HARDOI (TIP): Calling himself the “adopted son” of UP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said the future of the state cannot be ensured without ridding it of the SP, BSP and Congress.

Invoking Lord Krishna at an election meeting here to suggest a strong connect between Gujarat and UP, Modi, who represents Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency, said the state was his ‘mai-baap’ (parents) and he would not desert it.

“Lord Krishna was born in UP and made Gujarat his ‘karam bhoomi’ (land of work). I was born in Gujarat and UP has adopted me…Uttar Pradesh is my ‘mai-baap’. I am not the son who would betray his ‘mai-baap’. You have adopted me and it is my duty to work for you,” he said in an emotional speech at a poll rally here.

“Vote for a full majority to the BJP government. I promise to show you the ways of all problems you are facing within five years,” he said, telling the crowd that all pollsters have predicted BJP getting massive support in the first two phases of polling.

Highlighting the problems faced by the state and its national importance, Modi said poverty would be removed from the country only when it is eradicated from UP. “This is the land of Ganga and Yamuna where the land is most fertile with crores of labourers but poverty still exists here…why is this so? There is nothing wrong with the people here or their capabilities or shortage of resources,” he said. “It is the problem of the government’s lack of intention (which is responsible for it). SP, BSP and Congress have not thought as to how the state should be developed…all those who had been at the helm have only worked to safeguard their vote bank, help them in whichever way possible…the future of UP cannot be changed till it is freed of SP, BSP and Congress,” he said.

SP-Cong alliance to continue for LS poll

Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Thursday said the SP-Congress alliance will continue for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and that other secular parties would also be part of this coalition

When asked whether BSP will be part of this grand alliance, Azad said they were asking all secular parties to come together and fight the saffron party

“The secular parties suffered a loss during the 2014 elections and BJP gained from this and that is why they were able to win 73 seats in UP. However, if Congress, SP and RLD fight the 2019 Lok Sabha elections together, BJP will only be able to get 10-15 seats in the state,” Azad said

‘Inexperience’ barb: Akhilesh hits back

CM Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday made light of the PM’s ‘inexperience’ barb at him, saying he has learnt to cycle fast so that neither BSP’s elephant nor BJP’s lotus can come anywhere near the SP

A day after the PM questioned as to how the SP chief could form a coalition with

‘those who tried to murder’ his father, Akhilesh said Modi’s advisers could have done better by telling him to cite a more recent example of Firozabad

“Modiji said in Kannauj that by entering into an alliance with Congress, I have shown inexperience…we have done this so as to remove all doubts about government formation,” he said