Uttar Pradesh Elections 2017: After Meerut, PM Modi will address a rally in Aligarh today.
After a blistering attack in Meerut on the Samajwadi Party government, the bonhomie between Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, and also Dalit leader Mayawati in passing, Prime Minister Narendra Modi takes his Uttar Pradesh campaign to Aligarh today where he will address his second rally. PM Modi is BJP's star campaigner which has not declared its chosen chief minister if it wins UP. The state will vote in seven phases starting February 11 and the results will be announced a month later.
The elections will be a test of PM Modi's notes ban move against black money which followed a massive cash shortage in the country.
In Meerut yesterday, the Prime Minister said he's fully committed to root out corruption. The fight starts with Uttar Pradesh,
it's a fight against 'SCAM', he said. "By scam I mean, S - Samajwadi (Party), C - Congress, A - Akhilesh (Yadav), M - Mayawati," the PM said to cheering crowds in Meerut in western Uttar Pradesh.
Attacking the Congress-Samajwadi alliance spearheaded by Akhilesh Yadav, 43, and Rahul Gandhi, 46, PM Modi said the two parties embracing each other after years of bitter rivalry was a sign of their decline. "What changed overnight that the two arch rivals embraced each other? This is to save themselves. Those who cannot save themselves, how would they save Uttar Pradesh?" he said.
In a speech which went for over an hour, PM said the central government's development agenda for UP was being stalled in Lucknow by the state government.
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav rebutted PM Modi's allegations at a rally in Auraiya and turned the acronym around on the BJP. "A stands for Amit Shah and M For (PM) Modi. 'SCAM' stands for Save the Country from Amit Shah and (PM) Modi," Mr Yadav said.
(With inputs from PTI)