Woman who married Yogi Adityanath's picture charged with sedition for stopping UP CM's convoy

Four women from Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh were charged with sedition for stopping Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s convoy, say media reports. One of these women, Neetu Singh, had been in the news last week for marrying a picture of Adityanath to draw attention to the rights of anganwadi workers. Adityanath was on his way to attend the “Naimishya Shankhanaad” program when the women tried to stop his convoy, according to Jansatta. They were sent to judicial custody for 14 days. The police said that the women were repeatedly stopping the convoy and continued protesting despite being warned multiple times. On the other hand, Neetu said that she was told that the authorities just wanted to talk to her but was instead charged with sedition and sent to jail. Symbolic marriage to Adityanath’s picture It had been reported on Wednesday that after their demands had been stonewalled for a long time by the state government, Anganwadi workers in Uttar Pradesh had devised a new way to put pressure on the authorities. Amid chanting of hymns and drum beating, Singh had symbolically “married” a picture of Adityanath. [caption id=“attachment_4252363” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] The marriage ceremony. Image credit: Firstpost Hindi[/caption] The mock wedding, solemnised in the presence of fellow Aanganwadi workers in Sitapur late on Tuesday, saw a picture of the monk-turned-chief minister being garlanded by the coy bride. Singh, the district president of Mahila Aanganbadi Karmachari Sangh, said that for them this was a novel way of attracting the attention of the state government. “Through this marriage we thought around four lakh sisters will benefit,” she had said. “If our demands are still not met, I will go to meet Yogij_i_ on a horse,” she had said. The woman who put a picture of Adityanath on her face and acted as the groom said she was happy to be part of the “novel nuptial”. The anganwadi workers had given a four-month ultimatum to the new Bharatiya Janata Party government to address the issues raised by them but rue that even after the passage of eight months, the state government has done nothing for them. In fact, an anganwadi leader said that they were cane-charged brutally in the state capital once when then went to protest. With inputs from IANS