CHANGE OF REGIME AND ITS IMPACT

Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav had not only promised all cooperation to the centre (during UPA 2’s tenure) but he also ensured that the projects pending with the centre got cleared expeditiously. On many an occasion, the chief minister was able to persuade the UPA leadership and the state government’s point was well accepted, despite the political differences. A change of regime (installation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi government after 2014 Lok Sabha elections) did not change the scenario though the two parties — the BJP and Samajwadi Party heading the governments at the Centre and state respectively — are known to be poles apart ideologically. Prime Minister Narendra Modi even called up chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on telephone before leaving for Japan to inform the former about the pact to be signed to bring together Kashi and Kyoto for development of his Lok Sabha constituency. The CM also went to Varanasi to receive the PM as per protocol norms. This was in sharp contrast to the BSP regime when the centre and the state government had been at loggerheads. The then chief minister Mayawati avoided attending meetings of the central planning commission and the chief minister’s conference. She even refused to allocate land for Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s ambitious Rail Coach Factory project in Rae Bareli.