Countdown to Lok Sabha Polls: 3 days, 9 districts, and a CM on launch spree

On the eve of the poll date announcement, Adityanath on Friday covered three districts — Balrampur, Siddharthanagar, and his home turf Gorakhpur. A day ago, on March 14, he visited Ambedkar Nagar, Ayodhya, and Gonda districts. And on March 13 (Wednesday), he visited Farrukhabad, Bareilly, and Unnao districts.

Most of these districts had overwhelmingly voted for the BJP in the last Lok Sabha elections, five years ago. For example, BJP’s Sakshi Maharaj had won from Unnao by a margin of about 4 lakh votes in 2019. Likewise, Mukesh Rajput won Farrukhabad by a margin of over 2 lakh votes and Santosh Gangwar from Bareilly by over 1.5 lakh votes. In Gonda too, BJP’s Kirti Vardhan Singh had won by over 1.5 lakh votes. Only Ambedkar Nagar was won by BSP’s Ritesh Pandey in 2019. However, Pandey has now joined the BJP.

Also, a common thread of issues that were raised by the chief minister at the public rallies in all these districts construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya “after a wait of 500 years”; “end” of criminals and mafia raj in the state; and the “development brought by the double-engine government” in the state.

In Balrampur, where he laid the foundation stone for Maa Pateshwari Devi State University, along with 466 development projects worth Rs 1,488 crore for the district as well as 31 projects of Rs 260 crore for neighbouring Shravasti district on Friday, Adityanath accused the previous governments in the state of giving patronage to mafias.

“Criminalisation of politics was the biggest obstacle in the system. But we have pledged to never allow the criminalisation of politics. We will not allow anyone to play with the future of our youth. Whoever tries to play with the future of the youth will have to pay a price for it. The double-engine government (with the BJP at the Centre and state) works with full determination towards it,” he said.

He also spoke about the Ram Janmabhoomi movement and said: “Once bullets used to be fired in the name of Lord Ram. But today, not just that the temple has been built in Ayodhya, over 1 crore people from different parts of the country and abroad have visited the newly constructed Ram Temple since its inauguration on January 22 this year.”
While inaugurating projects for Shravasti district, the chief minister linked it to Ramayana and said the area was developed by Luv.

BJP had lost Shravasti Lok Sabha seat to BSP candidate Ram Shiromani Verma by a margin of mere 5,000 votes in the last Lok Sabha elections.

In Siddharthanagar too, he talked about the “double-engine government bringing livelihood for the youth and respecting the faith. Amid the chanting of “Jai Sri Ram” by the crowd, Adityanath said, “500 varshon ka intezar samapt kiya hai… Ayodhya mein Ram Lalla ka mandir ka nirman hua hai (The wait of 500 years is over… the temple of Ram Lalla has been built).”

Asking the crowd if the BSP, SP or Congress could bring such respect to the faith and also provide free ration to people, Adityanath said: “Aapka samman nahi kar sakte, aapki aastha ka samman nahi kar sakte to aapko ser pe dhone ki jarurat nahi hai (They can’t give due respect to you and your faith. So, there is no need to put them on your head).”
Urging the people to vote for PM Modi again, he claimed that in”next three years, India will become the third biggest economy of the world.”

On Thursday, the chief minister inaugurated and laid foundation stones for 411 projects worth Rs 1,090 crore in Ayodhya; and 422 projects of Rs 1,689 crore in neighbouring Gonda district.

In Gonda, Adityanath said that the district was “benefiting” from the construction of the Ram Temple and other developments in neighbouring Ayodhya.

In Ayodhya where he laid the foundation stone and inaugurated projects of Rs 1,090 crore, he called the Opposition parties, including the BSP, SP and Congress as “liabilities” and sought support for sitting BJP MP and party candidate Lallu Singh.

On Wednesday, when the chief minister was in Bareilly — he had targeted the SP and Congress, accusing them of “failing to ensure astha ka samman”.

The same day in Farrukhabad, he said how “one vote” for BJP got the Ram Temple built in Ayodhya, and asked people to take resolve to bring back “Modi ki sarkar”.