“In UP, the previous governments did not pay attention to the overall development of the state. The eastern region had been particularly held hostage by mafias and its people by poverty,” he said. He said, “for previous CMs, development was restricted to areas where their families lived, but today, there is as equal emphasis on both the east and the west,” adding, “the Purvanchal expressway will “unite” the state, bringing all districts together, and will benefit not only Awadh and Purvanchal but also Bihar.” Without naming it, Modi slammed the Samajwadi Party, saying the it did not “cooperate” with him in his efforts to carry out important works in the state like building of pakka houses, toilets, etc. “Not just that, they (SP leaders) did not even stand next to me publicly for fear of upsetting their votebank,” he said. “When I came as a PM, they would welcome me at the airport and then disappear. They were ashamed as they never had an account of the works done by them,” Modi said. He said the specialty of the expressway is that it will connect those districts to Lucknow that are “highly aspirational” and have “huge possibilities” for development too. He also took on the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre, and said it was “unfortunate” that both in Delhi and in Lucknow, families dominated and for years, this partnership between “familialism” kept on trampling over and ruining the aspirations of the people of UP. Today, however, the “double engine” government of BJP at the Centre and in the state works for the people.
Source: Economic Times
