Uttar Pradesh now a major economic force, says CM Yogi Adityanath

The last fours years have made Uttar Pradesh shed the tag of a 'bimaru' state and emerge a major economic force in the country, chief minister Yogi Adityanath said on Friday as the BJP-led government completed four years in power.

Yogi's address marked the beginning of a large-scale, week-long programme of the state BJP unit, with senior leaders and ministers reaching out to key categories of voters with a keen eye on panchayat elections as well as the 2022 assembly elections.

Apart from the economic credentials, Yogi especially highlighted UP's performance in implementing central welfare schemes that he said were ignored by earlier government. He said these schemes have played an instrumental role in "transforming the lives of ordinary people".


"When we assumed power in 2017, UP ranked 23 in PM Awas Yojana...today, 40 lakh people have been given houses in both rural and urban areas and UP has bagged the top rank in implementing the scheme. In Swacchh Bharat Mission, until 2017, UP ranked 27th overall and mere 43 lakh toilets had been built in the span of two and a half years. We fulfilled the target in the short span of one and a half years, and in October 2018, we declared the state ODF, and provided 2.61 crore people with a toilet each...be it PM Ujjwala Yojana, Saubhagya Yojana, Ujala Yojana, Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana... all these schemes, where earlier UP stood far behind, it has now reached the top spot," he said.

Highlighting a volley of achievements of the state, including in law and order that is regularly criticised by the opposition, Yogi said now a person hailing from UP is viewed with "respect and intrigue" whereas earlier he was viewed with "suspicion and condescension".

From March 20, the machinery will hold programmes focussed on each category of voters - women, farmers, youth, labourers - at the constituency and panchayat level. The drive will end with a booth-level contact programme that will see party workers, including ministers, MLAs and MPs fan out across 1.55 lakh booths identified by the party.