Yogi enters poll fray, files nomination from Gorakhpur urban seat
Criminals virtually ruled in UP earlier and policemen were scared of them. Now under the Yogi government, criminals are running to police stations to surrender, says Amit Shah
GORAKHPUR Accompanied by Union home minister Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday filed his nomination as a BJP candidate from the Gorakhpur Urban assembly seat for the UP assembly elections. He is contesting the assembly polls for the first time. Adityanath had represented the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat for five times in the past.
Union education minister and UP in-charge, Dharmendra Pradhan, BJP state unit president Swatantra Dev Singh, BJP’s alliance partner Apna Dal (S) leader Ashish Patel and NISHAD party president Sanjay Nishad were also present along with other saffron party leaders.
Before leaving for the collectorate, Yogi Adityanath performed special ‘puja’ and ‘havan’ in the Goraknath temple in the morning. Seers and BJP supporters had gathered on the temple premises in strength to express their support to the CM.
Addressing a public meeting ahead of the filing of the nomination, Amit Shah called upon party leaders, workers and supporters to take a vow to bag 300- plus seats for the party in the assembly election. “The BJP is going to repeat history of 2014, 2017 and 2019 elections, when the people of Uttar Pradesh, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, give a big mandate to the Bharatiya Janata Party,” he said.
He said Uttar Pradesh, particularly the eastern of the state, was known as the “land of mafia” and the Yogi Adityanath government freed the region from the clutches of criminals. “These days the mafias are seen at three places - in jail, out of UP or on the list of candidates of the Samajwadi Party for the assembly elections. Now, Gorakhpur region is a symbol of development and progress,” said the home minister.
“Criminals virtually ruled in UP earlier and policemen were scared of them. Now under the Yogi government, criminals are running to police stations to surrender. It’s a big achievement of the BJP government and chief minister Yogi Adityanath that the rule of law has been established in UP after 25 years,” he added.
Taking a swipe at the Samajwadi Party (SP), Shah said the “days of Azam Khan, Atiq Ahmad and Mukhtar (Ansari) are over and they cannot frighten people any longer. People of UP are free of the terror of criminals and have made up their mind to support the BJP in the assembly election.”
Shah stated that in 2013 when he was made the in-charge of Uttar Pradesh, political analysts had said that the BJP would not get seats in double digit in the 2014 Lok Saba election.
“With the blessings of God and the charisma of Modiji, the opposition failed to get seats in double digit, whereas the BJP bagged 73 Vidhan Sabha seats (of the 80). After filing of nomination by chief minister Yogi Adityanath for the Gorakhpur urban assembly seat, the BJP will again bag more than 300 seats in UP. The land of Goraknath, Gautam Buddha, Mahavir and Kabir, Gorakhpur is a holy place,” he said.
“In the 2017 Assembly election, the opposition had mocked at us when the BJP had claimed to bag more than 300 seats. But the people gave us the mandate to capture more than 300 seats. Under the leadership of chief minister Yogi Adityanath, the BJP government laid the foundation of good governance,” said Shah.
He added: “Before the 2019 Lok Sabha election also, all opposition parties united to form a ‘mahaganthbandhan’. I had told party leaders that we would form the government at the centre with two-thirds majority. Under the leadership of Modiji, the BJP bagged 65 seats in UP,” he added.
The home minister said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as an MP from UP, was working for the welfare of the poor, Dalits and Backwards. “Several schemes were launched in the country as well as in UP, including housing for the poor, cooking gas for poor women, electricity supply in poor households, Ayushman Bharat health scheme, pure drinking water scheme and free Covid vaccine to the poor. Among the 73 development and welfare schemes launched by the Modi government, UP is number one with 45 schemes,” he said.
Only the BJP government can provide security to the people of UP, take the state on the path of development, raise the standard of living of poor people and make UP the number one state in the country. I urge the people to support the BJP in achieving the 300-plus seats target in the assembly election. BJP workers will visit each household to seek blessings of the people,” he added.
Speaking in the public meeting, Yogi Adityanath said in five years the BJP government in UP had fulfilled the promises made to people during the 2017 poll campaign. “There is no negative observation among people against the state government. The double engine BJP government has worked to make UP a developed state and launched several schemes for the welfare of the poor people,” he said.