Lucknow, April 30: Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Friday hit out at the Centre for the 'mismanagement' of the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that the country's image had been 'tarnished'.

In a tweet, Yadav pointed out that international newspapers had been reporting about the increasing number of COVID-related deaths in the country. India Records 3.86 Lakh Fresh COVID-19 Cases, 3,498 Fatalities in 24 Hours.

"Because of the mismanagement of the BJP government, COVID-deaths are being reported in newspapers and magazines around the world and our country's global image has been tarnished," the SP leader tweeted in Hindi.

He added, "People who lie publicly will now confiscate the property of those publications or impose sanctions on them."

Uttar Pradesh is one of the states worst-hit by COVID-19 in the country. As per the Union health ministry, there are currently 3,09,237 active cases in the state and 8,96,477 recoveries and 12,238 deaths have been reported so far.

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