LUCKNOW: Claiming that the upcoming election in Uttar Pradesh was not only about forming a new government but also scripting the destiny of the nation, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, on Sunday, accused the SP and BSP-led respective governments here of diving the state socially on caste lines for political gains.
While addressing the restricted audience during a Prabhavi Matdaata Samvad (Effective Voters Dialogue) programme in Kasganj, the former CM of the state exhorted the voters to uphold the high democratic values of the country. “Democracy’s good health is the responsibility of all of us. It should not deteriorate at any cost,” he said.
Pointing that the Yogi-led government had transformed the VIP culture in the state for the past five years, he said, "Uttar Pradesh has seen rapid development in the past five years. Our government has changed the VIP culture into EPI- 'Every Person is Important' culture."
“You have seen governments led by other political parties and also the BJP. Be it a government led by Congress, SP or BSP, all have been charged with corruption at some point. The BJP governments, led by PM Narendra Modi at Centre and CM Yogi in the state, have been clean and free from the taint of corruption of any type. Rather the BJP led government has worked to stem the corruption in the system to a large extent,” he added.
Later, the defence minister led BJP’s door-to-door campaign in Farrukhabad as well. Similarly, another BJP bigwig and party’s national president JP Nadda held a door-to-door campaign in Hathras and Shikohabad belt on Sunday.
The BJP chief claimed that the party-led government in UP had fulfilled all the promises made to the electorate in 2017 working on the ideology of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas and Sabka Vishwas.
“One thing about the BJP, I can say, is that whatever the BJP has said it has fulfilled. The party has not turned back in any way. All other political parties keep changing according to the seasons,” Nadda said while addressing a limited gathering.
Further, he also reiterated the ruling party’s development agenda in the state and fired a salvo on the opposition saying that before the BJP came to power in 2017, leaders in the state talked only about caste and religion and the development of their own families and people.
“Today, they are talking about development. Earlier their focus used to be just on caste and religion. They used to work on the model of development which was defined as ‘Our family, Our people’," said the BJP president.
Urging the people to decide whom to vote for based on their work, Nadda said that every party makes popular promises during election times. “Take a decision based on our work. We did what we said,” he claimed, citing the abrogation of Article 370. He also claimed that while the goons and mafia got political patronage in previous regimes and communal flare-ups were very common, the Yogi government gave a riot-free, tension-free atmosphere during the five-year rule. “No riots took place under CM Yogi government. There has been no tension between communities,” he said.
Admitting the fact that all the political parties put their best foot forward during the elections making scores of promises, the BJP chief urged the electorate to choose a political party based on what that leader and that the party had done in the past.