Uttar Pradesh: Reality ‘bites’ Yogi’s claims on completing two years in office

Yogi Adityanath, the monk, with charges ranging from inciting mobs, hate speech and violence, who became Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in 2017, held a marathon 90-minute press conference to pat his own back.

He completed two years in office on Tuesday, March 19. And if ‘Chowkidar’ Yogi Adityanath is to be believed, these two years have changed the face of Uttar Pradesh.

Yogi Adityanath, who is also the Mahant of Gorakhnath Temple in Gorakhpur, addressed the media for over 90 minutes spelling out the achievements of his government.

“No riot has taken place in UP in the last two years,” said the beaming CM while pointing out that around 1000 riots had rocked the state between 2012 and 2014 when Akhilesh Yadav was Chief Minister of the state.

He spoke of farmers’ welfare and industrialisation, organisation of the Kumbh Mela and Investors’ meets. The monologue in Lucknow left nobody in any doubt that Ram Rajya has returned to UP.

But a reality check presents a different picture.

Yogi is wrong as riots rocked UP

• In December last year two men including an inspector were killed in Sian village in Bulandshahr after hundreds of right wing activists fought a pitched battle with police over the alleged discovery of cow carcasses in nearby village.
• In January last year, a youth was shot dead during a "Tiranga Yatra" in Etah which sparked riots in that area.
• In April 2017, a riot broke out in Saharanpur when some upper caste youth objected to procession by Bhim Army. BJP MP Raghav Lakhanpal stormed into the office of SSP, Saharanpur demanding arrest of Chandrashekhar Ravan.
• On December 11, 2018, the union minister of state for home affairs Hansraj Gangaram Ahir told the Lok Sabha in a written reply that in comparison with 2014 the number of incidents of communal violence was 32 per cent higher in 2017.

He said there were a total of 195 incidents of communal violence in Uttar Pradesh in 2017, in which 44 people died and 542 people were injured. In comparison, 22 people died in incidents of communal violence in 2015.

Farmer returns ₹2000 and seeks permission to end his life

• Pradeep Sharma, 36, a debt ridden potato farmer from Agra returned ₹2,000 he had received under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. He is under debt of ₹35 lakh, the loan he had taken but failed to repay following crop loss in 2016. He met the District administration and in December 2018 and went to meet Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh but returned empty-handed. “I need government help if CM cannot help me please give me permission to kill myself,” he said.
• Sugar cane farmers in Western Uttar Pradesh blocked Meerut-New Delhi highway in January demanding immediate repayment of cane dues. The outstanding payment is over ₹ 35000 crore. The agitated farmers set many government buses on fire in which two persons were killed.
• In January 2018, farmers dumped unsold potatoes outside Vidhan Bhawan and Raj Bhawan as a mark of protest against the government’s claim that UP is the first state to announce MSP for potatoes and it is being purchased at higher rate.

Where are the Investors ?

• Industrialists are now reluctant to invest in Uttar Pradesh because of which Government was forced to cancel the Ground Breaking ceremony, which was slated for March 8 in Kanpur. Government had earlier claimed that the foundation of over ₹80,000 crore projects will be laid. A senior government official said that investment in Uttar Pradesh depends on the ‘colour’ of the government after 2019 election. If investors feel Modi will return to power at the Centre they will invest in UP.
• This is the third time this ground breaking ceremony was cancelled. Earlier, this function was scheduled to be held on February 27 this year but on the wake of Pulwama and subsequent development, the programme was cancelled. A similar programme was planned on December 20 last year but was cancelled as the government said it was not prepared.
• The repeated cancellation of this ground breaking ceremony raises a big question mark over the success of Investors’ Summit which was held in February 2018 in which MoU worth ₹4.28 lakh crore was signed. But actual investment was just a fraction of this number as in the first ground breaking ceremony, projects worth ₹60,000 crore were launched while the second ground breaking ceremony was cancelled.