Yogi Adityanath visited a hospital in Moradabad today where journalists made the allegation.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's visit to a hospital in Moradabad over the weekend has triggered controversy as a group of local journalists who were at the spot alleged that they were locked up in a room to prevent them from asking tough questions. As the opposition, including Congress's Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, hit out at the government after the allegations, the District Magistrate denied any such incident.
In a post on Twitter, Priyanka Gandhi said: "Journalists are being held as hostages, questions are being shielded and problems are being sidelined. The BJP government, which got a majority in the Lok Sabha elections, is turning a blind eye to the questions of the public."
The journalists had alleged that ahead of the Chief Minister's visit, they were locked up in an emergency room for two hours, reported news agency IANS.
They also alleged said that District Magistrate Rakesh Kumar Singh posted guards outside the gate to ensure that they could not come out during the Chief Minister's visit on Saturday.
Half-an-hour after the Chief Minister left, Mr Singh allegedly came and unlocked the gate, holding the journalists responsible for the confinement. He also asked mediapersons not to visit the district hospital.
Mr Singh later said no such incident took place.
"It is not correct. During inspection, many mediapersons were inside the ward and we simply requested media persons not to go inside the ward," he said.
But he admitted that the police did prevent the journalists from entering -- but only because it would have added chaos to an already crowded situation at the hospital.