SP, BJP compete over turning Kakori into a tourist hub

With Independence Day round the corner, politics over the historic Kakori incident reached a high in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh with BJP chief Amit Shah promising he would request Prime Minister Narendra Modi to develop the town into a tourist spot — a few days after Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav sanctioned Rs. 5 crore for a similar project.

Project’s aim

After paying floral tributes to the heroes of the memorial of the Kakori incident, Mr. Shah assured the gathering that he would speak to Mr. Modi regarding the development of Kakori.

The project would “inspire youth” and inculcate “nationalism” in them, Mr. Shah told a gathering of party workers at the Kakori Shaheed Smarak, a memorial built in the honour of freedom struggle revolutionaries.

Mr. Shah blamed the Congress’s dynastic politics for the lack of development in the country since independence, saying the party could not pay its debt to the martyrs who laid down their lives for freedom. He also targeted the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party, saying they engaged in the politics of a particular caste and would not be able to develop U.P.

‘Not enough’

Only the BJP can develop U.P., he asserted. Mr. Shah also said that forming a government at the Centre was not enough as it would require a BJP government in the State to develop it. “Work is incomplete,” he said, blaming the State government of obstructing projects.

Responding to Mr. Shah, BSP chief Mayawati said the people of U.P. felt “cheated and let down” by Mr. Shah’s comments that only a BJP government in the State would ensure the development of the state by the Centre. Even as she pointed out that the BJP had 71 MPs from U.P., Ms. Mayawati asked: “Can’t non-BJP States not develop? And are not BJP-ruled States like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana not falling behind in removing poverty, unemployment and child malnutrition?”