PM attacks previous govts in UP, says they created hurdles to development

In a scathing attack on the previous governments in Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the state was run by gangsters and mafias before 2017 but such elements are now behind bars.

Hailing the "double-engine government" in Uttar Pradesh – led by the BJP both in the state and at the Centre – Modi said roadblocks were created earlier in the implementation of central schemes meant for the poor.

But now the benefits of these programmes are reaching the needy, he said after laying the foundation stone here of a university named after freedom fighter Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh.

"The people of UP cannot forget the way in which scams were committed here earlier, how government work had fallen prey to corrupt people and the mafia and the 'goonda' elements had their say," he said.

"But now those who indulged in extortion and running a mafia rule are behind bars," he said.

The prime minister's attack on rival parties comes just months ahead of the assembly elections in the country's heartland, and the Congress and the SP reacted sharply.

SP leader Akhilesh Yadav challenged the PM's claim on law and order in the state and the UP Congress accused him of playing the caste card, claiming that the BJP was calling the freedom fighter a ''Jat king''.

The prime minister also highlighted Aligarh's status as a node in the Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor.

Before the BJP came to power in Uttar Pradesh in 2017, hurdles were placed before every scheme meant for the poor and "dozens of letters" had to be written by the Centre to the state.

"Things have changed now and the benefits of the programmes are reaching the needy," he said.

"UP, which was seen as an obstacle to development earlier, that UP is today leading the country's big campaigns," Modi said, listing schemes for building toilets, houses for the poor, gas connections under the Ujjwala scheme and the PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojna.

He said Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has played a leading role in accomplishing the targets.

The state is emerging as a very attractive place for small and big investors from within the country and the world, he said.

"Today Uttar Pradesh is becoming a great example of the double-engine government's double benefit," Modi, who himself represents UP's Varanasi in the Lok Sabha, said.

Reaching out to people from western Uttar Pradesh, where the farmers' agitation against the farm laws has gained support, Modi mentioned the Adityanath government's record on paying sugarcane farmers' dues.

"We have to make this region prosperous, make the sons and daughters capable, and save UP from all anti-development forces," he said.

''I want to make the people of western UP remember how about four or five years ago people lived under fear in their homes, the daughters and sisters felt afraid of coming out of their houses and going to school and colleges," he said.

"The parents remained anxious till their daughters returned home," he said.

The prime minister claimed that insecurity led people to even leave their ancestral homes in "exodus".

"But today a criminal thinks a hundred times before committing such crimes. Under Yogi ji's government, the poor get a hearing as well as respect,'' he said.

He also praised the state government on its Covid vaccination drive and the handling of the pandemic.

''In UP, so far over eight crore people have got the vaccine. UP holds the record of administering the highest number of vaccines in a single day," he said.

Modi referred to farm leader and former prime minister Charan Singh, saying he showed the path to changes in rural economy.

The PM also remembered veteran BJP leader and former UP chief minister Kalyan Singh, saying he would have been happy to know that a university is coming up in his home district in Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh's name.

The university is being established by the Uttar Pradesh government to honour the memory of the freedom fighter, educationist and social reformer.

It will occupy an area of 92 acres in Lodha and Musepur Kareem Jarouli villages of Aligarh's Kol tehsil and provide affiliation to 395 colleges.

The Adityanath government's decision to set up the university after the noted Jat figure is also being seen as part of the ruling BJP's bid to win over the community ahead of the crucial assembly polls early next year.

A section of Jats, who live in sizable numbers in western Uttar Pradesh, is seen to be aggrieved with the BJP over issues concerning farmers.

Governor Anandiben Patel and Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma also attendedthe event.