Addressing a public meeting in Bhadohi, Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticized the Samajwadi Party and Congress, accusing them of struggling to retain their deposits in the upcoming elections. He claimed that both parties are attempting to emulate the politics of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal in Uttar Pradesh.
The rally was held in support of BJP candidate Vinod Kumar, who is contesting against Lalitesh Pati Tripathi of the Trinamool Congress and Harishankar of the BSP. Lalitesh is the son of former UP Chief Minister Kamla Pati Tripathi and has the support of both the SP and the Congress.
PM Modi stated, “In Bhadohi, it’s difficult for SP and Congress to save their deposit and hence they’re doing a political experiment here. They want to do a trial of TMC’s Bengal politics. TMC politics means ‘poisonous arrow of appeasement’… Many BJP leaders like Manish Shukla were killed there and TMC’s MLAs said ‘Hinduon ko Ganga me dubo kar maar denge’. SP is trying to take UP in this direction.”
Taking a dig at SP’s Akhilesh Yadav, PM Modi remarked that after BSP chief Mayawati ended the alliance with SP, they brought out a “new Bua” in the form of Mamata Banerjee. He questioned, “‘Pehale wali bua SP waalon ko pehachaan gayi aur inhe chhor diya isliye ab Bengal se bua lekar aaye hain’… I want to ask ‘Babua’, the ‘Shehzada’ of SP, that your ‘bua’ is so close to you and has come all the way from Bengal, have you ever asked her why she calls the people of UP outsiders in Bengal?”
Discussing the “vocal for local” initiative, PM Modi stated, “We are trying everything for vocal for local, one district one product, in SP govt it was ‘one district one mafia’… Since Yogi ji has assumed power ‘pura mahaul badal gya hai’.”
Earlier, PM Modi held a rally in Jaunpur and emphasized that in the next five years, his government aims to transform the image and fate of Purvanchal (Eastern Uttar Pradesh), making it the growth engine of a developed India. He stated, “I pledge to build a developed India and the growth engine of developed India will be Purvanchal, Eastern India. This entire region is becoming a strong hub of health and education. In the coming five years, Modi-Yogi is going to change both the image and the fate of Purvanchal.”
The Bhadohi constituency will vote in the sixth phase on May 25, with vote counting scheduled for June 4.