A village pradhan of a village from Uttar Pradesh landed in soup after her video from Ukraine seeking a safe and urgent passage back home went viral on social media. Hardoi-based Vaishali Yadav, 25, is a third-year student in Ivano Frankvisk city of Ukraine, She was elected Pradhan Adhyhaksh in Teri Pursauli gram panchayat last year.
Vaishali, in her video, talked about how she and other students were running out of supplies while awaiting a resolution. When her video went viral, an objection was raised regarding her absence while being a public representative. The Hardoi administration has now served a show-cause notice to her and is probing the functioning of the gram panchayat since the time she was elected. The officials claimed that Vaishali left for Ukraine on September 23, only a month into her five-year tenure.
Her father, Mahendra Pratap Singh, was a former block pramukh from Sandi. Vaishali had booked an air ticket for her return to India for February 24 but an explosion at the Ukrainian airport stalled her departure.
Vaishali’s father told The Indian Express that the family did attempt to get her out on a flight but faced many issues. “She eventually had to stay back and had to navigate on her own. There were 120 students along with her who booked two buses and managed to reach Romania. She appealed for help on Twitter and people gave it a political colour. I am just glad she is somehow able to find her way back,” Singh told The Indian Express.
After Vaishali’s video went viral and people identified her, a fake message was circulated that she had been arrested by UP Police for staging a fake appeal and it was claimed that she was never present in Ukraine. However, Hardoi Police denied the arrest, although her presence in Ukraine violated several rules.
Rules stipulate that the gram panchayat is supposed to meet once a month and the gap between two meetings cannot exceed two months. Also, a panchayat member cannot be absent in three consecutive meetings.
While questions were raised on Vaishali’s absence, her father claimed that she remained in touch with people in the village through WhatsApp and Internet calling.
Hardoi DM Avinash Kumar said that a report will be handed to the administration by a block-level officer after the probe.