Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath said that previous governments had paid lip service to the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and the backward classes, and the Bharatiya Janata Party government, in comparison, had been busy renovating and beautifying memorials of iconic personalities from these communities.
Speaking as the chief guest at the concluding session of the national executive of BJP’s Scheduled Caste (SC) Morcha in Varanasi on Sunday, Adityanath said that it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who finally launched the ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ in 2014 after other governments had failed to deliver any substantial benefits for the backward communities.
Adityanath said that due to the Swachh Bharat Mission, toilets were built in the homes of 100 million people across the country and 95% of the beneficiaries were from the SCs, STs and the Other Backward Classes (OBCs). A total of 26.1 million people were given assistance to build toilets in Uttar Pradesh, he added.
Yogi also said that the Swachh Bharat Mission brought unprecedented improvement in the lives of people and changed India’s image in the world. Listing other welfare schemes started by the BJP-led Central government, Yogi said houses were given to 25 million people under the ‘PM Awas Yojana’ in the country. In Uttar Pradesh, 4.2 million people were given houses after 2017, he said, adding that free ration was being given to 800 million people in the country including 150 million people in Uttar Pradesh.
Yogi alleged that during the Samajwadi Party’s rule, deaths due to starvation were reported from Sonbhadra, Kushinagar and Chitrakoot districts because the free ration meant for the poor was getting cornered by SP workers instead. He said that the fraud ended following a probe– ordered by the BJP government after assuming power in the state in 2017—which found 4 million fake ration cards.
Yogi said that during the Covid-19 pandemic, no one was left to die of hunger as free ration was ensured for all the poor people.
Listing several projects to beautify and renovate memorials for icons from the backward communities, Yogi said Sant Ravidas temple was being made at Seer Govardhan in Varanasi, a memorial to Maharaja Suheldev was being built in Bahraich, apart from a national memorial to Baba Saheb Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar in Lucknow.
He said people who were in power earlier should be asked as to why this work was not done during their tenure.
In poll bound Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP aims to return to power by overcoming identity politics among the Hindu population, CM Adityanath recalled Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar’s philosophy.
He said that Ambedkar was revered due to his work for social justice, equality and Indian values and tradition. He claimed that Ambedkar’s contemporary Jogendranath Mandal was forgotten soon since he favoured the creation of Pakistan and worked against Rashtra Dharma (duty towards the nation) and those who were opposed to the Rashtra Dharma today will meet the same fate.
“Remember, we have no caste…, we have only one religion that is Rashtradharma. The one who follows rashtra dharma and works for rashtra dharma will be revered. The society will offer him respect,” Yogi said.
Asserting that the BJP did not do caste politics, he said, the party worked to bring harmony in the society. He claimed that the BJP governments had implemented many public welfare schemes to realise the dreams of Ambedkar to bring about a radical change in the standard of living of the underprivileged.
Speaking of other welfare schemes run by the Central government, he pointed out that 500 million people had benefited from the ‘Ayushman Bharat’ health insurance scheme which guarantees free treatment up to ₹5 lakh/ year for poor people.
