Opposition parties nurtured criminals for 15 years:Yogi

UP CM listed developmental works done under his government while highlighting Opposition ‘misrule’.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday alleged that the Opposition parties nurtured the mafia for 15 years but the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government took strict action against gangsters and criminals active in the state.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath said his government was busy demolishing the criminal empire set up in the state allegedly during the Opposition rule. (HT Photo)

He was addressing a virtual meeting of BJP leaders and workers of Malhani (Jaunpur) assembly constituency where a bypoll is scheduled on November 3 along with six other assembly seats in the state. Yogi also alleged that earlier the mafia and criminal elements used to decide the policies of political parties.

The criminals had grabbed the land of the poor to establish their empires in the past but they no longer had a free run, he added.

In the new Uttar Pradesh, the BJP government was committed to eliminating criminals and demolishing their empires, he said, hinting at an ongoing drive against gangsters across the state.

The chief minister said there was no alternative to development, adding the state government was working on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s motto of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’.

During the Covid pandemic, the state government distributed pension among 87 lakh beneficiaries, gave electricity connections to four crore households and cooking gas connections to 41 lakh people, he said.

Medical colleges were being set up in each division of the state to provide better healthcare facilities to the people, he said.

He also said the construction of Purvanchal expressway, Bundelkhand expressway, Gorakhpur Link expressway and Ganga expressway was in full swing to provide better connectivity to people. Construction of airports in Kushinagar and Ayodhya had been expedited, he added.

Hitting out at the Opposition parties, Yogi Adityanath said those who had no faith in development were bent upon vitiating the atmosphere with the politics of caste, religion and region.

Anarchy and corruption ruled the roost when the current Opposition parties were in power earlier, he said, further alleging that development funds were siphoned off at that time.

“These parties had spread canards about the BJP government but their tricks would not work as people were well aware of the working of the state government,” Adityanath said.

State BJP president Swatantra Dev Singh said mass contact and communication were the most important factors for campaigning during the Covid pandemic. Party leaders and workers should motivate the people to vote and a high polling percentage will definitely pave the way for BJP’s victory, he claimed.