in Korathai, Thailand, under Vishal Singh’s leadership. Representatives from several countries, including Mr. Raja Dwivedi (Managing Director of Happy Hands Gloves Limited), Thailand Coordinator Mr. Raja Mishra, and member Mr. Varun Singh, attended the event.
Under Vishal Singh’s leadership, the attendees took a pledge to work together toward creating a hunger-free world.
Speaking on the occasion, Vishal Singh explained that the main goal of the Hunger Free World Mission is social participation. He said the mission is not just about feeding people but also about meeting other basic needs of those who are struggling. The mission focuses on helping families of terminally ill patients in hospitals by providing food and shelter. It also works to fulfill essential needs like education, jobs, and care for the elderly.
For the last 16 years, the Vijay Sri Foundation has been providing free services, benefiting thousands of people. Vishal Singh highlighted that the mission aims to gain global recognition like other organizations such as WHO, WWF, and Red Cross, which work for social causes.
During this meeting, Vishal Singh was appointed as the Chairman of the Hunger Free World Mission by representatives from various countries. They also discussed holding regular meetings in different countries to push the mission forward.
Business tycoon Dr. Abhishek Verma has also supported this humanitarian mission, vowing to promote the idea of “Seva Parmo Dharma” (Service is the highest duty) worldwide. Vishal Singh praised him, stating that people like Dr .Abhishek Verma inspire others to work for the betterment of society.
Recently, Romania’s Ambassador, Mr . Daniela Sezonov Ţane, invited Vishal Singh to the Romanian Embassy in Delhi, where they discussed the mission in detail. Impressed by his humanitarian work, she honored Vishal Singh and invited him to Romania to take the mission forward .
Food man Vishal Singh has been serving the people of India for the past 16 years. Through the Vijay Sri Foundation, he provides free meals to cancer patients & their families ,shelter, and education for women & children along with running free old-age homes in Lucknow.
In addition to his humanitarian work, Vishal Singh also addresses issues like crime and corruption through his role as Chairman of Seva Path Media and Managing Director of Vijay Sri Foundation.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Vishal Singh and his team worked tirelessly to provide food and help to the needy, including starving children, elderly citizens, and pregnant women. Despite contracting the virus himself, he continued to assist others after his recovery. He even created a life-saving oxygen regulator using household items, which was praised by doctors both in India and abroad.
In his address at the meeting, Vishal Singh spoke about his mission to create a hunger-free world. He pointed out that India’s large population, along with issues like unemployment and poverty, has caused the country to fall on the Hunger Index. He urged people to contribute just one handful of grains daily to help create a hunger-free world.
He concluded by saying that through social participation, we can empower the people around us, meet their basic needs, and work together to build a stronger, more prosperous, and developed society.