Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his team had taken the State’s law and order to the “top spot in the country”.
Lavishing praise on Mr. Adityanath, Mr. Shah also said U.P. had developed in all fields under him and the State government had done well during both waves of COVID-19.
Speaking at the foundation laying ceremony of the Uttar Pradesh Institute of Forensic Sciences here, Mr. Shah targeted the Opposition parties and said “those dreaming” of coming to power in 2022 should prepare themselves for another rout.
“Those dreaming [of coming to power], I want to tell them, ‘ bhaiya ’, once again prepare yourself for a crushing defeat. BJP is going to form a government with a huge majority,” Mr. Shah said.
In 2017, the BJP and its allies had won over 320 seats in the 403-member Assembly.
Mr. Shah also appealed to voters in U.P. to not get misled but to see for themselves the development work in their village and cities along with the change in the law and order situation since 2017.
“Riots have come to an end. Look at that. ‘ Jativad [casteism] came to an end. BJP has uprooted parivaarvad I (dynastic politics),” Mr. Shah said, detailing a list of achievements.
The BJP governments did not function on the basis of castes or families or for people close to them, but for the poorest person in the country and for improving the law and order, he added.
Mr. Shah attacked Opposition parties and political leaders claiming they get active only when elections approach. When elections are near, “they wear new clothes and come,” he said.
Mr. Shah, without naming anyone, claimed that these leaders were nowhere to be seen during floods or COVID-19 or when farmers were dying of hunger.
Perhaps referring to the previous government, Mr. Shah said when they had to waive off farm loans or when farmers were troubled, they were “busy with mauj masti ”, which roughly translates to fun and frolic.
Mr. Shah also lamented the low conviction rates in the country and said that countries such as Israel had achieved a conviction rate of 90 %. The conviction rate in India was due to a dearth of professional training, he said.
The Union Home Minister also advised police to stop swinging between the approach of “no action” and “extreme action” and instead adopt a path of “just action.”
Later, speaking in Mirzapur while laying the foundation stone of the Vindhyavasini Corridor project, Mr. Shah asserted that the BJP does not fear vote bank politics and accused the previous governments in the State of fearing the politics of vote banks. He made the comments while questioning previous governments for not constructing the Ram Temple earlier and developing other key religious sites.
Referring to the Centre's announcement of reservation for OBC and EWS in medical courses, Mr. Shah accused the Congress and other “regional parties” of ruling through the votes of OBC but not doing much for their welfare.
