Two ‘princes’ will ruin UP: Amit Shah

MEERUT: Attacking the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance in UP, BJP national chief Amit Shah said the two princess are out to ruin the state and fool its people. Addressing a rally in Amroha on Sunday, Shah said, “Dono shehzade aaj kal ghoomte hain ek saath (the two princes roam around together these days). It is only meant to fool you people. They are two corrupt people and their parties have only given corrupt governments. They cannot change the fortunes of the state. UP is lagging far behind other states of the country in terms of development.”

Pointing fingers at the record of Akhilesh Yadav as the chief minister, the BJP chief accused the UP government of indulging in large-scale corruption. “Since the NDA has come to power in the Centre, Modiji has released Rs 2.5 lakh crore as funds for UP which was meant for your benefit. But, it has not reached you. It has only reached the Samajwadi Party and its workers. The Akhilesh Yadav government has engaged in large-scale corruption.”
Shah also went on the offensive against the Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, bringing up the scams under the Manmohan Singh government at the Centre. “Rahul Baba forgets that his party was in power at the Centre for 10 years. There were scams after scams, scandals after scandals. There was corruption worth Rs 12 lakh crore under the UPA government,” he said.

Referring to the SP-Congress alliance, Shah accused the Congress of opportunism. “When the Congress started the campaign, it was with ‘27 saal UP behaal’ (UP suffering for 27 years). Now, suddenly after the alliance it has changed its view,” he said.

Pointing to the fact that PM Modi is an elected MP from Varanasi, Shah said that only a Modi-led BJP can bring UP onto the path of development. “You must remember that Modiji is an elected representative from Uttar Pradesh and not from any other state. In 2014, it was the people of UP who made him the Prime Minister by giving the BJP 73 out of 80 seats. UP is very dear to Modiji and his development initiatives will go a long way in making UP a prosperous state. It is only under Modiji that the fortunes of UP can change and it can finally see some development,” he said.

Shah also referred to the issue of alleged exoduses of some families in west UP’s Kairana. “Many families in western UP have had to leave their homes and their villages because they don’t feel safe in their homes anymore. When the BJP comes to power, we will put an end to this lawlessness and we will ensure that nobody has to flee their homes. Instead, it will be all the criminals who will be made to flee,” Shah said.