Lucknow: After the deadly fire that killed 15 people, including children, on Monday, June 22, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath paid a visit to the site of the incident in Lucknow’s Aliganj area, followed by a visit to the hospital where the deceased and injured were taken for treatment.
While engaging with the families of the victims, he was recorded telling a woman, “Bhashan kaafi hai,” while she was complaining about the lack of security in commercial buildings.
The video was originally uploaded by the CM himself without audio on the social media platform X. News agency PTI shared the same footage with audio, but muted it seconds after the CM made the remarks. The video has since been deleted from the platform.
“Commercial building me kuch koi patrolling nai hai, koi checks nai hai. Humlog pro-BJP supporter hai, saal se hai (there is no patrolling or security checks in commercial buildings. We are pro-BJP supporters; we have been for years),” said a woman relative of one of the victims.
Before she was able to finish her sentence, Adityanath interrupted, saying, “Bhashan kafi hai (enough with the lecturing).” While he followed up with the statement, along the lines of “Samvidhan (Constitution),” the audio was promptly muted as the video continued to play.
Online users immediately flagged the video, describing it as blatant “suppression of voice when you question the government.” Another said, “If the audio was cut right after a politically inconvenient remark, it’s narrative building. Release the full video and let people judge for themselves.”
The fire broke out on the afternoon of Monday in the commercial building housing an animation centre and a pet shop in Aliganj’s Sector D area.
Mostly young students who were attending classes at the centre were among the deceased. Many victims were trapped inside as flames and smoke engulfed the building.
In the wake of the fire tragedy, the CM on Tuesday, June 23, cancelled almost all his scheduled programmes, including visits to Hathras and Agra.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttar Pradesh also announced the suspension of all its organisational programmes scheduled for Tuesday, expressing condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the incident.
