Over 210 cases of swine-flu have been reported from Uttar Pradesh and the state government is still in the process of establishing proper testing laboratories. The first case here was reported around three months back but to this date, the main testing lab is the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences in Lucknow (SGPGI). Incidentally, out of the reported swine flu cases, 192 are from Lucknow.

Health experts have repeatedly pointed out that cases are being reported just from the state capital because the testing laboratory is there and thus the need is to establish testing labs in different parts of the state. But, each time, the reply from the state Health Department is that they are still in the process of the identifying proper laboratories.

Rift in BJP over reward to rebel

There is some consternation in the BJP’s state cadres, with the party declaring the name of former party rebel Amit Puri for the Lucknow West Assembly seat. The seat was eyed by Lalji Tandon, who vacated this seat after becoming Lucknow MP and wanted his son Ashutosh Tandon ‘Gopal’ to succeed. While Tandon prefers to remain silent, Puri maintains that it’s the party high command’s decision so there are no hard feelings for him within the party. However, the fact that around 79 party members submitted their resignations protesting against Puri’s candidature is proof that all is not well within the party.

The protest comes with the fact that Puri, who is regarded as close to BJP president Rajnath Singh had earlier fought as an independent candidate after failing to get a party ticket from Lucknow East Assembly seat. Moreover, it was often alleged that Puri worked against party candidates.