WATCH | The changing face of Uttar Pradesh

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, addressing Parivartan Rally (transformation rally) at Bahraich during state Assembly elections in December 2016 had claimed that he would end the “gundaraj” in Uttar Pradesh if his Bharatiya Janata Party was voted to power.

Over two years later, the law and order situation in the state seems to be deteriorating by the day, if the recent incidents of violence and hooliganism are anything go by. Ironically, the priestly Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath, seems busy in advertisements and promotions ahead of forthcoming Lok Sabha elections,

BJP MP Sharad Tripathi thrashed a BJP MLA Rakesh Singh Bhagel with his shoe on Wednesday after an argument broke out over placement of names on a foundation stone of a project. Baghel retaliated slapping the MP and mouthing choicest expletives. The dog-fight that broke during a District Action Plan Committee meeting was video recorded by many on their mobile phones.

Later in the night MLA Baghel and his supporters protested outside the District Magistrate office demanding the arrest of the MP.

In another incident, two dry fruit vendors from Kashmir Mohammed Afzal Naik and Abdul Salaam, were attacked and beaten up brutally by four activists of the Vishwa Hindu Dal, a fringe right-wing group in Lucknow. These men defended their act by calling it a backlash against Kashmiris following Pulwama terror attack.

Another shocking incident took place in Muzaffarnagar where a student, Adnan, was beaten up by the BJP workers after he confronted the government’s claims over job and education during a shoot of a TV news channel’s talk show.

The video of the incident has gone viral on social media and shows a group of men brutally thrashing a student and calling him a terrorist and anti-national for asking questions over increasing unemployment in the country.

In Gorakhpur, Samajwadi Party MP, Parvin Kumar Nishad, was thrashed black and blue by the police in full public view on Thursday. He had organised a protest march from Gorakhnath temple to Chief Minister’s residence in support of a community’s demand for reservation.