Endorsing Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s demolition of property of suspected criminals as part of his handling of law and order, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday came up with a new formulation U.P.Y.O.G.I — U.P. plus Yogi.
Upyogi means useful in Hindi and by deploying the pun, the PM has once again thrown his weight behind Mr. Adityanath as the State inches closer to the 2022 Assembly election.
Yogi 'un-upyogi' for Uttar Pradesh, says Akhilesh Yadav
Speaking at the foundation laying ceremony of the Ganga Expressway in Shahjahanpur, Mr. Modi referring to the demolition of property of suspected criminals and mafia under the BJP Government in U.P.: “When the bull dozer runs over the mafia…the bull dozer runs over the illegal building but the person who is nurturing it feels the pain. That is why the people of U.P. are saying, U.P. plus Yogi, bahut hain upyogi. (U.P. plus Yogi is very much useful).”
Targetting the previous Government, Mr. Modi said earlier criminals with ‘kattas’ (country-made pistols) would come out once the sun went down; women were unsafe, land grabs and riots were common and people were forced to migrate out of their villages.
Mr. Adityanath toiled to bring the situation under control, said the PM.
Mr. Modi also accused the Opposition parties of having problems with both the “virasat” (heritage) and “vikas” (development) of the country. Virasat, because they were more worried about their “votebank,” said the PM in a veiled reference to the charge of Muslim appeasement the BJP often makes against other parties, and vikas because the dependence of the poor and ordinary citizens on these political parties was fast reducing.
The PM also said these parties had a problem with the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor in Varanasi, the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and the cleaning of the Ganga and that they also questioned the indigenous COVID-19 vaccine as well as the army action against terror.
Unlike previous Governments, when only some regions of the State got proper electricity, under the BJP Government, every district was provided more electricity than before, he said. “There is no bhed-bhav in U.P. Everyone is getting their due,” said the PM.
The 594-km long six-lane Ganga Expressway will be built at a cost of over ₹36,200 crore. Starting near Bijauli village in Meerut, it will extend till Judapur Dandu village in Prayagraj. It would pass through Meerut, Hapur, Bulandshahr, Amroha, Sambhal, Budaun, Shahjahanpur, Hardoi, Unnao, Rae Bareli, Pratapgarh and Prayagraj.
Upon completion, it will become the longest expressway of Uttar Pradesh, connecting the western and eastern regions of the State, said the Government.
