CUTTACK: When bureaucracy takes over democracy, it results in dictatorship, corruption, exploitation of people and mafia raj, said Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath while addressing an election meeting at Kulia RMC ground in Mahanga Assembly segment on Thursday.
He said ‘Officer Raj’ in Odisha for the last 25 years has dented governance and pushed the state back by 50 years. “People now have the opportunity to vote for a double-engine government like in Uttar Pradesh,” said Yogi.
“It is surprising how Odia Asmita is being played with and the government is protecting the killers of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati. The officers have promoted land mafia, coal mafia and playing with the future of the youth and looting the natural resources of the state,” said the UP chief minister.
He said consumers in Odisha are being charged high rates for electricity while it is being sold at cheaper prices outside. “This is only because Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has been misled by his officers,” he alleged.
“You have given Naveen babu the opportunity to serve you for such a long time. But unfortunately, there has been not much development. Uttar Pradesh was affected by cattle, land and mining mafia till 2017. But now mafia raj has ended in my state and the property seized from mafia is being used to construct schools, hospitals and other public utilities. We have put bulldozers to protect businessmen and women. Now UP has become a model state in the country,” he said while appealing people to vote for Kendrapara MP candidate Baijayant Panda and other BJP candidates contesting from the Assembly segment.
Yogi said the stance of India has changed in the last 10 years under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership. While the prestige of India has risen, the country’s borders are secure. Terrorism and Naxalism are on the verge of extinction. There has been massive development of infrastructure in the country, be it highways or railways. Stress has been laid on development of education and health sectors. More airports have been built than 2014, he added.
Speaking on development and welfare programmes undertaken by the Modi-led central government, he said through direct benefits transfer, the prime minister has ensured that money from the Centre reaches the accounts of beneficiaries eliminating the need for middlemen.