Has someone in your family died, Mulayam asks journalists

Apparently upset with the media’s coverage of the strike of junior doctors in Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav on Thursday snapped at journalists when questioned about the deaths that took place due to the agitation, asking them "Has someone in your family died"?

After the swearing-in function of Governor B L Joshi in Lucknow, when asked by reporters about the number of deaths due to strike of junior doctors, Yadav shot back, "Kaun mara hai... apke pariwar me koi mara hai (Who has died? Has someone in your family died?)"

"Aap doctors ki hadtal ko mahatva de rahe hain, doctors ko hadtal nahi karni chahiye thi (You are giving so much importance to the strike, the doctors should not have gone on the strike)," he added.

Blaming the media for the way it has covered the strike, the Samajwadi Party supremo said, "If you report properly, then strikes will end. Why hype the doctors' strike so much?"

The agitating junior doctors in Uttar Pradesh called off their strike after the Uttar Pradesh government transferred Senior Superintendent of Police Kanpur Yashaswi Yadav and constituted a one-member inquiry commission to probe incidents at the GSVM Medical College in Kanpur on February 28.

The seven-day strike had adversely impacted medical services in several parts of the state. The strike was taken up after medicos at GSV Medical College were allegedly beaten up by Kanpur police and supporters of SP legislator Irfan Solanki following an altercation.

Image: Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav