LUCKNOW: Attacking Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday, a day on which the former lost his membership to the Parliament after being convicted in a defamation case, chief minister Yogi Adityanath said that Congress and its leaders could not accept the fact that “the son of poor, Dalit, deprived, backward class had reached the highest position in the country”.
Referring to a controversial statement by Gandhi during an election rally in 2019, based on which he was convicted, Yogi said that the nation was witness to Gandhi’s statement against Dalits, poor, backward and underprivileged and how he had thrown parliamentary decorum to the winds. Addressing a public meeting following the inauguration and foundation stone laying ceremony of projects worth Rs 1,780 crore in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the CM said that in contrast to the Congress, the BJP government is moving forward with the motto of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Prayas’.
“Congress has practised politics of division and has promoted Naxalism and terrorism for its political gains. The party must apologise to the country for insulting the poor, Dalits and backward people,” he said.
The CM said that Congress, which had won the general elections in 2004 and 2009, was now questioning EVMs. Upset at the fact that India was developing, he said, Congress was trying to put barriers in the PM’s efforts. “Congress never thought about the development of the country but tried to divide the country in the name of caste, religion and language. They compartmentalised development and set new records of corruption during their tenure. Now, when India is going to shine at the global level, these people are obstructing the progress of the country by defaming it,” he alleged.
As opposed to Congress, BJP had been working for the development of every single person in the country, the CM said. He added that the government led by the PM is providing welfare, housing, toilets, ration, cooking gas and electricity connections to the poor. Schemes like Ayushman Bharat and other developments were reaching everyone equally, without any discrimination.
Thanking the PM for having brought development to Varanasi, his Lok Sabha constituency, the CM said that the former had a special association with the place and every time he visits the city, he brings some gift for it. With the inauguration and stone laying of projects worth Rs 1,780 crore, Varanasi had already become new and grand, he said, adding that under the PM’s guidance, not just Varanasi but the entire country had achieved new heights of development.
“Varanasi has got global recognition in the last nine years not only for its rich spiritual and cultural heritage, but also for the level of development taking place in the city. In the last nine years, projects worth Rs 35,000 crore have either been completed or are about to be inaugurated in Varanasi and will be dedicated to the people of the city during the next visit by the PM,” he said.
Referring to India’s presidency of the G20 this year, the CM said that the world was witnessing a new, powerful India which was setting a new paradigm in material and spiritual development. “While on one hand the world is feeling proud of India’s progress and is eager to adopt this model, on the other hand there are some people who criticise UP outside the country, despite having ruled the state for generations,” the CM said, referring to a recent speech by Gandhi at Oxford University.
