Uproar over power cut in U.P. hospital; Opposition targets government

The Opposition parties and social media users on Saturday (June 22, 2025) hit out at the Uttar Pradesh government, demanding accountability after a viral video showed patients in ICU and other wards of the district hospital in Hardoi using handmade fans due to a power cut. They said such instances highlighted the grim reality and mismanagement in U.P. In the video, patients were seen sweating and attendants using hand fans to comfort them.

“Now, is there some conflict between the Power Minister and the Health Minister, due to which there were visuals of no electricity even in the ICU ward in the Health Minister’s own district, Hardoi, despite the medical college having a separate line? Not only the sick but also those taking care of them are getting sick and distressed by the ‘heat-suffocation-humidity’. We again request the Health Minister to stop playing politics and running around here and there; he should pay extra attention to his department,” Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav wrote on X, sharing the viral video.

Social media users also shared the video. “What kind of electricity scarcity is going on in U.P. This video of patients and their relatives using handmade fans due to power cut is very outrageous and sad. Accountability must be fixed over such a mismanagement,” wrote Anupam Vishwakarma, a user.

The Congress alleged that the health infrastructure in U.P. is in shambles due to lack of checks-and-balances accountability mechanism. “In U.P., the government has other priorities; basic requirements such as health and education are not the concern of the BJP regime; since 2017, we have had many instances of disasters in hospital due to negligence; the viral video also shows how bad the health infrastructure is in U.P.,” said Shahnawaz Alam, national secretary, the Congress.