Yogi likens SP-BSP understanding to snake, mole coming together
CM thanks clerics for shifting Friday prayer timings, says festival of colours was celebrated peacefully
› This is a pact between those who set new records in corruption every day and those who looted and ransacked the state. YOGI ADITYANATH, CM
GORAKHPUR: Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday likened the understanding between the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) for the Gorakhpur and Phulpur by-polls to an instance of a snake and a mole coming together for survival due to floods, an apparent reference to the BJP’s surge.
“Their condition is like snake and mole who are running here and there to save their lives. I feel pity for them but they are actually looters, who have looted the state, played with the future of youths and farmers and have defamed the state,” he said at a public meeting in Jeetpur, which is part of the Pipraich assembly segment of the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha constituency. The by-polls are scheduled on March 11.
Adityanath alleged the SP and the BSP joined hands for the by-polls to promote anarchy, corruption, criminalisation of politics and to push the state into communal riots .
“This is a pact between those who set new records in corruption every day and those who looted and ransacked the state, “he said. Attacking the “politics of dynasty, caste and region”, the priest-turned-politician said “We will provide jobs without any discrimination ...earlier people of only one area and culture used to get jobs.”
“During the previous government, only one family moved on the path of prosperity and development and people of the state became poor. But BJP brought development for all and ended the era of family-based politics,” he said.
“You have seen that nobody was ready to invest a single penny in UP in 15 years of the SP and the BSP rule. But when we reached out to investors, they welcomed us, saying ‘we will now invest in UP as Yogiji has come in the state’. The investors told us that they hesitated to invest in UP (earlier) because they were asked for a share,” he said.
The chief minister thanked Muslim clerics for shifting the timing of Friday prayers in order to avoid any clash with Holi revellers.
“I want to thank the Muslim clerics for changing the time of ‘Jumma Namaz’ for Holi. Jumma comes 52 times in a year and Holi comes once. They (clerics) decided to reschedule the namaz after Holi. The festival went off peacefully,” he said.
“People were apprehensive as Holi and Jumma were on the same day, but Hindu brothers celebrated Holi peacefully. Riots had taken place in earlier years when people used to come out of mosques after offering prayers and Hindus used to play Holi, but this time round everything went off peacefully,” the chief minister said. He also said it was his moral responsibility to push Gorakhpur, which he represented in the Lok Sabha from 1998 to 2017, on the path of development.
“You need not ask for development in Gorakhpur. We will ensure that development reaches every village in Gorakhpur,” he said.
Citing the flood in the Gorakhpur region last year, Adityanath said his government stood by the people, rescued them and provided swift relief to survivors.
“You must have seen that I took a motorboat ride to reach out to people in the flood-hit areas, when nobody dared to go there. I assessed the situation by visiting the flood-affected areas and ensured fast relief,” he said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader also criticised the condition of roads during the Samajwadi Party government, but “now roads were getting better and would be widened by seven metres”.
He said the BJP’s splendid victory in Tripura and Nagaland and its ally’s win in Meghalaya had become possible because people believed the BJP was the only party which could usher in development and ensure that welfare schemes reached everyone without discrimination.