UP CM's hometown stones his convoy

Uttar Pradesh: Ahead of the crucial UP Assembly polls due early next year, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mulayam Singh Yadav is busy visiting all districts and villlages to garner as many votes as he can.

However, his pre-election visit to his hometown, Etawah, turned ugly on Tuesday afternoon when his convoy was met by an angry mob who pelted it with stones.

The mob was protesting a recent shootout in which a farmer was shot by a grain merchant after a brief altercation.

Earlier, the District Magistrate, M P Agarwal, had stated that the farmer had died in the shootout but then changed his statement saying that the farmer was rushed to a hospital where he was operated upon and his is said to be stable now.

The angry mob was under the impression that the farmer had died and blocked traffic, pelting stones on the CM's cavalcade, passing through the national highway near his village Saifai in Etawah.

The circle officer in the pilot car - which was the main target of the mob - was injured in the pelting.

The protestors relented and lifted the blockade only after the Chief Minister assured them that action will be taken against those who fired at the farmer.

The pilot vehicle of the convoy was the target and though the Chief Minister was unhurt, it was an unsettling experience nonetheless claimed sources.

Etawah is one of the strongholds of the Chief Minister.

This is not the only mishap that has happened before the crucial elections, which will decide Mulayam Singh Yadav's fate next year.

It had recently come to light that political interference in the day-to-day affairs of various university campuses in Uttar Pradesh has led to a steep decline in the standard of education in the universities.

In Lucknow University alone, there are as many as 80 students with a criminal background - all allegedly, the latest tactic of the UP government to strengthen the hands of prospective goons they would require in their campaign.

And instead of helping the Lucknow University sort out this mess, the UP government had allegedly provided gunners to several student leaders - many of whom face serious charges.

(With inputs from Abhishek Patni and PTI)