Lucknow: Day before the third phase of assembly elections in the state, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma in an exclusive interview with ETV Bharat Saturday said that the 'victory chariot' of BJP has set off.
"In the first phase of UP elections, a repeat of 2017 was seen as far as electors' response is concerned. Whereas during the second phase, the turnout of voters was overwhelming. More than what we had expected. People are calling the shots in this election," Sharma said. The opposition especially the Samajwadi party was on the backfoot, he said claiming that "BJP has secured a good lead in the second phase of the election."
On BJP's silence over giving facelift to Mathura in party's Sankalp Patra, the UP Deputy Chief Minister said, "The Kashi Dham Corridor from 30,000 sq ft was expanded to 1.50 lakh sq ft. Ayodhya is being developed as an international class religious city with world class infrastructure of highways, expressways and universities. For the renovation of temples and beautification of Mathura, a separate board has been constituted for overseeing and execution of the projects. Mathura will be a world class religious city soon."
Asked about the opposition flagging BJP government in UP for 'ribbon cutting' ceremonies of development works done by the former, Sharma said, "SP, BSP and Congress remained in power in UP directly or indirectly for the past 15 years. What stopped them from doing the development work? They were just day dreaming and did nothing. We constructed five to six expressways and they left the half finished highway midway. In their time, just 2-3 airports were functional, we added 14 fully operational airports to the state. At least 22 airports will be developed in the coming years in UP," he said.
Sharma also spoke about constructing sheds for stray animals, especially cows in Uttar Pradesh. He said the BJP government was trying to fill the gap between urban and rural people. He also talked about giving tablets and smartphones to students as freebies as well as expanding the Broadband connectivity to hinterlands of UP.
