LUCKNOW A fierce political slugfest has erupted on social media between Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav and UP deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak. What began as an allegation of irregularities in donations and offerings made for the Ram temple in Ayodhya rapidly devolved into a war of words over the state’s healthcare infrastructure.
The confrontation commenced on June 7, when Yadav took to social media platform X to allege a scam involving donations collected for the Ram Temple.
Pathak retaliated on Tuesday, stating: “Has Akhilesh Yadav ever questioned the donations in the name of Babri Masjid? His statements indicate his mindset towards Sanatan culture.”
Yadav shot back by questioning the state of affairs in the UP health department headed by Pathak. He wrote on X: “Has the minister ever asked any question about the health of his department, taking a deep breath in the ICU? This reflects his apathy towards public interest.”
At this, Pathak hit out at the state of health care services during the previous Samajwadi Party government. He wrote on X: “Now, let us turn to the figures. See how many government hospitals were there in your government between 2012 and 2017, and how many health units are operational today in the new Uttar Pradesh. From 1947 to 2017, UP had only 17 government and 23 private medical colleges, and today the state has 81 medical colleges…The dream of one medical college in every district of the state is becoming a reality.”
“In your government, the number of MBBS seats was around 4,500, which has now increased to about 12,500…With over 5.5 crore Ayushman Bharat cards and more than 15.3 crore ABHA (Ayushman Bharat Health Accounts) created, UP ranks number one in the country. SP chief ji, it was during your government’s tenure that the health department saw irregularities worth thousands of crores in the 102 and 108 Samajwadi Ambulance Yojana, as well as the health department recruitment scam,” he stated.
“A major fraud in the recruitment for technical posts also came to light, in which fake appointments were secured in six districts by misusing one person’s identity and documents. Salaries were illegally withdrawn for years. The public will never forget the scam in the World Bank-funded ‘UP Health Systems Strengthening Project’ worth around ₹700 crore during your government,” added Pathak.
The SP chief countered this by posting a video of a false ceiling collapse at a government hospital in Lucknow, stating: “For the information of the Podcast Minister! Once you are free from conducting and giving interviews, please also conduct an interview on the sorry state of hospitals.”
