Yogi's War On Corona

Yogi Adityanath’s uttar pradesh has so far managed to stay ahead in the battle against covid. But the administration is being stretched and the sea of returning migrants promises to be a severe challenge

- Anshuman Tiwari and Ashish Misra

On April 19, social media was abuzz with rumours over the health of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s father, Anand Singh Bisht. The next morning, at 10.30 am, Adityanath was in a meeting with senior government officials at his 5, Kalidas Marg, residence. Unusually, he had kept his Covid mask on that day. At 10.44 am, Ballu Rai, a close aide of the chief minister, interrupted the meeting, to give him a slip of paper. After reading the slip, Adityanath asked Rai to call someone. The call didn’t last long and the meeting continued. Adityanath was silent for a few moments but then resumed talks with the officials. However, everyone could see tears soaking into the mask he was wearing. Only after the meeting got over did he tell officials that his father had passed away. The next day, Adityanath started the daily meeting a little late, at 11 am, after watching the last rites of his father being performed in faraway Haridwar on TV. Dr S.K. Dwivedi, retired professor of political science at Lucknow University, says, “The kind of dedication CM Adityanath has shown during the lockdown is unprecedented.”