JAUNPUR: Union Home Minister Amit Shah urged the voters in this Uttar Pradesh district on Saturday to elect candidates who have the "values of service" in their DNA.
He also asserted that one or two gangsters, who are still out of jail, will be put behind bars once the BJP returns to power in the state on March 10, when the results of the ongoing Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls are declared.
Addressing a poll meeting in the Malhani Assembly constituency, Shah said, "Do not make the musclemen win this time. You should make such a candidate win who has the values of service in his DNA. The one who does not want to snatch, but wants to give. The one who does not slap anyone, but wants to send the person who has slapped to jail."
He said in the run-up to the 2017 state Assembly polls, the BJP had promised that Uttar Pradesh will be freed of the mafia in five years.
"Today, Atiq Ahmed, Azam Khan and Mukhtar Ansari are in jail. One or two are out (of jail). You make the lotus (the BJP's poll symbol) bloom on March 10 and after that, they will be in jail," he added.
The home minister said over the last five years, the BJP worked to remove criminals from politics in Uttar Pradesh and ended the criminalisation of politics in the state.
"Today, there has been a significant reduction in incidents of crime in Uttar Pradesh as compared to earlier times. We have embarked on a journey to make Uttar Pradesh a crime-free state," he added.
Shah said Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has freed land worth Rs 2,000 crore from the grip of the land mafia and that houses are being built for the poor on this land.
Taking a jibe at Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav, he said, "After the COVID-19 vaccine came, Akhileshji had said one should not take the vaccine. It is the Modi vaccine and it will cause harm. But then he himself got the jab. Those who indulge in cooking a political 'khichdi' without caring for the lives of the people, such leaders do not have the right to stay in power even for a moment."
Attacking the political rivals of the BJP, Shah said, "The SP and the BSP only talk about the poor, but Modiji and Yogiji have worked to make the poor strong. Work has been done to link the entire Purvanchal (eastern Uttar Pradesh) by road. The BJP government has worked to lay a network of expressways in the entire state."
He said Malhani and Uttar Pradesh cannot be developed by gangsters and musclemen, and asserted that BJP candidate KP Singh is capable of ensuring Malhani's development.
Jaunpur will go to the polls in the seventh phase of the ongoing election on March 7.