Hitting out at Congress, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that the grand old party was not finding workers to oppose abrogation of Article 370 which was a blot on Kashmir, and no person having self-respect would support Congress.
Addressing an election rally in Pratapgarh in which senior Congress leader and three-time MP Rajkumari Ratna Singh joined the Bharatiya Janata Party, Yogi Adityanath said that in the present scenario, no one would support Congress for opposing abrogation of Article 370 which accorded special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
The Chief Minister addressed rallies in Pratapgarh, Chitrakoot and Kanpur in support of BJP candidates contesting the UP assembly by-elections. He appealed to the people to vote for the BJP.
Yogi Adityanath said that Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and other parties had done politics on caste and religious lines and promoted nepotism and casteism and UP bore the brunt of this style of politics.
“It is wrong to expect development from them because development and good governance is not on the agenda of these parties,” he said.
The Chief Minister said that the farmers of Pratapgarh, with their diligence and efforts, had provided a global stage to the cultivation of amla ( Indian gooseberry).
“The BJP government has included amla in the ‘One District One Product’ project and is providing a new market to the farmers here. The work on the medical college has started in Pratapgarh. In the next session, the process for admissions along with the OPD will start in the medical college,” he said.
While addressing a rally in Chitrakoot, the Chief Minister said that it was the holy land where Lord Ram spent around 12 years in exile.
“For the last 15 years, the SP, the BSP and the Congress, in connivance with some contractors, looted funds allocated for the development of the region. Our government has stopped that loot. Not only that, after the formation of the BJP government in the state, the region has become free of dacoits,” the Chief Minister said.
He said that fighter planes would be manufactured at the factories to be set up in the defence corridor here and the planes manufactured in Chitrakoot would give a befitting reply to the enemies.
“The tanks made in Chitrakoot will protect the country’s borders and they will have Chitrakoot written on them,” he added.
Enumerating the various welfare schemes of the BJP government, the Chief Minister said that the state government had sanctioned Rs 9,000 crore for providing pure drinking water to all the households.
“After the construction of the Bundelkhand Expressway, the distance between Delhi and Chitrakoot will be covered in five hours. Besides, our government is constructing cow shelters for the protection of stray cattle. If any farmer is keeping stray cattle at his home and taking care of it, the state government is helping such farmers by giving them Rs 900 for each animal,” Yogi Adityanath added.
The Chief Minister targeted the Congress, the SP and the BSP while addressing the rally in Kanpur. He said that Pakistan and Congress were pained most after the abrogation of Article 370.
“Over 41,000 citizens of Kashmir have died due to Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, but the SP, the BSP and the Congress never did anything on the issue. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP government abrogated Article 370 and paved the way for development in Kashmir,” the Chief Minister said.