LUCKNOW Hours before the first round of elections in the state, chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday said that Uttar Pradesh could become Kashmir, Kerala or Bengal, if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was not voted back to power.
“I have to say one thing from the core of my heart…a lot of unprecedented things have happened in these five years. If you miss this chance now, all the hard work of past five years will be spoiled and UP may turn into Kashmir, Bengal and Kerala,” stated Adityanath in a video message for voters on social media.
“Your vote has blessings on me and this is sure that your vote will become a guarantee of your fear-free life,” he emphasised.
In his message that began with “Namaskar” and ended with “Jai Sri Ram”, Adityanath further stated: “My dear brother-sister voters of Uttar Pradesh, this is the time for a big decision. Whatever the BJP’s double engine government has done in the past five years has been done with commitment, and whatever was said has been implemented. You have seen everything and heard everything by the time this election has begun.”
Reacting strongly to the UP CM’s comments, his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan said if the north Indian state develops like Kerala, people will enjoy the peace and better living conditions while Congress leader Shashi Tharoor took a dig at Yogi Adityanath, saying UP “should be so lucky” as Kashmir’s beauty, Bengal’s culture and Kerala’s education would do wonders for the place.
{{/usCountry}}Reacting strongly to the UP CM’s comments, his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan said if the north Indian state develops like Kerala, people will enjoy the peace and better living conditions while Congress leader Shashi Tharoor took a dig at Yogi Adityanath, saying UP “should be so lucky” as Kashmir’s beauty, Bengal’s culture and Kerala’s education would do wonders for the place.
{{/usCountry}}While non-BJP political parties in West Bengal alleged that it was an “attempt to polarise people of his state” and will fail, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah attacked Yogi Aditynath, saying “he should be so lucky. J&K has less poverty, better human development indices, less crime & generally better standards of living than UP.” “What we lack is good governance over the last 3-4 years, but that is a temporary phenomenon,” Abdullah tweeted.
Meanwhile addressing public meetings in Sambhal, Chandausi, and Gunnaur assembly constituencies, Yogi Adityanath said he would not allow cow slaughter and ensure that no damage was caused to the crops of farmers.
He said the condition of farmers was bad and women were not safe during the previous regimes while traders were upset due to curfew imposed in different districts. The CM said a medical college was coming up Sambhal.
Addressing a public meeting in the Nagina and Nathaur assembly constituencies of Bijnor, he accused the previous governments of failing to undertake development work in Uttar Pradesh.
Adityanath said that the Samajwadi Party’s development was only limited to the boundary walls of ‘kabristaan’ (graveyards) and it was the BJP government that brought UP on the path of development and prosperity.
Comparing the development work carried out by his government with that of the SP regime, Adityanath said no attention was earlier paid to the construction of roads, providing water, electricity, hospital facility and schools/degree colleges. He said Bijnor was declared as a ‘dark zone’ earlier.
Yogi, according to a press statement, listed development works carried out by his government and said the BJP government was establishing a medical college in Bijnor and there will be no shortage of medical facilities and doctors in the district.
He lashed out at the previous government for “poor law and order situation” in their regime and observed: “Between 2012 and 2017, only anarchy and riots prevailed in the state. Of the ‘two boys’, the one from Lucknow used to throw the state into the riots, while the other used to watch the spectacle sitting in Delhi.”
He also commented that the SP failed to ensure safety and security to the daughters of the state, saying they could not go to school while even the traders were scared of moving out late in the evening. Adityanath said sugar mills were either closed or sold out at throwaway prices during previous regimes and the farmers were forced to burn their crops.
“We have made a record payment of ₹1.59 lakh crore to the sugarcane farmers in the state, of which ₹16,290 crore has gone to farmers of Bijnor alone. While in the previous government, only ₹10,000 crore was paid to the cane farmers,” he added.
He said houses were being constructed for the people and electricity connections being given to them. “We are also giving old-age pension, widow pension, and Divyang pension. An annual pension of ₹12,000 is being given to over 17,000 differently-abled people, more than 42,527 widows and 53,400 senior beneficiaries in Bijnor,” said the CM.
Adityanath said the “double engine government of UP” waived loans of over 93,000 farmers from Bijnor. Similarly, 3,72,900 farmers of Bijnor were getting ₹6,000 annually under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi. Over 38,600 people got houses in the district under the PM Awas Yojana, he pointed out.
Launching a scathing attack on the Samajwadi Party, Adityanath said, “Bijnor might be far away for the Saifai family, I was born near this district and share a close relationship with it.” (Inputs from agency)