Misdeeds of SP speak in Uttar Pradesh, not its work — Modi

PM accuses Samajwadi Party government of plundering the state’s coffers

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a blistering attack on the Samajwadi Party (SP) government yesterday and accused Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav of hounding and harassing honest officials.

“A senior bureaucrat openly said that to become District Magistrate in Uttar Pradesh, one has to cough up Rs7 million (Dh383,788) and he was suspended within hours,” Modi said while asking the people if this was the work the chief minister was seeking votes on.

“Another official, when objected to some wrongdoings, he was threatened over phone. Is this his ‘kaam boltaa hai’ that the chief minister is claiming. Not their ‘kaam’ [work] but their ‘kaarname’ [misdeeds] speak,” he chuckled.

Addressing a huge election rally here, Modi said the Samajwadi Party government had plundered the state’s coffers and also protected corrupt ministers and leaders of its predecessor BSP government. “Akhilesh Yadav will have to answer why he did not act against the graft-tainted leaders of the BSP even after five years.”

Accusing the SP government of completely failing to protect and safeguard the honour of women, he said it is a “shame that such a government was asking for my report card”.

“This election is your election, Akhileshji, you say what you have done in five years,” he said as people cheered him. Modi also listed various welfare programmes and schemes of his government at the Centre and reiterated his government’s commitment to the farmers, poor and the middle-class.

“There was a time when there were long lines for LPG cylinders, farmers were canecharged while getting urea ... The situation has completely changed,” the Prime Minister said while pointing out how 1.8 lakh gas connections were distributed in just one year.

Speaking on how interviews had been abolished for Group C and D government jobs, Modi said parents had to mortgage their land, pawn their jewellery to ensure that their children got through such interviews. People change with times. In Uttar Pradesh, where voters are being wooed left and right, the most striking election campaign, although low profile, is of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

Raring to wrest power from arch rival Samajwadi Party (SP), the BSP has changed tack and gone for a different brand of campaign — a departure from its earlier methods.

The BSP has not only got an audio-visual campaign stitched up to tell voters how Mayawati is a harbinger of social change, but also to remind them of the better law and order situation in 2007-12 when she was the chief minister. In the past, the party heavily relied on corner meetings and low-profile rallies in rural constituencies. This time it has roped in the likes of Bollywood star Anil Kapoor to seek support. The BSP has also never been known to woo the media. This time, the party mandarins are not only in touch with journalists but are also sending press releases using WhatsApp, SMSes and emails.