New Delhi: BJP President JP Nadda addresses to U.P. Shakti Kendra Booth Vijay Abhiyan via video conferencing in New Delhi, Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021.
Ahead of the crucial Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls next year, BJP president J P Nadda on Saturday threw an open challenge to opposition party leaders to give an account of work done during their respective tenures in the state. He also launched ‘Booth Vijay Abhiyan’ in a bid to repeat the party’s performance in the 2017 state polls.
“I challenge the leaders of the SP, BSP and Congress to come forward with an account of their respective terms and our booth-level workers are ready for an open debate with them over the same. None of the governments led by these parties did as much work as has been done in over four years of the Yogi Adityanath government,” he said at a virtual function to launch the party's Booth Vijay Abhiyan.
According to information received from BJP headquarters, Nadda issued directives to more than 15 lakh workers of the party at 27,700 Shakti Kendras (party units) through the Booth Vijay Abhiyan.
The saffron party had clinched 312 seats in the 403-member legislative assembly, decimating its rivals to form the government in the last assembly elections.
Claiming that the Adityanath government did in over four years what other governments could not do in 60 years, the BJP chief targeted the opposition parties for not extending enough support to people during COVID-19 pandemic.
“Amid the pandemic outbreak, these parties did politics only through tweets and virtual press conferences by confining themselves in closed rooms.
“History will remember that when people were in trouble, they (opposition leaders) turned themselves away from the people,” he alleged.
The BJP leader noted that the UP government and BJP workers helped not only people of the state, but also those who came from other states.
He said while the BJP government worked for ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas and sabka vishwas', the previous regimes connived to benefit only one family as they had nothing to do with the people of UP.
Lauding the UP government for the work done by it for developing religious places like Mathura, Kashi, Chitrakoot and Ayodhya, Nadda said, "There was a time when taking the name of Lord Rama in UP was difficult and ‘Ram sewaks' were fired at. The Congress had refused to accept the existence of Lord Rama, but today these parties (SP, BSP and Congress) have started indulging in the ‘politics of convenience’.”
He asked as to why a grand temple of Lord Rama was not built during their governments and went on to enumerate the work done during the Adityanath government like holding grand Kumbh in Allahabad, Deepotsav in Ayodhya, Krishna Utsav in Mathura and resuming the tradition of Dev Deepawali in Varanasi.
During the previous regimes, the BJP national president further said there was crime, corruption and anarchy but now the scene is different and it is development all round, adding that UP has become riot-free, women are safe and there is law and order.
“Seva is our dharma and the target is poverty alleviation and we have zero tolerance policy for corruption and terrorism. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s guidance and CM Adityanath's leadership, UP has written a new chapter of development by working for the progress of villages and the poor,” he noted. The northern state is leading in 44 development schemes, he said.
In an apparent reference to former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Nadda said there are some leaders who go abroad for vacation when parliament is in session.
In an assurance to the farming community, the BJP president said there will be no change in minimum support price (MSP) and there is no need for the farmers of the country to worry.
“Today, the Modi government has given freedom to the farmers in the country to sell their crops anywhere at their preferred prices,” he added.
Elaborating on the achievements of the central government in the past seven years, Nadda said, "Abolition of Article 370 of the Constitution (giving special status to Jammu and Kashmir), ending of the practice of triple talaq, starting construction of Ram Janmabhoomi temple and the surgical strikes took place during the tenure of the Modi government.”
