Shah steps up attack on Akhilesh from SP citadel
Shah was addressing the rally in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh after laying the foundation of a new state university in Azamgarh.
Union home minister Amit Shah raised the pitch in election-bound Uttar Pradesh on Saturday by intensifying his attack against Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav in his bastion Azamgarh, and hailing chief minister Yogi Adityanath for ridding the Purvanchal region of “mosquitoes and mafia”.
“Modiji brought ‘JAM’ - Jan Dhan bank accounts, Aadhaar cards and a mobile phone to every person - for a corruption-free system, but the SP people say they have also brought ‘JAM’ - Jinnah, Azam Khan and Mukhtar (don-turned politician Mukhtar Ansari),” Shah said addressing a rally in Azamgarh, represented by SP chief Akhilesh Yadav in Lok Sabha.
“You should tell me whether you want BJP’s JAM or SP’s JAM. These people can never work for the welfare of Uttar Pradesh. They indulge in dividing people on the basis of caste, causing riots, appeasement and vote-bank politics,” he added.
Shah was addressing the rally in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh after laying the foundation of a new state university in Azamgarh.
Speaking at another public meeting in neighbouring Basti district, Shah lauded Adityanath and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for bringing all-round development of the state and sought another term for him with “record-breaking victory” for taking ‘vikas ki aandhi” (development wave) forward in the state.
‘’You (Akhilesh Yadav) never cleaned this area. Mosquitoes were ruling and children were dying of brain fever. But Prime Minister Modi’s Swachhta campaign was implemented here by Adityanath and the region became mosquito-free,’’ he said.
“This ‘vikas ki aandhi’ (by the BJP) has to be taken forward, a lot has been done by Modi ji and Yogi ji but a lot still needs to be done for which your blessings are required once again,” he added.
The Union minister, who is on a two-day visit to the poll-bound state, also credited Adityanath for making UP a ‘’riot-free” state. “Development of a state is not possible if riots occur. Earlier, riots and curfews were frequent in Uttar Pradesh. Since the Yogi Adityanath government has come to power, no riots have taken place... Now, no mafias can be seen in Purvanchal (eastern UP). Those who came here to make people migrate, have now migrated themselves...,” he said.
Taking a swipe at the recent controversy over Yadav’s comment linking Sardar Vallabhai Patel, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Shah said: “There are so many people from the minority community here, is there anyone here who sees greatness in Jinnah.”
Hitting back, Yadav on Saturday accused the BJP of pursuing the “politics of destruction”.
“BJP is pursuing the politics of destruction instead of the politics of development. People in UP brought the party to the Centre. But BJP betrayed the farmers, youth, poor, labourers and traders in the state,” Yadav said while talking to news agency ANI.
Azamgarh name change speculation
Adityanath said the new state university in Azamgarh will make the district “Aryamgarh” in the real sense, leading to speculation that the district’s name could be changed.
“This university will in the true sense make Azamgarh into Aryamgarh, and there should be no doubt about this,” he said.
