Akhilesh Yadav felicitates wrong woman with Yash Bharti award

The family of the 1965 Indo-Pak War martyr Abdul Hameed on Saturday claimed that former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav felicitated an imposter with the Yash Bharti award instead of honouring the martyr's wife on Friday.

"I was at home, didn't go anywhere. Our family were not invited to the function. Then how can it be possible that the former chief minister would felicitate a lady with my name," the wife of Param Vir Chakra Abdul Hameed, Rasoolan Bibi, told ANI.

Earlier, Yadav called on the BJP-led state government to continue with the Rs one lakh monthly pension to Yash Bharati awardees.

Yash Bharti awards that carry a one-time payment of Rs 11 lakh and a lifetime monthly pension of Rs 50,000 were awarded to people close to Samajwadi Party between 2012 and 2017.

Yash Bharti Award is the highest award of the Government of Uttar Pradesh. It was instituted in 1994. It is awarded to those personalities whose contribution is remarkable in the field of literature, social work, medicine, film, science, journalism, handicrafts, culture, education, music, drama, sports, industry and astrology.