Lucknow: Governor Anandiben Patel’s speech at the joint session of the Assembly was a display of statistics and claims and offered nothing which promised to change the ground reality of Uttar Pradesh at the economic level, said Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday.“The governor’s address appeared to be a celebration of falsehood propelled by a govt which stands neck deep in corruption. People of the state will no longer be swayed by tall claims of prosperity and development that exist only on paper in govt files and records. The BJP govt has only breached the trust and faith of the people and damaged harmony,” Akhilesh said. The former UP CM accused the BJP govt of disrupting the pace of progress that was put in motion by the SP govt between 2012 – 2017. “The Lucknow Metro has not moved an inch from where it was in 2017. Not a single expressway could be built by the present govt which can meet the international standards of Lucknow-Agra Expressway,” Akhilesh said. Attacking the govt on rising crime rate, Akhilesh said lawlessness was prevailing all over the state. “Youth don’t have employment. Farmers are in distress; industries are shutting down. In the name of investment only high-profile events are being organised,” he said. The SP chief said every time a recruitment drive is held, the process is halted for one reason or the other at the behest of the BJP itself. “They don’t want to give jobs. Instead, they want the youth to continue believing that BJP will give jobs,” he said. “Governor’s address was silent on measures to be taken to put in place the education and health sectors which are in disarray presently. Instead of informing the House how much payment was outstanding for cane growers, the focus was on the amount spent in the past 22 years. Schools have been shut in large numbers because the BJP does not want the children to get educated and ask questions,” Akhilesh said. ‘Eco survey word-by-word repeat of Guv’s address’ Lucknow: Accusing the BJP govt of jumping the norms to present the Economic Survey Report merely to make news headlines, Samajwadi Party MLA Sangram Singh Yadav said it was a repeat of the governor’s address word-by-word.“Whatever the Governor said in her address was repeated word for word by the finance minister. This exercise is only meant to create newspaper headlines,” Sangram Singh said. He demanded a detailed discussion on the contents of the report, asserting that such a debate was necessary to establish the truth behind the govt’s claims. “There should be a debate so that facts can be separated from falsehood,” he said. The SP legislators also objected to the timing and manner in which the report was introduced, claiming that the Business Advisory Committee had not been informed in advance about the presentation of such a document. According to the opposition, the move undermined parliamentary conventions and reduced the exercise to a publicity-driven announcement rather than a serious legislative submission.
