LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who completed 30 months in office on Thursday reaching the half-way mark of his tenure, claimed to have turned challenges into opportunities, changed the perception of the state and “restored its identity”.
Yogi claimed his party, inherited “an atmosphere of chaos and corruption all around” and took the state towards the path of development.
He presented an elaborate list of his government’s achievements and big-ticket events held during his tenure.
While Yogi cited numbers to claim that crime had been brought down and law and order strengthened, Opposition parties countered it and questioned the development rate.
“The pace of state’s development is not that of double-engine machine but of a bullock cart,” said Samajwadi Party chief and Yogi’s predecessor Akhilesh Yadav, who also alleged that the law and order situation was just the opposite of what the CM claimed.
The Congress pointed to the incidents of crime against women and the BSP, too, alleged that the Yogi government had failed to control crime.
A mixed bag
In the past two-and-a-half-years, Yogi’s aggressive style of politics has reflected in governance, too. Not only has he waged a relentless crusade against crime — inviting the wrath of human rights watchdog with his encounter policy — but has also taken on organised mining and land mafia. Also, barring a few sporadic incidents, the state has not witnessed any major communal conflagration.
However, incidents like the Sonbhadra massacre and the Unnao rape case leave a lot to be answered. He would have to launch new schemes and complete projects to counter Akhilesh’s accusation that the BJP government had failed to bring even a single scheme of their own on ground and had been inaugurating projects commenced during his regime.
Hits
Revenue earnings under six major heads — excise, commercial tax, transport, mining, GST and VAT, and registration — increased from Rs 86,000 crore in 2016-17 to Rs 1.2 lakh crore in 2018-19 UP emerges top-performing state in delivering schemes like PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme, Ujjwala Yojana, PM Awas Yojana and Swachh Bharat 97 hardcore criminals gunned down in 4,704 encounters, 10,268 arrested Encephalitis related mortality comes down NCERT syllabus introduced across schools and madrasas
Misses
Sonbhadra massacre Killing of mafia don Munna Bajrangi in Baghpat jail premises Unnao rape case Shahjahanpur sexual abuse case.
Incidents of corruption in mid-day meal such as the Mirzapur salt-roti meal case.
Infrastructure not up to the mark in primary education sector; paucity of teaching staff across primary, secondary and higher education levels.
Journalists at the receiving end, with almost half-a-dozen booked under various sections of IPC for their coverage in September itself.