Yogi says no move to snap power
LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday reached out to farmers and said no power connections of cultivators were snapped due to non-payment of bills anywhere in Uttar Pradesh. He reiterated that his government decided to withdraw all cases registered against farmers for burning crop residue.
Yogi Adityanath made these points in a meeting of party’s lawmakers from Braj and Kanpur regions at his official residence in Lucknow.
“Neither has the government snapped any power connection of farmers due to non-payment of bills nor does it intend to do so in the future,” Yogi Adityanath said at a time when the government has been under fire over the killing of eight people, including four farmers, in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence of October 3.
Union minister of state for home and BJP MP Ajay Mishra Teni’s son Ashish Mishra is the
prime accused in the violence.
“We have also decided to withdraw all cases registered on farmers for burning crop residue. We are also planning to launch a one-time settlement (OTS) scheme under which all interest on pending farmer bills would be waived,” Yogi said.
Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who has been named head of the party’s election panel for UP, the party’s current UP in-charge Radha Mohan Singh, state BJP chief Swatantra Dev and state general secretary (organisation) Sunil Bansal were also present during the meeting.
Yogi Adityanath has been meeting BJP lawmakers in a phased manner in the run-up to the 2022 UP polls. He had met the party’s lawmakers from the Awadh region of central UP on Friday. For organisational purposes, the BJP has demarcated the state into six organisational regions.
“Three nodes of the defence corridor are in Kanpur region and in Bundelkhand great development has been done,” Yogi Adityanath said while tasking the lawmakers to ensure the benefits of the government schemes reach majority of the people.
UP BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh said the world was watching Uttar Pradesh ahead of the 2022 state assembly election and that is why a campaign was underway to malign the image of the state. “A malicious campaign to malign the state, to magnify small things is on. We are a party whose cadre is committed to the country. We need to stay united, focused and vigilant,” he said.
UP BJP general secretary (organisation) Sunil Bansal said that the party, set to embark on a membership drive, plans to add 1.5 crore new members by December.