BJP invokes Shivaji to woo Kurmis
LUCKNOW: The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders on Thursday invoked Maratha king Shivaji and first deputy prime minister Vallabhbhai Patel to woo members of the Kurmi community.
Speaking in the backward class representatives meeting Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath reminded the Kurmi community of their glorious history, role during the independence struggle, and development of the country. He called upon them to support the BJP in the coming Lok Sabha elections.
Shivaji established Hindavi Samaj to challenge the might of the Mughal rulers whereas Sardar Patel led the foundation of the modern India by unifying small states. He also renovated Somnath temple destroyed by foreign attackers despite opposition by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and senior Congress leaders, Yogi said.
Yogi said the state government would construct a tourist guest house near Sardar Sarovar in Gujarat where the tallest statue of Sadar Patel would be unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 31. A delegation of the UP government officers will visit Gujarat during the programme to finalize the spot for the construction of the guest house, he said.
Highlighting the development and welfare schemes launched by the state government, Yogi said when BJP captured power in March, 2017 over 1.74 crore families did not have power connection. “Within a year and half electricity connection has been provided to 53 lakh families. The state government plans to construct houses for the poor by December 31,” he said.
Hitting out at the Congress, Yogi said former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi grabbed power riding on the ‘garibi hatao’ slogan. “The consecutive Congress government did little for the welfare of the poor. Large number of people in the country have no LPG connection whereas the BJP government has distributed 5 crore connection among the needy,” he said.
The state government has also increased the minimum support price for the paddy and wheat purchase. Over 1.50 lakh farmers will benefit with the launch of the Bansagar multi-purpose project. The central government had countered Pakistan and China policy to dominate on the international border, he said.
Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya said the number of the Kurmi community MLAs had increased from 25 in the 2012 assembly election to 34 in the 2017 assembly election. Thirty-one of the MLAs had won on the BJP ticket, he said.
“The opposition parties have joined hand to stop Narendra Modi to regain power in 2019 Lok Sabha election. But the opposition leaders don’t know that voters have made up their mind to support Modi in the election,” he said.
“Modi, who belongs to backward community, is trying to fulfill the dream of Sardar Patel. Rahul is visiting Kailash and Akhilesh is busy building Vishnu temple. People know that Rahul could not recite Hanuman chalisa. Amethi remains a backward constituency though Rahul represents it in Lok Sabha. He is not fit to become the Prime Minister,” Maurya said.