LUCKNOW: In western Uttar Pradesh, Union Minister Amit Shah cautioned the electorate against voting for the Samajwadi Party saying it would mean return of the anarchy and lawlessness in the state.
Leading his party’s door-to-door campaign from the front in Mathura on Thursday, Shah began his tour with a visit to Bankey Bihari temple on Thursday morning.
He was accompanied by Shri Kant Sharma and Chaudhury Lakshmi Narayan, both ministers in Yogi cabinet and party candidates from Mathura and Chhata.
Mathura, which has five segments, will vote in the first phase on February 10. In the past, Congress candidate Pradeep Mathur had won four times from Mathura in 1985, 2002, 2007 and 2012 but lost to Sharma by a margin of over one lakh in 2017 Mathura, along with Ayodhya and Kashi, is among the three most prominent religious cities in Uttar Pradesh and the leaders of saffron brigade have been pitching in with the issue of Krishna Janmabhoomi often. Shah also held a meeting of intellectuals in Mathura.
Firing a salvo at the Samajwadi Party, which has emerged as the main contender to the BJP, Shah said SP chief Akhilesh Yadav should be ashamed of the law and order situation during his rule.
“The political highhandedness was at its peak then. It is reflected in the cases against Azam Khan. He was arrested... and there were so many charges against him that the sections of CrPC fell short,” said Shah.
“There was a time when even the police used to fear the gangsters and criminals owing to their closeness to the power corridors, women and young girls feared venturing out. But that has changed now. The gangsters and criminals are seen with a ‘patta’ (collar) around their necks to surrender voluntarily.”
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh here on Thursday called former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh his "idol" and claimed that the Jat community can't remain annoyed with the BJP.
Rajnath made the statement in Modi Nagar, an Assembly segment with sizeable population of Jats, a day after Union Home Minister Amit Shah reached out to the community ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.
The Shah's outreach is being seen as an attempt to win over the community, members of which had taken part in year-long protests against the central farm laws.
The defence minister said since the beginning of his political career, the former prime minister has been his "idol".
His party declared the death anniversary of the former prime minister as Kisan Divas when he was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Rajnath said.
The Jat community cannot remain annoyed with the BJP, he added.
The minister also claimed that his party does not believe in caste-based politics.
"We only believe in justice-based politics," he added.
Replying to a question on Swami Prasad Maurya, who quit the BJP recently and joined the Samajwadi Party, Rajnath said his party is not bothered about it.
He also claimed that law and order improved in the state under the Yogi Adityanath-led government.
Before addressing the gathering, he offered prayers at the Mahamaya temple in Sinkri Kala village of the constituency.
He also visited the tree, about which it is believed that people were hanged there during the British rule.
(With PTI Inputs)