Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday targeted the Samajwadi Party, saying five years ago muscle men and rioters used to be the law unto themselves in Uttar Pradesh. Addressing his first virtual poll rally after the announcement of dates for the assembly elections in the state, Modi said during the previous government when Western Uttar Pradesh was burning due to riots, those in power were celebrating.
“Five years ago, ‘dabang’ (muscle men) and ‘dangai’ (rioters) were the law unto themselves. Their saying was the government order. Traders were looted and daughters could not come out of their homes in that period,” the Prime Minister said in his virtual programme, addressing the voters of Shamli, Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat, Saharanpur and Gautam Budh Nagar where polling will take place in the first phase on February 10.
He said that those who don’t believe in India’s own Covid vaccine and fuel rumours, “can they respect the talent of Uttar Pradesh’s youth?”.
PM Modi said that while “we are trying to bring a change in Uttar Pradesh, the opposition wants to take revenge”.
Pitching it as ‘Nakli Samajwad (fake socialism) versus gareeb ka sarkaar (government of the poor)’, PM Modi cited the homes for poor, policies for backward classes, medical colleges, better connectivity through roads and expressways, raising the marriage age for women, and more as the achievements of the BJP governments at in Delhi and Lucknow.
“These days, people dream a lot. Only those who keep sleeping, dream… Yogi Adityanath is awake, committed to working for UP’s development,” PM Modi said in a veiled attack on Akhilesh Yadav who had claimed that Lord Krishna comes to his dreams every night to “tell me that I will form the government and establish Ram Rajya in Uttar Pradesh”.
“We are trying to bring a change in Uttar Pradesh. And the opposition wants to take revenge. These people have given tickets to people who have the riot mentality. Criminals want a friendly government in the state,” he said.
