Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav charged the previous Mayawati government with pushing the state back off the path of development by years and accused BJP of betraying the state which gave it 73 MPs.
“No government can compete with us on the issue of development…BSP now says it will not put up more parks if it comes to power but it has pushed the state back by years on the path of development (during its previous rule),” Yadav told the state assembly while replying to the debate on the state budget.
On BJP, he said now when the central budget has been announced it is for everyone to see what has been given to Uttar Pradesh which has given the saffron party 73 MPs in 2014.
“You all have given nothing to this state and people will not forgive you,” he said, adding that the new tax structure has decreased the state’s share by Rs 8,000 crore.
“We have asked only for permission to start work on the international airport at Jewar in Gautam Buddha Nagar and at Hirangaon in Ferozabad but the Centre does not seem to be interested in it,” the chief minister said.
Pointing out that BJP and BSP had joined hands to form government twice in the state, Yadav alleged that they could repeat the same for their “vested” interests.
“They joined hands during Lok Sabha elections in Kannauj and made an unholy pact against the SP candidate and you never know when they can come together again,” he said.
Responding to issues raised by opposition members on the state budget which was presented in the House on February 12, Yadav described it was a “pack of truth” aimed at balanced development of rural and urban areas.
Stressing that there could be no comparison between the coming up of Agra-Lucknow Expressway with Noida Expressway of the then BSP government, Yadav said unlike the previous government, no package or sweeteners were given to any business house nor were farmers forced to give their land for the same.
“No farmer was killed nor anyone sent to jail by our government for taking land for the Expressway,” he said.
Rejecting opposition charge that Purvanchal and Bundelkhand areas were neglected in the budget, Yadav said his government was taking good care of all regions. For Bundelkhand, he said while ponds and rivers like Chandrawal which had become almost extinct were being revived, Hamirpur will be converted into an organic district where use of organic fertiliser will be promoted in a big way.
Besides, for these areas which have witnessed drought, Yadav said free foodgrains will be provided to people under the Right to Food Security Act.
“The government has decided to provide free foodgrains to the people of Bundelkhand region,” he said, adding, “We have also decided to provide flour, oil, ghee, potato, salts and several other things to poor people of the state.” To address the shortage of drinking water, the government would press into service 1,500 water tankers in Bundelkhand so that villagers were provided with quality drinking water, he said.
The chief minister said his government would develop a greenfield city.
He said adequate power and good roads were the main priorities of his government.
Brushing aside criticism that sugarcane prices have not been hiked for consecutive years by his government, he said that on coming to power his government had hiked it by Rs 40 in one go in 2012.
“Besides, we have forced the sugar mills to pay over Rs 77,000 crore to the cane farmers during the four-year rule even though the prices of sugar was at the lowest,” he said.
On law and order front, the chief minister said “some small issues” also become hot news while the good work remain in the background.
He accused the media of tarnishing the image of his government over the law and order issue. “In some recent acts of missing women and other crimes, UP police had done an excellent job to arrest the culprits within a record time but still the media bashing against the government continues,” he rued. Yadav said investors were also coming to the state now and accused
the previous government of not working on the infrastructure.
PTI