The Election Commission has ordered the Uttar Pradesh government to cover the word “Samajwadi” on state-run ambulances as it might benefit the ruling Samajwadi Party in the ongoing Assembly polls, PTI reported. The free-of-cost ambulance service in the state by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav is called “Samajwadi Swasthya Sewa”.
State Additional Chief Electoral Officer PK Pandey said the word “Samajwadi” has been removed from 1,488 ambulances so far. The EC order came based on a complaint filed by one JPS Rathore, Pandey said, according to Hindustan Times. The petition claimed that the SP leaders were highlighting the ambulance service during their poll campaign.
The UP government runs an ambulance service under the public-private partnership mode with GVK Emergency Management Research Institute. The round-the-clock ambulance service attends the patient within 20 minutes of receiving the call and provides medical aid before shifting the patient to a hospital.
The Samajwadi Party is fighting it out in the Assembly elections in alliance with the Congress, against the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party. The results will be declared on March 11.
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