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PM warns against ‘dynasts’, says BJP flag flying high after Phase 1
The seven-phased elections to the 403-member Uttar Pradesh assembly kicked off on Thursday, as voting took place in 58 constituencies in the western part of the state. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) flag was flying high after the first round of voting in Uttar Pradesh and warned people against voting for the dynastic parties that were the “biggest threat to democracy”.
The seven-phased elections to the 403-member Uttar Pradesh assembly kicked off on Thursday, as voting took place in 58 constituencies in the western part of the state. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.
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Addressing a rally in western UP’s Kasganj, which will vote in the third phase of state polls on February 20, Modi took a dig at the Samajwadi Party (SP), saying: “The dynastic leaders are so desperate that they have made up their mind to stop all the schemes (of BJP government) which are run for the poor. Hence, these people should never be given an opportunity.”
He further urged people to “remain alert”. “The blessings and love that you have showered on Modi and Yogi ji, have robbed these pariwar vadis (dynasts) of their sleep. No matter how much effort they make to divide you on the basis of caste, they have failed,” he added.
Kasganj, where the BJP has won four times since 1977 and the Samajwadi Party two times, is a crucial constituency. In 2018, the region was the epicentre of a riot where a tiff between two groups over giving passage to a Tiranga Yatra on January 26 led to loss of life and property.
Invoking BJP ideologue Deendayal Upadhyaya, Dalit icon BR Ambedkar and former UP chief minister Kalyan Singh, Modi called up on people to choose between “parivarvadi aur pratibhashali (dynasts vs meritorious)”.
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“Had Babasaheb Ambedkar, who had great following, wanted to, he could have set up his own family party, but he didn’t,” Modi said, continuing his tirade against “dynastic politics”.
The PM also showered praises on chief minister Yogi Adityanath, saying that even opponents cannot level corruption charges against him. He also hailed Adityanath’s announcement to name a roundabout in Ayodhya after iconic singer Lata Mangeshkar, who passed away on February 6, and termed it an example of “unity of India”.
“Lata Mangeshkar ji, who has her ancestral home in Goa, was a devotee of Lord Ram and sang many devotional songs praising him. A roundabout will be named after her in Ayodhya. This is the unity of India. I congratulate the Yogi government for this decision,” he said.
“I want a UP where no one is forced to leave to find work...”
Listing the benefits of the Centre and state governments working in tandem, he said, “The double engine government has made the provision for ‘one nation, one ration card’. If a person of UP has gone out (of UP) to earn his living, then Modi also thinks about the livelihood of that person,” he said.
The term “double engine” is used by BJP leaders to refer to the party being in power at the Centre as well as in a state.
