Mathura (Uttar Pradesh): Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said that the upcoming Uttar Pradesh elections 'will decide the future of India' even as he targeted the opposition leaders for 'keeping the state poor and backward'.
Addressing a meeting of the BJP workers in Mathura, Shah lashed out at Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati for "pushing Uttar Pradesh to jungle raj and keeping it poor and backward". "I urge the people of Uttar Pradesh to bring the Yogi government back to power. Uttar Pradesh polls will decide the country's destiny," he said.
"These polls are to see that which party and ideology will the state choose for the next 5 yrs. Before the BJP government, UP saw SP and BSP governments for a very long time. SP used to work for one caste, BSP used to work for another," the home minister said.
"Nobody drew a map for the complete development of Uttar Pradesh. Only after PM Modi took charge and Yogi Adityanath became the CM, the mantra of sabka saath, sabka vikas came to the fore. BJP is not the party for one caste but for the entire society," he added. Earlier, Shah began his campaign by offering prayers at Banke Bihari Temple in Mathura's Vrindavan city.
During the course of the day today, Shah is attending various events in Mathura and Gautam Buddh Nagar that comprises door to door visit as part of campaigning for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls. The Home Minister would also be attending effective voter communication in Mathura and Greater Noida.
The Home Minister's public engagements are significant as elections on 403 Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh will be conducted in seven phases starting from February 10. The second phase of the Uttar Pradesh elections will be held on February 14, the third phase on February 20, the fourth phase on February 23, the fifth phase on February 27, the sixth phase on March 3 and the seventh and the last phase will be conducted on March 7. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.
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