Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday had a meal at a Dalit household in his home turf of Gorakhpur and said the state government was working for the development of all section of the society without any discrimination.
Adityanath also hit out at the Samajwadi Party, saying that during the previous regime, it was “social exploitation” and not “social justice”.
The chief minister’s visit to the residence of Amritlal Bharti, a Dalit BJP worker, at Jhungia locality came a little before former ministers Swami Prasad Maurya, Dara Singh Chauhan and Dharam Singh Saini gathered in Lucknow to join the Samajwadi Party ahead of the assembly elections starting February 10.
The ministers recently quit the state cabinet and as many as 12 lawmakers resigned from the BJP, accusing the state government of having a “callous attitude” towards Dalits, farmers and the unemployed.
“Only 18,000 houses were given to people under PM Awas Yojna in the full five-year term of the Akhilesh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh, whereas the present BJP government has given 45 lakh houses to the poor and the deprived under the scheme,” Adityanath told reporters after his meal at Bharti’s house.
“It was ‘samajik shoshan’ (social exploitation) and not ‘samajik nyay’ (social justice) during the Samajwadi Party rule in Uttar Pradesh,” he said, taking a swipe at his predecessor and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav.
{{/usCountry}}“It was ‘samajik shoshan’ (social exploitation) and not ‘samajik nyay’ (social justice) during the Samajwadi Party rule in Uttar Pradesh,” he said, taking a swipe at his predecessor and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav.
{{/usCountry}}The chief minister also hit out at Maurya, Chauhan and Saini, saying “those in the grip of dynastic politics cannot give justice to any section of society.” “They are not fighting for the equality or the welfare of the backward and Dalit community but wish to promote corruption in politics,” he said.
Listing out his government’s achievements, Adityanath said 2.61 crore households got toilets and 1.36 crore families benefited from the Ujjwala Yojana under the “double engine” government, referring to the BJP rule at the Centre and in the state. He said there has been no discrimination under his government and that the poor had benefitted from the welfare schemes. “A society based on equality, free of corruption, rule of law and good governance are ideals of the BJP government,” he said.
“The BJP government has worked for social justice and dignity of all communities. The dream of Dalit icon Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar is being fulfilled with the mantra ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The country as well as Uttar Pradesh is moving fast on the path of development, good governance and nationalism,” he added.
Thanking Bharti for the meal, Adityanath said community meals are an important aspect of establishing social equality in the society.
“I want to thank Bharti who belongs to the Scheduled Caste community for inviting me for ‘Khichri Sahbhoj’ on the occasion of Makar Sankranti today,” he said.
HT reached out to Samajwadi Party for a comment but could not get one immediately.