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Before 2017, ration went to those who used to say ‘abba jaan’: UP CM Yogi
“As long as appeasement existed, the country faced serious problems like terror, riots, corruption, anarchy and injustice. But today development exists and sabka sath sabka vikas is ensured. Today, the caste of a poor beneficiary is not asked,” Adityanath said at an event to launch several development projects in Kushinagar district.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath triggered a fresh row on Sunday after he accused the previous governments of practising “appeasement politics” and claimed that only “people who say ‘Abba Jaan’” received ration in the state, till the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took over the reins.
“As long as appeasement existed, the country faced serious problems like terror, riots, corruption, anarchy and injustice. But today development exists and sabka sath sabka vikas is ensured. Today, the caste of a poor beneficiary is not asked,” Adityanath said at an event to launch several development projects in Kushinagar district.
“Have you all got ration? (the crowd replied yes.) Before 2017, the ration for the poor was digested by those who used to say Abba Jaan,” he added.
Claiming that not even a single case of death due to starvation has been reported in the state since his government took over, the CM said: “Earlier, Kushinagar’s ration used to go to Nepal and Bangladesh. But today those who dare to think of digesting the ration of the poor would not be able to do so. They will land in jail for sure.”
The remarks stirred up a political slugfest, with National Conference leader Omar Abdullah terming it “blatant communalism”.
“I’ve always maintained the BJP has no intention of fighting any election with an agenda other than blatant communalism & hatred with all the venom directed towards Muslims. Here is a CM seeking re-election claiming that Muslims ate up all the rations meant for Hindus,” he said in a Twitter post.
Slamming the CM, Samajwadi Party spokesperson Abdul Hafiz Gandhi said: “Dozens of corruption scandals have happened during his (Adityanath’s) regime. PDS scam, 69,000 teachers recruitment scam, animal husbandry scam, corona kit scam, DHFL scam, smart meter scam, shoes-shocks scam, homeguard scam and many more were there. He must come clean first before pointing fingers on the previous governments... I would not comment on his language... He is playing divisive politics”.
Congress spokesperson Surendra Rajput said chief minister Yogi Adityanath was using words like “abba jaan” to divert attention from the real issues. “Issues like hunger, poverty, unemployment and development would be issues in the polls and there would not be any communal issues,” he said, adding that the chief minister was only pursuing politics of words (Baat Bahadur) and doing nothing for development of Uttar Pradesh. He said Yogi regime has resulted in a jungle rule in the state and even policemen were not feeling secured in this regime.
Elections to the 403-member assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh are scheduled for early next year. In the 2017 assembly election, the BJP won a landslide victory, bagging 312 assembly seats on its own.
During the event, the chief minister also claimed that hailed his government’s Covid-19 management.
“We have put the genie of corona back in the bottle,” he said, amid applause from the crowd.
“If there was a Covid epidemic during the tenure of SP, BSP and Congress, then the condition of Uttar Pradesh would have been like Kerala, Maharashtra and Delhi. But we did efficient Covid management,” he added.
The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has been criticised for its inadequate preparedness for the Covid-19 pandemic which left over 22,874 dead in the state, according to union government data. The state faced an acute shortage of hospital beds, oxygen and other essential medical supplies that exacerbated the pandemic conditions during the second wave.
To be sure, UP’s current case fatality rate is, at 1.3%, on par with the national number of 1.3%, and medical infrastructure in almost all states was overwhelmed by the ferocity and intensity of the second wave – caused largely by the delta variant of the virus.
