‘Complete all projects before polls’
Concerned over meeting deadline of various development projects, chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday said all projects should be completed well before the Vidhan Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh.
“If the projects are not completed before the state goes to the elections, people will lose trust in us,” said the chief minister while addressing the next generation infrastructure summit 2015 here on Thursday.
On the occasion, presentations were made on efforts to improve the power supply, progress of Agra Lucknow Access Control (Greenfield) Expressway, road safety and corporate social responsibility etc.
Yadav accused the BJP of creating problems for his government by raising issues such as ban on DJ sets during the ‘kanwar yatras’ in the state.
“We have such people and political parties that are demanding to allow DJ music at religious events like kanwar yatra,” said chief minister.
Yadav also accused the BJPled NDA government of copying the state’s programmes.
“Those (BJP) who opposed the distribution of laptops are now holding programmes focusing on digital divide. We distributed laptops to youths, while I saw them giving the gadget to elderly women to bridge the digital divide,” he said.
Insisting that the state’s development indicators had shown a considerable improvement, the chief minister said: “If the state did not meet the parameters, it would not have been able to get 13 smart city projects. All MPs should now request the centre to make their constituencies smart,” he said. Yadav used the occasion to announce the Public Investment Board (PIBs) clear- ance to the Lucknow Metro rail project and said Uttar Pradesh was the only state where the work on metro projects was undergoing in three cities.
He said the detailed project report (DPR) had also been prepared to implement a metro rail project in Varanasi — the Lok Sabha constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “This project can move forward only with the cooperation of the state government,” he said.
Without making a direct reference to Modi, the chief minister said, “Metro is coming up in the constituency of union home minister (Rajnath Singh), how can Varanasi be left far behind.”
Listing various other projects coming up in Lucknow, he said a number of development projects were coming up in other cities as well.
Taking a dig at media, the chief minister said that while an international cricket stadium was also coming up in Lucknow, the one at Saifai drew more attention. Yadav also referred to an incident at his native village where he had to intervene to disconnect an illegal power connection. He said his government had worked to check ‘katia’ (illegal) power connections as well.
Chief executive of f i cer UP Expressway Industrial Development Authority Navneet Sehgal spoke about the state government’s proposal to construct new expressways – the Lucknow-Ballia via Ghazipur (Greenfield) Expressway, Bulandshahr-Purkaji and Jhansi-Gorakhpur expressways. WHY RAKE UP PERSONAL ISSUES?
Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav targeted the media for focusing more on personal issues like the father-son relationship etc. than on any other issues. In an obvious reference to his father, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav’s observations pulling him up at a public programme on Wednesday, chief minister said there were some problems between all fathers and sons. “You tell me which father does not pull up his son,” said the chief minister. SHAHEED PATH NAME MAY BE CHANGED
Chief minister announced that his government will change the name of Shaheed Path as demanded at the Summit 2015 here on Thursday.