Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday targeted Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, accusing him of fielding criminals in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls. Addressing public meetings in Baghpat and Amroha, Shah said the upcoming state election is being fought to put an end to the patronage to criminals.
He also praised Yogi Adityanath-led state government for action against criminals. "Today, criminals and mafia are seen either in jail, outside the boundary of UP or in the list of candidates of Akhilesh Yadav. Today, Azam Khan, Atiq Ahmed and Mukhtar Ansari are in jail and it is so because there is a BJP government in the state," he said.
Sharpening his attack on the SP chief, he said Yadav these days only remembers how much money was recovered from the person linked with the “Samajwadi Itra”, apparently referring to raids by central agencies on the premises of a perfume seller. "Money has been seized from the place of some person but it is Akhilesh Yadav who is feeling the pain. Who is the person for whom Akhilesh Yadav is having so much pain," Shah asked.
Shah also claimed that not a single riot took place during the Adityanath government in UP while Yadav’s regime was known for riots. The people of UP have not forgotten the sting of riots at the time of Akhilesh Yadav. At that time, owing to politics of appeasement and to please people of one section, the government had made the victim an accused and the accused a victim," he said.
Shah said the upcoming elections are being contested between two sets of ideologies. "On one side, it is an election to save a family and on the other side, it is to keep the country safe under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he said.
"On one side, it is an election being fought for a particular caste while on the other side, for us, it is an election to make the poor of Uttar Pradesh prosperous. On one side, this election is being fought to give patronage to the mafia, while on the other side it is an election to end the mafia," he said. "Some people consider the UP elections as a ladder to become an MLA or minister and some link this election with their political future. But this election is an election to decide the future of UP, and an election to take the state ahead," Shah said.
Shah claimed that the people of UP have made up their mind to give a big majority to the BJP's Yogi Adityanath government under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, instead of throwing the state into the fire of riots. The Union minister said people who are talking about caste and religion want to mislead people.
Shah said in the 15-year rule of the SP, BSP rule, UP stood seventh in the country in terms of economy. "Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, UP has become the second-largest economy in the country. In the next five years, we will make Uttar Pradesh the No. 1 state," he claimed. He said in the 2013-14 General Budget, the Congress government at the Centre had given only Rs 66,623 crore to UP. This time, the Narendra Modi government gave Rs 1,46,500 crore to UP, he said.
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