Lucknow, March 13 (IANS) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday claimed that his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will win all the 80 parliamentary seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Speaking at the popular ‘Aap Ki Adalat’ television programme hosted by India TV journalist Rajat Sharma here, he also claimed that Congress President Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi will migrate to some other safer seats out of fear of losing their traditional constituencies of Amethi and Rae Bareli.

“The people of Uttar Pradesh have experienced the bitter regime of the Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party and they will banish them forever from the state,” said the saffron-robed leader.

He also said that the ‘electoral understanding’ struck by arch rivals BSP-SP was of no consequence in the parliamentary by-elections of Gorakhpur and Phulpur, the results of which will be out on Wednesday.

“UP has suffered their divisive agenda, dynastic politics and brazen promotion of self and families and after the rout of the red flag in Tripura, the BJP will ensure that the red cap (SP’s brand) also drowns in the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his development- oriented and progressive politics,” he said.

He even said it would have been better if the BSP-SP and Congress would have contested the bypolls together, claiming “Bua (Mayawati) and the two Babuas (Rahul and Akhilesh Yadav) would have made things easier for us”.

He also trashed allegations of his predecessor (Akhilesh Yadav) that no development has taken place under him and he was only inaugurating the projects of the previous SP government.

Asked to comment on Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad’s statement that if Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav came together, BJP will be wiped out in UP, a smiling Adityanath said that if the former Bihar Chief Minister was the mentor of the two leaders, the lesser said the better.

Presenting the report card for his one year rule, the Chief Minister asserted that infrastructure has been spruced up, unbridled power supply ensured, loan waiver for farmers rolled out and law and order brought on track.

Questioned on the spree of gunfights – 1,200 in 11 months leaving more than 45 criminals dead, Adityanath said the message was loud and clear that maintaining law and order and ensuring safety and security of the people was his top priority. If criminals fire at police, they will be responded to in the same measure, he said in a bid to justify the gunfights, which many allege are extra-judicial killings.

“When you ask for what changes have happened in the state, you should see how gun-totting criminals have given up on crime and have become vegetable vendors,” he told show host Sharma amid applause.

To a question on whether by saying that he will not celebrate Eid, was he not confining himself as a leader of Hindus, Adityanath answered in the negative and said Hindusim was his faith and religion and he was extremely proud of it.

“I am proud to be born a Hindu, have lead a life of a seer and having been given ‘diksha’ in the oldest sect,” he said while adding that he was not one of those leaders who would quietly recite Hanuman Chalisa inside their homes and don skull caps when they step out.

Saying he would not resort to such practices, he however maintained that people of other religions wanting to celebrate their festivals peacefully will be given full security by the state government.

On the saffronization of the state ever since the BJP came to power, he said there was nothing wrong in it as “saffron was the colour of prosperity”.

Adityanath also ruled out any mediation in the Ram Janmabhoomi imbroglio, recalling many attempts have been made – most recently by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar but they did not fructify. “We should pin our hopes on the apex court and await its verdict on the matter,” he said.

He also sought to stress that minorities in the state need not fear him. “There has been no communal tension in the state in the past one year and there will be none ever,” he said.

–IANS
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