Senior UP police officer's video tarnishes Adityanath govt's image: SP chief

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday claimed that a purported viral video of a senior Uttar Pradesh police officer, who has been deployed in Bengal assembly elections, has tarnished the image of the Adityanath government. Without naming the officer, Yadav said the video has exposed the hollowness of the BJP government's claims regarding ''respect for women'' and ''naari vandan''. Yadav, in a post on X in Hindi, said, ''The 'obscene' video of a senior Uttar Pradesh police officer, who is an observer in the ongoing Bengal elections, which is currently circulating widely in the public domain, has severely tarnished the image of the Uttar Pradesh government's governance and administration.'' Claiming such individuals and officials are not an exception within the BJP's administration, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said, ''Today, every woman associated with the BJP feels ashamed, for they, too, have sisters and daughters in their own homes.'' Yadav linked the matter directly to the chief minister's image, saying the action against the officer will determine Adityanath's stance on this issue. As so much has come to light, the chief minister, even if reluctantly, will be compelled to initiate disciplinary and punitive action, Yadav said, adding that ''In an attempt to shield this 'specially favoured' individual, he will not be able to claim that the said video is AI-generated.'' ''Zero tolerance should be exercised not only against criminals but also against such officials,'' the SP chief said on X. Campaigning for the second and final phase of West Bengal assembly elections ended on Monday, with a bitter war of words between rival parties over cross-border infiltration, corruption, unemployment and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

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