Adityanath asks BJP workers to counter divisive politics highlight govt achievements

     Lucknow, Oct 30 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday urged BJP workers to guard against attempts to divide society along caste lines and take the government’s achievements to the booth level, asserting that “if we do not allow ourselves to be divided, we cannot be broken”.

     Addressing the BJP’s state working committee meeting here, Adityanath asked party workers to counter negative narratives with facts and engage directly with the public.

     Referring to October 30, 1990, he said the date held significance for BJP workers and those associated with the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, recalling that the then Samajwadi Party government had ordered firing on devotees of Lord Ram and karsevaks.

     The activists had pledged to face lathis and bullets but build a temple at the site, he said.

     “Had the morale of those activists broken, or had they been swayed by the criticism they faced, would the construction of the grand Ram Mandir in Ayodhya have been possible today?” he asked.

     Adityanath said crores of devotees witnessed the consecration of Ram Lalla on January 22, 2024, and accused the Congress and the Samajwadi Party of obstructing Ayodhya’s development.

     He said Ayodhya, which earlier lacked basic amenities such as electricity and proper sanitation, now had four-lane connectivity, a double railway track and an international airport named after Maharishi Valmiki.

     Targeting the Congress, Adityanath alleged that before 2014, the country was plagued by poverty, corruption, insecurity and an identity crisis, and accused the party of treating the poor as a vote bank.

     He cited former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi’s observation that only 15 paise of every rupee allocated by the Centre reached the intended beneficiary, describing it as an example of corruption under previous governments.

     Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, India had moved from the group of “Fragile Five” economies to becoming one of the world’s five largest economies, he said.

     Adityanath listed housing, toilets, Ujjwala gas connections, Ayushman cards, Jan Dhan accounts and free rations among the benefits extended to the poor, saying the BJP viewed their welfare as a commitment to ensuring a life of dignity.

     Accusing the Samajwadi Party of shielding the mafia and allowing corruption in recruitment, he said appointments under previous governments were influenced by the “Saifai Syndicate” and an extortion network run by the “uncle-nephew” duo.

     Deserving candidates had been denied jobs and recruitment processes frequently stalled by court orders, he alleged. In contrast, the present government had provided government jobs to 9.5 lakh youths, with recruitment based on merit and hard work, he said.

     The chief minister said Uttar Pradesh, once described as a “BIMARU” state, had emerged as a growth engine for the national economy.

     He claimed the state accounted for around 60 per cent of the country’s expressways and that the number of operational airports had risen from two before 2017 to 17, including five international and 12 domestic airports.

     Over the past nine years, the state’s gross state domestic product had increased from Rs 12 lakh crore to Rs 36 lakh crore, while the budget had grown from Rs 3 lakh crore to Rs 9.70 lakh crore, he said.

     Per capita income had risen from Rs 45,000 to Rs 1.24 lakh, and women’s participation in the workforce had increased from 12 per cent to 36 per cent, he said, adding that sugarcane farmers had received payments totalling Rs 3.25 lakh crore over the same period.

     Adityanath urged party workers to compare the current government’s performance with that of previous administrations and distribute the booklets provided at the meeting down to the booth level.

     Citing the redevelopment of Kashi Vishwanath Dham, he said he had personally engaged with priests who were initially concerned that the temple might be demolished during the construction of the corridor.

     He said a lack of dialogue bred misunderstandings and asked workers to reach out to the public, address concerns and counter negative narratives on social media with facts and the government’s achievements.

     Emphasising the importance of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Adityanath called for a statewide campaign to identify eligible voters missing from assembly constituency rolls.

     He said an analysis of the existing rolls had found people registered in panchayat electoral rolls but missing from assembly constituency lists. Some beneficiaries of government schemes were also not registered as voters, he said.

     Around 4.5 lakh people in the 18-19 age group needed to be added to the electoral rolls, he said.

     Adityanath directed party workers to use data available on the ‘Kamal Saathi’ app to identify and help register eligible voters left off the rolls. He asked MPs, MLAs and assembly- and district-level party in-charges to review the process regularly, calling the inclusion of all eligible voters an important organisational responsibility.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)