Mandate for creating new India's new Uttar Pradesh: Yogi Adityanath says his government's focus on development helped him secure another term

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath says the massive mandate in the Lok Sabha polls was a mandate for creating "new India's new Uttar Pradesh" and gave a befitting reply to those parties which cheated the poor in the name of social welfare and relied on caste politics.

Yogi Adityanath says his government's focus on development helped him secure another term in the politically important state.

"While the opportunistic coalition of the SP and BSP were relying on caste politics, I kept toiling for development of citizens rising above caste, creed or religion. This is the reason people voted for the BJP," the chief minister told PTI, giving full credit for the massive mandate to PM Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah.

"The massive mandate received in Uttar Pradesh in favour of the ruling party is the mandate for creating new India's new Uttar Pradesh. The mandate is against nepotism, casteism, corruption. It is a befitting reply to those hypocritical parties which cheated poor in the name of social welfare. It is a victory over goons of SP who were harassing our mothers and sisters by collecting goonda tax' from traders and industrialists," Adityanath said.    

Read: Yogi Adityanath Among Early Voters To Exercise Franchise In UP

During the poll campaign, while Modi talked about 55 years of Congress and his five-year tenure in rallies, Adityanath presented the report card of his two-year rule. 

Noting that the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh was earlier bad, the chief minister said, "Crime had become a business in the state because of nexus of criminals, corrupt police officers and politicians. But today the same group is running for cover due to  zero tolerance' policy of the present government against criminals". 

"In last two years, for the first time in the history of Uttar Pradesh, stringent action was taken against criminals without looking at their caste, religion and political inclination. The police department, which had become infamous for its poor work culture and behaviour towards people, is now going through drastic changes," he said.

On the Punjab and Haryana High Court recently ordering Punjab and Haryana governments to uproot emerging gang culture' and look at the measures adopted by UP, he said, "This is the result of commitment of our government that in a very short span of time, the UP law and order model has set an example for other states to follow."

According to data provided by Adiyanath's aides, in the 3,539 encounters during the BJP government, 8,135 criminals were arrested and 75 killed in self-defence.  Besides, 2,764 most wanted criminals were arrested, while 13,886 surrendered after their bail was cancelled.

Adityanath said, "There has not been a single incident of riot in the past two years".

As per statistics given by his aides, there were 227 riots in 2012, 247 in 2013, 242 in 2014, 219 in 2015 and the year 2016 also witnessed the killing of innocent people in more than 100 riots.