New Delhi: Targeting the Union government’s decision to scrap currency notes of Rs500 and Rs1,000 denominations, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday said that the government was unprepared to implement the decision which has inconvenienced the common man.
“It is a good thing that we are fighting against corruption and black money. But the government was unprepared to implement this decision. I even requested the central government to arrange special camps in rural areas so poor people don’t have to face any difficulty. How are people living 15 km away from banks supposed to get their money exchanged? Such people have been hit the most,” he said at Hindustan Shikhar Samagam in Lucknow.
Highlighting the development and social welfare work done by the Samajwadi Party (SP) government under in the last four years under him, Akhilesh Yadav said that his government started with distributing laptops and is now going in the direction of smart phones.
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“We have distributed the maximum number of laptops to students and now about 70,000 people have registered for receiving smart phones under the Samajwadi smart phone yojna. Metro work has been started in four cities in UP. Look at the roads that have been constructed in record time. The 326 km long road construction for the Agra Lucknow expressway was done in 22 months and it will be inaugurated on 21 November. The Samajwadi pension yojna has benefited 55 lakh women and we are also successfully running the 1090 helpline for them,” said the chief minister.
Dismissing speculations that he wanted to break away from SP and form his own party after the bitter Yadav family feud, Akhilesh Yadav said that SP was his party.
“There is no rift now. SP is my party. If citizenship is decided by birth then my membership to SP is also by birth. I have worked for the party since day one thinking that it is my own party,” he said.
The chief minister has set up his own campaign team led by Harvad University professor Steve Jarding and has also met Congress poll strategist Prshant Kishor. On the role such advisers play in campaigning, he said, “It is important to take opinions of experts but when it comes to the booth level it is the party and our leaders who have to handle that job. If his (Prashant Kishor’s) suggestions are of significance then we will follow them, however, I have met him only once,” said the chief minister.
