In a sharp attack on opposition parties ahead of the upcoming Uttar Pradesh elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday that those who were unable to provide even basic facilities to the people during their time in power were now unable to digest the performance of the Yogi Adityanath government. Speaking at the inauguration of the 340-kilometer Purvanchal Expressway in eastern Uttar Pradesh, PM Modi targeted rival Samajwadi Party and the Congress and said that for a long time dynasts were in power in both Lucknow and New Delhi.
“When I laid the foundation stone of Purvanchal Expressway three years back, I had never thought that I will land here on an aircraft one day. This highway will benefit the poor, middle class, farmers, and traders,” the Prime Minister said while addressing a rally in Sultanpur after inaugurating of the Expressway.
The 3.2-km airstrip has been constructed on the expressway to facilitate emergency landing of fighter aircraft. The 341-km expressway links state capital Lucknow with Ghazipur and has been constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 22,500 crore. From the airstrip venue, the prime minister will witness an air show by different aircraft.
“The politics done in UP, the manner in which govts were run for a long time they did not pay attention to the all-round and holistic development. One region of UP and its people were given away to the mafia and poverty. For previous chief ministers, development was limited to their families and where they had their homes. Previous UP government only cared about their family wealth,” he said.
“I was anguished to know that the previous government did not cooperate with us. Their leaders were even hesitant to stand with me. They would welcome me at the airport and then vanish for fear of their vote bank,” he said.
He said that for years, the partnership of dynastic families crushed Uttar Pradesh’s aspirations and did not develop defence infrastructure. The upcoming defence corridor is now a major step in this direction,” he said.
Continuing his attack on ‘previous government, Modi said that earlier there were no roads but people of UP were looted on highways.
He said that when he was elected from Uttar Pradesh, he decided that as ‘Pradhan sevak’, it was his duty to transform UP.
“Seeing the situation in UP, 7-8 years ago, I used to wonder what some people are punishing UP for. In 2014, when UP gave me the opportunity to serve the great land of India, I started many developmental works for the development of UP,” he said.
The Prime Minister lauded Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for giving a major push to development on the concept of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ and without any consideration of caste, family or region.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath welcomed the Prime minister and gifted him a model of the Ram Temple being built in Ayodhya.
Later, a scintillating air show was held at the venue, displaying the air power of the Indian Air Force.