Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the coronavirus pandemic hampered development works in Uttar Pradesh and if voted to power, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will put the state on the path of recovery.
Addressing voters in Mathura, Agra and Bulandshahr, days before the first phase of the state Assembly polls, Modi said the people of Uttar Pradesh have decided that development will be the biggest issue in the upcoming elections.
Batting for Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Modi said if his government is voted to power again, development works will take place at a faster pace and UP will overcome problems faced due to coronavirus in the past two years.
"If Yogiji's government is formed again, the work of giving houses to the poor will be done faster. Had the crisis of coronavirus not come, Yogiji would have done many such works in these two years. But during these two years, the government had to go through difficulties," the PM said.
"Power of the government had to be used to save people's lives. Had hurdles not come in the past two years, the way in which Yogiji had started the work since 2017, Uttar Pradesh would have reached at some other level," he said.
Modi expressed hope that the BJP will get an overwhelming majority, ensuring that Adityanath put the state on the path of recovery.
He also hit out at previous Uttar Pradesh governments, saying,"Those who were in power earlier were not concerned with faith or your needs. Their only agenda was to loot UP."
"The people of UP have bluntly said that no matter how much politics some people do on the basis of money, muscle power, casteism, communalism, they will not get the love of the public," he said.
Modi said people's blessings are with those who serve them by becoming their "sevak" (servant).
Taking a swipe at Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav over his recent statement that he saw Lord Krishna in his dream, the prime minister said, "Witnessing the immense support for the BJP, these people are now seeing Lord Krishna in their dreams.
Pointing to corruption in earlier governments, the PM said, "Another favourite game of the earlier governments was of filling the 'tijori' (lockers). Everyone used to play together, eat together. Today, the whole game of such people has been spoiled."
"Earlier, the family was the government. Now, the entire UP is the family of the BJP government," he said apparently slamming the Samajwadi Party.