Akhilesh Yadav Alleges UP Government Hiding Actual Covid Death Count

As of Monday, Uttar Pradesh's COVID-19 death count stood at 22,224 while the total number of cases was 17,04,476, according to a government bulletin.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday accused the Uttar Pradesh government of hiding the actual number of deaths due to COVID-19. Through this, he said, the BJP government is actually hiding its face. Mr Yadav's remarks came a day after a report claimed that the death count due to COVID-19 in 24 districts of Uttar Pradesh from July 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021 was up to 43 times higher than the official figures. Its findings are based on a comparison of the official death count in these districts during the nine-month period with the excess deaths registered in the state's Civil Registration System (CRS). The mortality data was accessed through a Right to Information (RTI) application.