Akhilesh demands judicial probe by SC judge in Gorakhpur deaths

Lucknow, Aug 18:  Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav today demanded that the incident of death of children at Gorakhpur BRD Medical College hospital be probed by a judge of the Supreme Court. Mr Yadav also lambasted the Yogi Adityanath government on his statement on Janmasthami. "CM Yogi Adityanath has turned into digital CM of the state as he only reacts on social media. Janamasthami is celebrated at all the police stations for the past several years but suddenly Yogi says his government has started it from this year which is not true," he said while announcing that when the SP government comes to power in UP again then they will provide Rs 5 lakh each to the police stations to celebrate religious functions, including Janmasthami, Christmas, Eid or other things. Mr Yadav also attacked the UP CM on 'namaz vs Janmashtami' comment. "Many people do a lot of celebrations on roads. UP CM will not talk about smart cities, but will talk about namaz and Janmashtami just to divide the community for his vested interest," he said. The former CM, however, refused to make any comment on the Gorakhpur children deaths incident at the government hospital but demanded that a probe by the apex court will unearth the real facts. Addressing a press conference here after the state police detained him at Unnao yesterday when he was on his way to Auriyya, the SP president had said, 'BJP is using money, police force to lure opposition leaders in Auraiya and it seems as if police has taken a Supari to ensure a BJP man as Jila Panchayat President. "The time needs a probe into the role of the CBI too to know why the Central government has so much likening for the investigating agency," he stated. The media interaction of Mr Yadav comes a day after his detention in Unnao, when he was going to Auriyya to meet the party leaders who had been arrested there. UNI