PM Narendra Modi also launched the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said his visit to Uttar Pradesh to start the government's programme to distribute free cooking gas connections to BPL families should not be interpreted in political terms.
"I chose Ballia because Ballia has the least average of cooking gas per households in the state... I am here in eastern Uttar Pradesh because we want to fight poverty," he said.
Much has been said about why Ballia was chosen to start this programme, the Prime Minister said. "Some people have written that Modi is sounding the poll bugle. I don't sound the poll bugle. It's the people who sound the bugle.
The speculations the Prime Minister referred to had been triggered in view of the 2017 assembly elections in the state, in which Eastern Uttar Pradesh is key to the BJP's aspirations.
Party sources say a good showing in the region will help the BJP come to power in a state where Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party and Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party or BSP will provide stiff competition. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP had swept through the state, winning as many as 71 of the state's 80 seats.
Questioning what he called the under-development of Uttar Pradesh, which has given the nation "so many Prime Ministers," PM Modi said, "Why did the poverty levels go on increasing? Were there some drawbacks in policies?"
Ballia, once the constituency of former Prime Minister Chandrasekhar, is one of the least developed districts of the state. It faces a huge shortage of power and potable drinking water. Another big issue is the erosion on the banks of Ganga river, which flows along the district.
Promising development in the region, PM Modi said, "It is May 1 today - which is celebrated as Labour Day.
I'm the nation's Mazdoor no 1, and I thank the people who have contributed to building the nation."
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav is visiting Ballia tomorrow and is expected to inaugurate a host of schemes the area.