Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday rejected the description of the state as a “BIMARU” or unruly state, saying Uttar Pradesh has transformed into “New India’s new UP” under his government.
Speaking at Aaj Tak’s ‘Panchayat Aaj Tak Mathura’, Yogi presented his government’s report card ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections and claimed that the BJP would return to power with a thumping mandate.
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Yogi said Uttar Pradesh before 2017 was known for poor law and order, riots, mafia and administrative failures, while investors were reluctant to put money in the state.
He also attacked previous governments, particularly the Samajwadi Party, alleging that Uttar Pradesh had remained trapped in “the chains of dynastic politics”. He alleged that the “Saifai and Rampur syndicates” dominated government jobs and the administration before 2017 and indulged in extortion.
Yogi claimed that his government had dismantled these systems and that government jobs were now being given without recommendations or corruption.
HOW YOGI SAYS UTTAR PRADESH CHANGED
Yogi said his government established the rule of law after 2017 and adopted a zero-tolerance policy towards mafias and criminals. According to him, the improved security environment helped restore investor confidence in the state. He highlighted the expansion of expressways, improved connectivity and the emergence of Uttar Pradesh as an industrial hub.
Yogi said the state had moved from the bottom three to becoming one of the country’s top three economies and had emerged as a major growth engine for India. He said security, transparent policies and a single-window system were essential for attracting investment.
“Those who protected mafias, rioters and professional criminals before 2017 were the biggest opponents of investment, tourism, women’s safety and employment for the youth in the state,” Yogi said, accusing previous governments of shielding mafias, rioters and professional criminals.
YOGI’S NINE-YEAR REPORT CARD
Highlighting what he described as the achievements of nearly nine-and-a-half years of BJP rule, Yogi credited infrastructure development, transparent recruitment, farmer welfare schemes and other government policies with strengthening Uttar Pradesh’s economy.
He said Uttar Pradesh accounts for only 11% of India’s cultivable land but produces 21% of the country’s foodgrains. He also claimed that the state’s agricultural growth rate had risen from 8% to between 18% and 21%.
Yogi said 29 sugar mills had shut down in Uttar Pradesh between 2007 and 2017, with sugarcane farmers’ payments remaining pending. Since 2017, he said, 122 sugar mills have been operating and not a single mill has closed.
He also highlighted the government’s One District One Product (ODOP) initiative, which promotes distinctive products from each district.
He cited Firozabad glass, Moradabad brass, Aligarh hardware, Lucknow chikankari, Meerut sports goods, Saharanpur woodcraft, Bhadohi carpets, Varanasi silk sarees, Gorakhpur terracotta, Siddharthnagar’s black rice and Mathura’s Thakur Ji attire as examples.
Following the ODOP initiative, the government has also promoted local cuisines, with Mathura peda included in the initiative, Yogi said. He added that better markets and facilities had helped women’s self-help groups become economically self-reliant and generate substantial turnover.
JOBS, TECHNOLOGY AND WOMEN’S SAFETY
On employment, Yogi claimed that lakhs of young people had been given government jobs through transparent recruitment without recommendations or bribes.
He also highlighted self-employment and startups, as well as plans to establish a Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Skilling and Employment Zone in every district.
Training in emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, 3D printing, robotics, drone technology and space technology was being expanded across the state, he said.
Yogi also cited the Abhyudaya scheme and digital education initiatives, under which students were provided free tablets and smartphones and access to coaching for competitive examinations.
On women’s safety, he highlighted the Mission Shakti programme and said the government’s zero-tolerance policy meant there could be no compromise on crimes against women.
“If someone has played with the safety of a daughter, he must be sent to either jail or hell, because he deserves it,” Yogi said.
‘BJP WILL RETURN IN 2027 WITH A BANG’
With the 2027 Assembly elections approaching, Yogi expressed confidence that voters would back the BJP on the issues of development, security and good governance.
He claimed that the people of Uttar Pradesh had rejected mafia rule and dynastic politics and would once again give the BJP a strong mandate.
Referring to his pre-2022 election comments, Yogi said he had then predicted that the BJP would return to power and that the government would be formed “with a bang”.
“BJP will form the government again in 2027. The double-engine government will return, and it will return with a bang,” he said.
Yogi said the state’s youth, farmers, women, poor, backward classes and other beneficiaries of government schemes would once again support the “double-engine government” in Uttar Pradesh.
– Ends
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
