Yogi spurs voters to keep UP from becoming Kerala; It’s time the UP CM did a reality check

Yogi cautions voters not to let UP become Kerala, Kashmir and Bengal; Kerala CM responds

Polling began this morning, kicking off the first phase of voting in Uttar Pradesh, and as many as 623 candidates will wait impatiently to what the poling percentage figure would be. As many as 58 Assembly seats, covering the ‘Jat-dominant belt’ of the western part of Uttar Pradesh, are at the polls currently, and this phase is very significant for BJP and the SP-led combine.

A day ahead of the first phase, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who is looking for a re-election of the BJP in the state, called upon the people not to make the mistake of pushing UP towards becoming Kerala, Kashmir and Bengal.

Yogi’s Twitter handle put out a video cautioning the voters to desist from making UP these three states, adding that the “rioters who have been restrained are getting impatient” and the “terrorists are repeatedly issuing threats.”

If you miss the labour of 5 years will be spoiled: Yogi

The video has Yogi Adityanath saying thus: “I have to tell you something that is there in my heart. A lot of wonderful things have happened in these five years. Beware! If you miss, the labour of these five years will be spoiled. It would not take much time for Uttar Pradesh to become Kashmir, Kerala and Bengal.”

He went on to add: “Your vote is a blessing on my efforts of five years. Your vote will also be a guarantee of your fear-free life,” he added, pointing out that the “double-engine” government has done “everything with dedication and commitment.”

One would wonder why the UP Chief Minister would deride Kerala, Kashmir, and West Bengal with such hatred. A second look at Adityanath’s words and behaviour would bring to the fore that he has always been so and sees states like Kerala with contempt.  

The state of Uttar Pradesh has lagged in health, and other social indices when compared with the rest of the states in the country. And yet, he takes pride in calling himself a performer. In the digital era, everything is out there in the open and the people of India know very well as to what has been happening in various states, including UP.

Portraying Uttar Pradesh under the BJP as a performing state in various social and healthcare arenas need to be treated as blatant lies from the Chief Minister himself. The national indices would stand testimony to that.

Kerala responds to Yogi comments

Kerala, in the meanwhile, has performed well in such indices, and the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has lashed out at Yogi Adityanath for taking the state’s name in vain. Vijayan tweeted an apt response to Yogi’s utterances. And it went thus:

It isn’t just the Chief Minister, the Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, V D Satheesan, has also responded to Yogi Adityanath’s hate-laden video. He tweeted thus:

As the polling progresses in western Uttar Pradesh, it would best for Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to go back on a revisit to the performance of his state in the social, education and healthcare scenarios. And, if he does that in right earnest, he would be convinced what Uttar Pradesh lacks compared with the other states, especially Kerala.