LUCKNOW: Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday mounted a searing offensive at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka, saying that had there been any “possibility” for the party (to perform in poll-bound Gujarat) then the brother-sister duo would have been seen offering prayers in temples just as they offer “namaz”.
Holding three rallies in Mahisagar, Anand and Vadodara in Gujarat on Tuesday, Yogi termed Congress a ‘barrier’ to the country’s development. He also took a jibe at Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), saying that the ‘namoona’ from Delhi would use his ‘jhadu’ to sweep away everything the country has.
Yogi said, while the BJP provides a guarantee of security, prosperity, progress and public welfare, Congress acts as a barrier to the nation’s prosperity. He further said that before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Congress had spread mistrust, anarchy and corruption in the country. “People had lost faith in governance and administration. In such a situation, Gujarat, which was always a ‘companion in times of crisis’, gave politics a new identity by sending Narendra Modi to Delhi,” he said.
Yogi said business and religious programmes could not be held in Gujarat 20 years ago. “There were riots all around, the youth were unemployed. However, as soon as a government was formed under Modi’s leadership, Gujarat became a model for the country,” he said, asserting that the Gujarat model envisages being riot-free and curfew-free and attaining the dream of a terrorism- and naxalism-free India.”
Accusing the Congress of giving shelter to rioters, Yogi said that while the BJP sees 135 crore people of the country as its family, the Congress was concerned about the uplift of its Gandhi family. He took another swipe at Congress citing an incident during its ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ wherein a film song was played instead of the national anthem. “This is a party that insults our soldiers and martyrs,” he said.
Invoking Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel in the Umreth assembly of Anand, he said that the region was the ‘karmabhumi’ of Sardar Patel who ensured the merger of 563 princely states in India including Junagadh and Hyderabad.
Yogi further termed Congress and AAP as a threat to security. “In Uttar Pradesh, the Congress has two MLAs and the AAP has none. At the time of Independence, Bapu had mentioned the Congress’ visarjan. The moment has come to carry it out,” he said.
The CM said that the work of beautifying Ayodhya is going on. “Now there are no riots in UP. Bulldozers no longer just build roads; they also demolish the properties of mafia and their henchmen,” he said.
