Modi raises 'UP+Yogi. Bahut hai Upyogi' slogan, Akhilesh mocks with 'Un-Upyogi'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took potshots at the opposition, especially the Samajwadi Party, to raise the issue of development and praise Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s action against land and construction mafias.
Speaking at the foundation stone laying ceremony of the ₹ 36,230 crore Ganga Expressway project in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday (December 18), Modi said, “In Uttar Pradesh, the bulldozer razes illegal construction, but the pain is felt by those who nurture them. That is why the people are saying – ‘UP + Yogi. Bahut hai Upyogi’ (UP+ Yogi is very useful).”
PM Modi’s obvious target was former Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, who accused the BJP of misusing the central investigative agencies when several of his associates were raided in different parts of the state on Friday.
आज पूरे यूपी की जनता कह रही है- यूपी प्लस योगी, बहुत हैं उपयोगी।
U.P.Y.O.G.I
यूपी प्लस योगी, बहुत हैं उपयोगी: PM @narendramodi
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) December 18, 2021
“Abhi to Income Tax department aaya hai, Enforcement Directorate aayega, CBI aayega (Right now, now the tax department has come… the Enforcement Directorate will come, CBI will come) but the cycle (the Samajwadi Party’s poll symbol) will not stop,” Akhilesh said after the search operations.
Responding to Akhilesh Yadav’s charge, the PM said that CM Adityanath deserved praise for getting rid of mafias and putting development on top of his agenda. “Today, we see the hard-earned money of the people of UP is being used for development works. The previous governments were only interested in filling their coffers,” Modi said.
Also read: Akhilesh Yadav won’t contest UP assembly elections, vows to defeat BJP
Responding to the allegations of the Congress and Samajwadi Party that the BJP is wasting public money on big launch events ahead of the state elections next year, Modi said: “Some parties here do not feel proud of the country’s rich heritage and development, that’s because they have a vote bank to cater to. That’s the reason why they did not like the opening of the Kashi Vishwanath Dham or even the Ram temple in Ayodhya.”
The Prime Minister said, “It is sad that even Army’s action is questioned and India’s successful handling of the pandemic doesn’t make them happy. India is a great country and an amazing civilisation, governments would come and go. What matters in the development of the country…but not for some.”
Modi promised that one day Uttar Pradesh will be called the most modern state with next-generation infrastructure like expressways, modern airports and better rail routes.
Later on Saturday, Akhilesh termed Yogi Adityanath “useless” or “unupyogi”, citing incidents of crimes against Dalits and women under his rule.
Punning on the Hindi word “Up-Yogi” (useful) as Modi had said earlier in the day, Akhilesh tweeted in Hindi: “The daughter of Hathras, the farmers of Lakhimpur, the trader of Gorakhpur, women who are feeling insecure, unemployed youths, the Dalits, and the backward class (people) are saying for UP, the current government is not useful, it is useless. UP is today saying that it does not want the BJP.”
हाथरस की बेटी, लखीमपुर का किसान, गोरखपुर का व्यापारी, असुरक्षित महिला, बेरोज़गार युवा, पीड़ित दलित-पिछड़े सब कह रहे हैं… यूपी के लिए वर्तमान सरकार उपयोगी नहीं, अनुपयोगी है।
यूपीवाले कह रहे हैं अगर कोई ‘उप-योगी’ है; तो ‘मुख्य-योगी’ कौन है।
यूपी कहे आज का
नहीं चाहिए भाजपा pic.twitter.com/gHyiJuOwqc— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) December 18, 2021
