After landing on a 3.5 km-long highway airstrip in an Indian Air Force C-130 Hercules transport plane on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the 341-km-long Purvanchal Expressway to the people at a function held along the newly-laid expressway in Sultanpur.
Later, Modi launched a scathing attack on the previous Samajwadi Party government, accusing it of discriminating in extending the benefits of development schemes to the people in Uttar Pradesh.
“The previous governments in Uttar Pradesh reduced the state's vital eastern part to ‘mafiawaad’ and poverty, but the Bharatiya Janata Party government is now scripting a new chapter of development. The roar of IAF fighter planes also gives out a message to the previous government (Congress) who ignored the defence infrastructure for decades,” the prime minister said.
"Nation’s security is as important as its prosperity. In a short while from now, we will see how the Purvanchal Expressway has now added one more power for the Indian Air Force in case of emergency. Our fighter planes will land on the expressway shortly," he said.
Inaugurating the Purvanchal Expressway, the prime minister sounded the poll bugle for Uttar Pradesh assembly elections scheduled early next year, saying that the previous regimes in the state did injustice to the people by “working only for one family”, while the BJP ushered in an era of unforeseen development. He also said that previously there were areas in Uttar Pradesh which were a hub of mafia and poverty but the expressway was a testimony to the development that the state witnessed in the recent past.
“When I laid the foundation stone of Purvanchal Expressway in 2018, I had never thought that I would land here on an IAF Hercules aircraft one day. This is the expressway to the state’s development and it will usher in a new Uttar Pradesh. This expressway is a reflection of modern facilities in Uttar Pradesh. This expressway is the expressway of the strong will power of the state and is a living proof of the accomplishment of resolutions in Uttar Pradesh. For the all-round development of the country, a balanced development is equally important. Some areas marching ahead in the race of development and some areas lagging decades behind are not right for any country,” Modi said.
In an hour-long inauguration speech, the prime minister described how Purvanchal Expressway would fast-track the region, and by extension the state, on the road to development.
He also mounted a scathing attack on the previous Samajwadi Party government, blaming it for the state’s backwardness and accusing it of hampering the state’s advancement with dynastic politics and corruption.
Lauding Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Modi said, “I am happy that today Yogi ji's government is working without discrimination, casteism, regionalism and dynastic politics. The Uttar Pradesh government is working with the mantra of 'Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas'. Those who have any doubt on capabilities of UP, on capabilities of the people of UP should come to Sultanpur to witness the extent of their capability. Such a modern expressway has come up on what was just a piece of land 3-4 years back.”
The prime minister further opined, “It is also a fact that a vast state like Uttar Pradesh was earlier cut off from within to a great extent. This expressway is bridging this gap and connecting the people of the state. This expressway is a reflection of the modernising face and a symbol of the strong will power of UP. This is the pride of Uttar Pradesh, this is a wonder of Uttar Pradesh.”
Without naming Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, the prime minister said, “Some people are losing their cool over the performance of the double engine government at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh. Those who failed in their time are not able to stand the success of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.”