Modi sounds poll bugle, says development only solution to UP’s problems

Giving highlights of the party President’s address to the media, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad later told reporters that Shah also compared the performance of the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government with that of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.

Shah also expressed confidence that the party will come to power in Uttar Pradesh in 2017 and again at the centre in 2019.

The ruling Samajwadi Party in the state too has sprung into action as its workers are working overtime to paste party posters on any wall or lamp post. The Mathura incident will also be one of the key poll issues for the BJP.

Aam Aadmi Party sought “permission” for staging a demonstration and waving black flags from a “safe distance” to protest the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s maiden visit here.

Shah added that “the Centre gave Rs90,000 crore to Telangana in the last two years, but the funds were not spent properly for the welfare and development of the state”.

Earlier, in his concluding remarks at the executive, Modi advised his party workers to follow seven mantras including empathy and restraint in their conduct and said people are not content with mere slogans but concerned about how the nation is being strengthened. But there are also fears that projecting a “face” in UP could go against it as the caste factor plays a dominant role in UP’s politics. OBCs constitute over 50 percent of state’s electorate. He is though certain to play an important role, including the possibility of heading the party’s campaign. Irrespective of whether or not Home Minister Rajnath Singh is formally declared as chief ministerial nominee for UP, the party will essentially bank on Modi’s charisma and his supposed achievements in the last two years to grab power in India’s most populous state.

BJP President said that the tions of despondency which were in the air two years ago has now turned into enthusiasm. The PM asked the people “how many corruption cases” were lodged by the SP against the BSP even though when in Opposition the former had made several allegations against the latter.

Shah said: “Be it any state, parties which have no internal democracy can’t do good to the country and to Telangana”. On one occasion, he pulled up UP MPs for not keeping track of official information on the spread of rural electrification in the state as a result of specific initiatives undertaken by the NDA government.

Contrasting it with the performance of the Modi government, the resolution said India’s GDP had grown to 7.2 percent in 2014-15 and 7.6 percent in 2015-16. Mr Shah said obstruction on the path of development had become a “hallmark of the Congress”. As both Modi and Shah attacked Mayawati it was clear BJP would not take her lightly.