Nomination process for the block panchayat chief elections in Uttar Pradesh was marred on July 8 with reports of large-scale violence, firing & allegations of nomination papers being snatched from several districts of the state. Opposition parties, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress, accused the ruling party of indulging in violence and misusing official machinery. However, BJP denied the charge & claimed to have won at least 276 of the 825 block pramukh posts unopposed. Additional Director General (Law & Order) Prashant Kumar told The Indian Express that violence was reported from several districts, including Sitapur, Bahraich, Unnao, Kannauj, Jaunpur, Etah, Basti & Sidharthnagar. A Samajwadi Party worker was manhandled and her sari yanked by two men from a rival party in a disturbing video. The woman was a proposer for a Samajwadi Party candidate in block panchayat polls and was trying to enter a nomination centre when she was attacked by rival party men. Samajwadi chief Akhilesh Yadav alleged that the attackers were BJP workers. He shared the video in a tweet and called them "power hungry goons of Yogi Adityanath (Chief Minister).”
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also posted a video of the violence along with a comment targeting PM Modi and CM Yogi Adityanath. Watch the video to know more.