Adityanath

dra Modi had asked us to project Kumbh as an international event,” he said.

Adityanath said he invited several foreign ambassadors to Kumbh Mela and residents of six lakh villages and a record 24 crore pilgrims also attended the event.

“There was no dirt, there was no chaos and all was well. It was a big deal,” he said.

There was a time, the chief minister said, when no one wanted to invest in UP but the state is now attracting investors through several summits every year.

“In the third summit, we had received a proposal to invest ~2.5 million. We are now going to organise a defence summit. There is a lot of excitement about this. This is an auspicious occasion and good for the prosperity of the state,” he said.

“With this, the state’s economy with a $1 trillion economy and the country will achieve the target of becoming a $5 trillion economy,” he added.

The CM also said that his government successfully hosted the Pravasi Diwas in Prime Minister Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi. “In Varanasi, we set up tent city which was so good that guests who had booked into hotels left their rooms and stayed in the tents,” the CM said.

Adityanath cited the peaceful conduct of the Lok Sabha elections in the state in April-may as further proof of his government’s grip on law and order. “The Lok Sabha elections were spread across 1,63,000 booths but there was no untoward incident.”

He also mentioned economic slowdown in the country and said it is not going to last and “we will overcome it”.

“We are going to benefit from the corporate exemption given by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. We will benefit from the trade war between China and the US. This will increase investment in the country,” he said.

As the chief ministers took questions from the audience, he talked about the steps his government will take towards the improvement of medical services in state.