Fearing bad press, Akhilesh rushes out of venue last

It was at around 12.38 p.m. when the journalists present felt the chairs shaking and it took some time to realise that it indeed was a powerful aftershock.

May 13, 2015 12:48 am | Updated November 16, 2021 05:05 pm IST - LUCKNOW:

Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav at a function to felicitate bus drivers who evacuated the Nepal earthquake victims. Photo: Rajeev Bhatt

Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav at a function to felicitate bus drivers who evacuated the Nepal earthquake victims. Photo: Rajeev Bhatt

The function to mark the foundation-laying of 25 new and modernised bus stations and the felicitation of bus drivers who evacuated the Nepal earthquake victims at the Chief Minister’s official residence was jolted by tremors on Tuesday. The function came to a halt as all those present — Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, senior Ministers, State and transport officials, security staff and media personnel — rushed out of the conference hall.

The tremors were felt soon after the Chief Minister was presented a cheque for Rs. 77 lakh by the Lakhimpur Kheri district administration for quake relief work and the Principal Secretary (Transport), Kumar Arvind Singh Deo, mentioned about the 200 buses sent to Nepal for evacuation work.

It was at around 12.38 p.m. when the journalists present felt the chairs shaking and it took some time to realise that it indeed was a powerful aftershock. In fact, media personnel were the first to raise an alarm.

When the function resumed after about ten minutes, the Chief Minister said the safest place in the event of a quake is in the open.

Even as the Chief Minister acknowledged that it was the media which first raised the alarm it did not deter him from taking a dig at press persons when he twice said how he saw some media personnel sitting in the rear rushing out. He acknowledged that he too moved out. “Had I been the first one to exit it would have made news, which is why I delayed my going out,” Mr. Yadav said.

Top News Today

Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.