LUCKNOW: Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday accused the SP and Congress of repeatedly insulting Hindu traditions and the Sanatan faith.Addressing a programme in Banda where he inaugurated and laid foundation stones for 229 projects worth Rs 710 crore in the Banda and Baberu Assembly constituencies, the CM said, “The money that our govt spends on the development of temples and the beautification of Dhams was earlier spent during the Samajwadi Party’s tenure on constructing boundary walls for graveyards (burial grounds). They love graveyards, and that is why they oppose the development of the Ram Mandir, Kashi Vishwanath, Maa Vindhyavasini Dham, Chitrakoot and Naimisharanya Dham. Leaders of the SP and Congress cannot digest the development works carried out by BJP representatives.”He used the Baberu SP MLA as an example to back his attack, alleging the legislator had little interest in development. “For him, development means encroaching on poor people’s land and harassing the poor. Such insolence and such robbery of the rights of the poor will have to be stopped,” Yogi said.Outlining his govt’s focus on Bundelkhand, Yogi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi advised him, after he became chief minister, to make his first visit to the region and prioritise its development. Recalling his early visits, he said Bundelkhand then faced migration, water scarcity, illegal mining and the influence of mafia and dacoits. After more than nine years, he said, the change in Banda was visible and the govt would work to make Bundelkhand “heaven on earth.”Yogi credited the region’s “good leaders,” referring to BJP public representatives, for what he described as improved law and order. He said Bundelkhand had become free from dacoits, mafia, curfews, unrest and riots, and cited new institutions and infrastructure, including Maharani Durgavati Medical College, an agriculture university, engineering and polytechnic colleges and improved connectivity.Warning voters, he said if “land mafia and dacoits” won elections they would kidnap traders, displace the poor and divert welfare schemes meant for youth and marginalised sections.Continuing his comparison with opposition parties, Yogi alleged that where Congress and SP had given youth country-made pistols instead of jobs, the BJP had delivered the Bundelkhand Expressway and positioned the region as a hub under the Defence Manufacturing Corridor initiative.He said that after taking office in 2017, he announced the closure of illegal slaughterhouses and ordered land mafias occupying land belonging to the poor and traders to vacate within 24 hours. He claimed 64,000 acres had been freed from mafias allegedly linked directly or indirectly with the SP, and that investment and employment were now being generated on that land.Yogi said the govt was promoting industrial clusters along expressways in every district. With the formation of the Bundelkhand Industrial Development Authority, he said, the region would get Uttar Pradesh’s biggest industrial city and would become a destination for jobs, reducing the need for migration.The CM stated that the double-engine govt does not follow the policy of appeasement.“The govt does not tolerate disturbances, curfews or hooliganism. It warns those who attempt to compromise the safety of daughters and traders, and for those who do not mend their ways, the path to Yamraj’s abode will also be opened,” the CM said.
