Caste passe, people want growth, says Akhilesh

Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday said the Samajwadi Party government had, through its development work, helped change the agenda for the 2017 assembly elections, which were more likely to be fought on development rather than caste and religious issues.

“The four-and-half-year rule of Samajwadi Party has pushed the state on the path of development. The confidence of the investors could be gauged from the fact that entrepreneurs are making a beeline for investment in the state even though merely 6-month stint is left of the SP government,” he said.

Speaking on the motion of thanks in the legislative assembly, Yadav cautioned the BSP against raking up caste and religious issues to mobilise the voters. “Ten years have passed since the BSP won the assembly election in 2007. The BSP leaders should realise that people have moved away from the old agenda. It’s the age of WhatsApp and 4-G and information is travelling fast from one corner of the state to another. The bhai-chara (brotherhood) committees constituted by the BSP have collapsed. Instead of caste, development and livelihood are the main issues for the people today,” he said.

“I have ensured all my dream development projects are executed on the ground and majority of them are nearing completion. The NOIDA-Agra expressway had been extended to Lucknow. Now work has started to stretch it to Ballia in the east,” he said.

Terming distribution of laptops among student a ‘historical’ work of his government, Yadav said, “The opposition opposed the scheme. Even media raised questions over its success and quality of the laptops. Four years have passed but the laptops are working and none of the recipients had sold it off either,” he said.

“Launch of the Metro services was not in the manifesto of the Samajwadi Party yet the state government launched Metro project in Lucknow and soon the project will be launched in Kanpur as well,” he said.

Hitting out at the central government, Yadav said the state government had launched majority of the projects with its own resources. Though the Finance Commission increased grants for the state, the Niti Ayog cut the grant. The central government did not increase the power quota of UP but was making 24-hour supply to Varanasi on the request of BJP MLA Shyamdeo Roy Chaudhary, he said. HOUSE ADJOURNED SINE DIE

The legislative assembly was adjourned sine die on Thursday. Parliamentary Affairs minister Azam Khan moved the motion. Speaker Mata Prasad Pandey said the house has been adjourned sine die.