Opposition's unity like 'Chipko Movement', says Yogi Adityanath on preparations for 2019 Lok Sabha polls

Lucknow: Taking a dig at the Opposition’s unity bid, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Wednesday described it as a Chipko movement. Speaking in the state assembly, Adityanath indirectly referred to efforts by the Congress, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) to work out an electoral understanding ahead of the next Lok Sabha polls. “A sort of Chipko movement is presently underway in the state,” he said, invoking the environment conservation movement in which volunteers hugged trees. But he also referred to the “differences” between the parties, saying the SP will not accept Rahul Gandhi as prime minister. [caption id=“attachment_4345905” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] FIle image of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath. PTI[/caption] The Opposition had earlier walked out of the House accusing the government of faking cases against Dalits. Adityanath was taking part in the discussion on the supplementary budget of Rs 34,833 crore, later passed by the House. It had earlier approved the main annual budget of Rs 4.26 lakh crore. The chief minister accused the opposition parties of stalling the proceedings of the House and claimed there was uneasiness among them. He said the people had given these parties the right to sit on the Opposition benches, but they feared they will lose that as well. He countered the Opposition charge that crime had risen under his watch. “There has not been a single riot in the past 16 months, investments are coming in. It’s the best in 15 years,” he said. Adityanath said those who couldn’t see an improvement in the law and order situation in the state suffered from a “vision disorder”. He accused the previous SP government of attempting to withdraw the cases of those facing terror charges. Adityanath countered the SP charge that his BJP government had `hijacked’ the Purvanchal Expressway project, saying the previous government had not acquired even 25 percent of the needed land. Attacking the SP and the BSP, the chief minister said Dalits and others had failed to get the benefits of the various schemes under their governments. He claimed his government was working for the all-round development of the state while the previous one worked for the betterment of a handful of its own people. Adityanath said it was because of the coordinated effort of various departments that the number of encephalitis deaths in Gorakhpur had come down remarkably. “While 86 children had died in August last year, this time around only six have died,” he said. He said the conditions in Congress strongholds of Amethi and Rae Bareli too had improved under the BJP government. Adityanath announced that a medical university and several schemes will be named after former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who died on 16 August.