In an obvious reference to the Samajwadi Party, Union Information, Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Anurag Thakur said that the party which had ordered firing on kar sevaks in Ayodhya was now claiming that it would have constructed the Ram temple within a year.
“After seeing the splendid development work in Uttar Pradesh, even those who opened fire on Ram bhakts have started visiting temples. Those who attempted to withdraw cases against terrorists accused of the attacks on Ayodhya temple were now talking about building a Ram temple," the Union minister said after inaugurating the first-ever two-day conclave organised by Doordarshan in Lucknow on Friday.
Highlighting the achievements of the last five years of Yogi Adityanath and Narendra Modi governments with the thrust of double engine government, Thakur said, “Modi has provided an honest government at the Centre while Yogi Adityanath has done the same thing in Uttar Pradesh. That is why the prime minister said that Yogi is ‘bahut upyogi’ (useful) for Uttar Pradesh."
Thakur, who is also Bharatiya Janata Party’s deputy election in-charge of UP, said that the Central government had acted tough against those who siphoned off money meant for the poor.
"Akhilesh Yadav should have welcomed it, instead he condemned it indicating his connection with these people,” he said.
Talking about development in Uttar Pradesh, the Union minister said, “Earlier there were two international airports in the state but now there are five. There was Metro rail in only two cities, now it is in five cities. Earlier there were only 15 medical colleges, today there are 60 medical colleges. All this has been done by the ‘UPYogi’ government."
Thakur said that in the last five years no riot had been reported in Uttar Pradesh.
“Those who used to create an atmosphere of terror are behind bars now. Those who once used to bulldoze people are today seeing government bulldozers razing their properties. The previous Akhilesh Yadav regime was marked as goonda raj. The BJP government has freed Uttar Pradesh from riots and goonda raj. The result is for everyone to see. Uttar Pradesh is now on the path of prosperity,” he said.