Adityanath cuts short Karnataka campaign

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanth is rushing back from Karnataka tonight, cutting short his election tour amid opposition flak for staying away from his own state even after a storm claimed 73 lives there.

The chief minister will arrive in worst-hit Agra tonight and visit the affected areas tomorrow morning, state's Principal Secretary Information Avanish Awasthi said.

Adityanath will review the relief efforts in the district and then leave for Kanpur and other areas.

Parts of western UP were battered in Wednesday's storm which also struck the adjoining Rajasthan districts.

Forty-three people died in Agra district alone. Altogether, 124 people were killed and over 300 others injured in five states due thunderstorms and lightning in the last two days, the Union Home Ministry said today.

Adityanath was criticised in UP and in Karnataka, where he is campaigning with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ahead of the the assembly elections on May 12.

"I am sorry your CM is needed here in Karnataka," Siddaramaiah had tweeted. "I am sure he will return soon & attend to his work there."