UP polls: Amit Shah said BJP is not the party for one caste but for the entire society.
Ahead of Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday drew a comparison of BJP with Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Samajwadi Party (SP), and said that unlike them, BJP does not work for one caste or dynasty. "It works for entire society," he said.
Addressing the 'Effective Voter Communication' program in Mathura, Mr Shah said, "Before the BJP government, UP saw SP and BSP governments for a very long time. BSP and SP stand for casteism and dynasty," he added.
Lauding the BJP-led state government, Mr Shah said, "Nobody drew a map for complete development of Uttar Pradesh. Only after Prime Minister Narendra Modi took charge and Yogi Adityanath became the Chief Minister, the mantra of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' came to the fore."
"BJP is not the party for one caste but for the entire society," the Union Home Minister said.
He also thanked the people of the Braj region for always choosing lotus (BJP), "be it the elections of 2014 or 2017."
"If the credit of change in the country and Uttar Pradesh in the seven and a half years, is to go to anyone, then it goes to the great people of Uttar Pradesh," he said.
He slammed SP's Akhilesh Yadav for "corruption".
"From Akhilesh babu's rule to BJP's rule, robbery has decreased by 70 per cent. Loot has been reduced by 72 per cent, murder by 29 per cent and kidnapping has decreased by 35 per cent," Mr Shah said.
Taking a jibe at Mr Yadav's promise of free electricity after a win, he said, "You (Akhilesh) could not even provide electricity; how are you talking about free electricity?"
Commending the Yogi Adityanath-led government's work, Mr Shah said, "The BJP government has done the work of providing free electricity connections to 1.41 crore houses."
"The Narendra Modi government has done the work of providing houses to 42 lakh people in Uttar Pradesh under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and Yogi ji has taken it to the bottom. Every year Rs 6,000 have been transferred to the account of each of 2.54 crore farmers," he added.
Mr Shah's public engagements are significant as elections on 403 Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh will be conducted in seven phases starting from February 10.
The second phase of the Uttar Pradesh elections will be held on February 14, the third phase on February 20, the fourth phase on February 23, the fifth phase on February 27, the sixth phase on March 3 and the seventh and the last phase will be conducted on March 7.
The counting of votes will take place on March 10.