No curfews, no riots, everything fine under BJP, says Adityanath in Ghaziabad

Similar to his campaign strategy for the 2022 assembly elections, Adityanath yet again attacked the opposition parties -- Samajwadi Party (SP), the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Congress -- on issues of crime, safety and security

In Ghaziabad to campaign for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates in the local body polls, chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday attacked the opposition parties over crimes that took place during the previous regimes, and claimed that things became fine only under his government.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath flanked by Ghaziabad MP VK Singh and BJP mayoral candidate Sunita Dayal during an election rally at Kavi Nagar Ramlila Maidan in Ghaziabad. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The nine local bodies in Ghaziabad district will go to polls on May 11, in the second phase of the elections, and they include the Ghaziabad municipal corporation comprising 100 wards.

Addressing a gathering at the Kavi Nagar Ramlila ground in Ghaziabad on Friday evening, Adityanath said, “You have seen a changing Uttar Pradesh over the past six years. Earlier, there used to be curfews during Kanwar Yatra. Now, there is no curfew in UP nor danga (riots). Na curfew, na danga, Uttar Pradesh me sab changa (No curfews or riots, everything is fine in UP).”

Similar to his campaign strategy for the 2022 assembly elections, Adityanath yet again attacked the opposition parties -- Samajwadi Party (SP), the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Congress -- on issues of crime, safety and security.

“During the SP and BSP rule, there was chaos all round and they had no development agenda. They spent funds in the name of Haj House and kabaristans (Muslim graveyards). But we constructed Kailash Mansarovar bhawan and the work on Purvanchal Bhawan and Uttarakhand Bhawan is in progress. The works done in Ghaziabad during the past six years has been result of “double engine government (BJP governments in Centre and UP)”,” Adityanath said.

Dubbing opposition parties “pariwarvadis (loyal to dynasty politics)”, he said they turned into “tamanchawadi (those holding illegal arms)”, when they handed over illegal guns to the youth to grab power.

“Now, the youth in the state have tablets in their hands and not guns. Before 2017, in Ghaziabad and western UP, girls were not able to go to schools; women were not able to step out to markets and traders could carry on business only under threats of extortion. Any person who stepped out was not sure that (s) he would return home safe. There were huge garbage dumps all over the city and the law and order was pathetic,” Adityanath said.

He said Ghaziabad city is counted as a “smart city” and was ranked 12 in the category of cities having a population between 1 and 4 million in the Swachh Survekshan 2022. It is now surging ahead to become a “safe city”, he said.

“We introduced the police commissionerate system in Ghaziabad and the Ghaziabad municipal corporation is among the two corporations in UP which floated municipal bonds. Ghaziabad is a safe and smart city and we are taking it further ahead. The highway between Delhi and Meerut (Delhi Meerut Expressway) has been completed and next month we will inaugurate the Regional Rapid Transit System,” Adityanath said.

He said there is “no dearth of funds for development” and the state government is working progressively to provide tapped water supply and sewage network to households in Khoda and Loni nagar palikas.

Responding to the CM’s allegations, the SP leaders said the BJP, which ruled the Ghaziabad municipal corporation, ever since the municipal board was upgraded to the status of a corporation in 1994, has to answer for the lack of development in Ghaziabad.

“Divisive politics is their main agenda and people have understood this. The repeated rants about law-and-order situation will not yield results in local elections. They always target opposition but remain silent about people in their party having criminal cases,” said Faisal Hussain, district president, Samajwadi Party.

The BSP said the BJP was diverting attention from the issue of local development or the lack of it.

“Their claims about the law-and-order situation in UP is an old gimmick that is played out every time there is an election. It has been six years of the BJP rule in UP. They must reply on the lack of local development work and try not to mislead people by rolling out different agendas,” said Virendra Jatav, district president, BSP.