Yogi Adityanath addresses rally
Highlights
- Yogi Adityanath predicted that BJP will win 80 per cent seats in Uttar Pradesh polls
- Like Lanka, the end of Samajwadi Party has come, Yogi said
- Yogi hit out at ministers like Swami Prasad Maurya who resigned from BJP to join the SP-RLD alliance
A confident-looking Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday predicted that his party BJP will win 80 per cent seats in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, counting for which will be held on March 10. Two phases of polling remain on March 3 and 7.
Replying to Rajat Sharma’s questions in India TV Special Show held here this morning, Yogi said, “ BJP is going to form the next government in UP after winning 80 per cent seats on March 10. We will get a landslide majority (prachand bahumat), and the Samajwadi Party will lose.”
“Like Lanka, the end of Samajwadi Party has come”, Yogi said, while quoting from the Ramayana on how Lankini, the female demon who protected Lanka, knew the end was near, when she looked at Hanuman, who appeared before her as a giant.
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Yogi said, he has got reports that several Opposition leaders have already booked tickets for foreign destinations after the UP election results are out.
“Many opposition leaders have booked their tickets. Some to England, some to Australia, and some small-time politicians want to cross over to Nepal. Our police with Nepalese police have started joint patrolling at the border to prevent some of these leaders. We ‘will cool down their heat’(garmi utaar denge) after March 10. I do not think we will see these mafia leaders and criminals after March 10”, the chief minister said.
Hitting out at the ministers like Swami Prasad Maurya who resigned from BJP to join the SP-RLD alliance, Yogi said, “Mark my words. All these leaders (who left BJP) are losing. They will be struggling to save their deposits. Then they will now what mass base they have.”
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Yogi said: “In 2017, there were these two youths (ladke, Akhilesh and Rahul Gandhi) who had joined hands but the people rejected them. In 2019, there was this ‘maha gathbandhan’ (alliance between SP, BSP, RLD), but after the results were out, all these parties started blaming one another. Now they have made another alliance with ‘chhut-bhaiye’ (small-timers), and the people of UP is in the process of giving them a befitting reply. After the results are out, these small-time wrestlers (adh-kachrey pahalwaan) will wrestle and fight with one another and come to blows.”
During the question-answer session, Yogi turned quite emotional on seeing the video of his sister in Uttarakhand, who walks several kilometers daily to run her tea and snacks shop. Asked by Rajat Sharma why was he not helping his own family like other leaders do, Yogi went silent for a while, and in a voice, loaded with emotion, said: “ I am a yogi (Main yogi hoon). I have to look after my state. As a chief minister, I have taken the oath of protecting ‘rashtradharma’, not my family”.
“For me, 25 crore people of UP belong to my family. I share their joys and sufferings….. For them (Akhilesh Yadav), his family is campaigning, but, for me, my family (people of UP) is campaigning…. I am only doing the formality of reaching out to voters. The people themselves are fighting the elections for us, because they want a government that can give them guarantee of security, development and good governance. In Gorakhpur, I am getting spontaneous support from the people. Here, our workers have themselves become Yogi and canvassing for me”, Yogi said, who is campaigning non-stop across UP for a second term in power.
Commenting on the first two phases of polling in western UP, the chief minister said: “During the first two phases, I felt as if the alliance could gain a lead over us, but I was surprised BJP scored a good lead, despite domestic and international conspiracies to defeat our party. Now I am getting reports, many of the opposition leaders are booking tickets for foreign destinations.”
On the controversial ‘hijab’ issue, Yogi said: “Personally, I have no objection to anybody wearing whatever dress one wishes, both at home or in public. But one cannot force the beliefs of one religion or community on the nation…There has to be one uniform in school. Today, it is a school, but tomorrow, one can demand the same in the force. The courts have already clearly told the government that there cannot be a special dress representing a community in the force. We must accord respect to a feeling of secular status, otherwise this will adversely affect discipline. There is no need to spread indiscipline.”
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On the issue of employment which has become a hot topic during UP elections, Yogi said, “I agree. In the first three out of our five years of rule, we tried to bring transparency in appointments, but the next two years were taken up by Covid management. We did give government jobs to five lakh youths, which is more than the number of jobs given by SP and BSP governments from 2003 till 2017. In the non-gazetted employee category, we conducted a common eligibility test in which 25 lakh candidates took part and the results will come out soon.”
On the incidents in Lakhimpur Kheri and Hathras, Yogi replied: “The incident in Hathras was unfortunate, our government took action in time, and the CBI, which is now probing the case, has not gone a step beyond what our police did during investigation. I am waiting for the time when the conspiracy to defame our government will be exposed. In Lakhimpur Kheri, our government took action in time, and stopped people from spreading riots and creating “class struggle” (varg-sangarsh). This case is being investigated by SIT under supervision of Supreme Court. It did hurt a larger community from an immediate point of view, but this is surely not a case of ‘goonda tax’ or exploitation.”
