Addressing an election meeting on what once was the home turf of slain gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday appeared to invoke nature as a great leveller—a force that delivers justice. “Some people had turned Prayagraj, where people suffering from injustice and atrocities come with a desire for justice, into a land of injustice and atrocities,” Adityanath said, addressing a meeting in the former Samajwadi Party MLA’s Allahabad West constituency. “But this nature doesn’t commit an atrocity against anyone, nor does it accept an atrocity. It settles scores for everyone,” he said, without naming anyone.
Later, at his public meetings, he stressed the “improvement” in law and order during the term of the BJP government in the state. On Tuesday, the last day of campaigning for the first phase of urban local body polls to be held on May 4, the chief minister said, “It’s the same Uttar Pradesh where festivals were celebrated in the shadow of fear and terror. But today, festivals bring prosperity. Today there is no curfew and no riots in the state.”
“Today, there is no terror of Eve teasers in cities. Today, our cities are becoming safer. Girls can go to school safely, and businessmen can do business. Today, the youth do not have ‘tamancha’ (country-made pistols) in their hands; they have tablets,” he said. He said those who used to grab the properties of the poor and extort money from traders have been forced to surrender to the law. “Today, the state traders welfare board is giving a security insurance of Rs 10 lakh to traders.”