"Reaching Lucknow Was Like Mahabharata": PM Blasts Previous UP Governments

For previous Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh, "development was limited to where they had their homes only," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today, attacking the opposition at a rally organised alongside a government function to inaugurate the showpiece Purvanchal Expressway.

The BJP -- which won Uttar Pradesh in 2017 on a development promise -- has been keen to put behind the setback of the second surge of Covid in summer. The party has zeroed in on covering enough ground on infrastructure building to keep the focus on development ahead of next year's assembly elections.

The Prime Minister did not mince words.

"The previous governments did not care about any connectivity in UP... Roads were in bad condition. Reaching Lucknow for people of eastern Uttar Pradesh was like winning the battle of Mahabharata... Who can forget many power cuts? Who can forget the law order condition and the medical facilities? I knew that the way people of UP were treated unfairly by the then government," he said.

"Discrimination was done in name of development so their interest can be served," he added, peppering his speech with many references to "dynastic leaders".

"I am pained that the then Uttar Pradesh government did not cooperate. They were also scared of upsetting their vote banks by standing beside me in public. I used to come as an MP, they used to disappear after receiving me at the airport. They were ashamed as they had nothing to show as work," he added.

Besides Purvanchal Expressway, the BJP also has other expressways under construction -- Ganga Expressway, the Gorakhpur Link Expressway and the Bundelkhand Expressway.

Speaking at the inauguration, Yogi Adityanath said "Work is underway to connect Bundelkhand with a new expressway. The work of Ganga Expressway is going to start to connect Western Uttar Pradesh with Eastern Uttar Pradesh."

"From Kanpur metro to the new airport in Kushinagar, other major infrastructure projects are coming up," he then pointed out.

"By next month the metro system of Kanpur will also open. In five years, a new Metro facility was provided under the guidance of PM and transport facilities have been also upgraded in the state," he added.

The focus on highways and infrastructure development has not been lost on the opposition Samajwadi Party or Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party. Both parties have interpreted it as the BJP's effort to consolidate its hold on the eastern part of the vast state that sends 80 members to Parliament.

The 340-km Purvanchal Expressway runs through nine districts -- Lucknow, Amethi, Faizabad, Sultanpur, Barabanki, Ambedkar Nagar, Azamgarh, Mau and Ghazipur -- all are considered strong bases of the SP, BSP and to an extent, the Congress.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has accused the BJP of stealing credit, dubbing the expressway "Samajwadi Purvanchal Expressway".

The BSP flatly called the inauguration an election stunt.  "Before the elections, they remember the expressways. They remember other development works, but for the remaining four-and-half years, they did nothing," the party said.

Mayawati has said the plan to connect Noida (Gautam Budh Nagar near Delhi) with eastern Uttar Pradesh was made when her party was in power.

The BJP said Akhilesh Yadav will take credit for the Ayodhya Ram temple next. "The manner in which Akhilesh Yadav is blowing his trumpet for an expressway that existed on paper only, his next tweet will be that ''Ram temple has also been built by the Samajwadi Party government,'' the party tweeted in Hindi.