Prime Minister Modi on Saturday said that this election is the BJP’s fight against SCAM and meaning of SCAM is – Samajwadi Party, Congress, Akhilesh, Mayawati.
“The first war of Independence began here in Meerut in 1857. Then the fight was against the British and now the war is to eradicate poverty,” Modi said, addressing a gathering of BJP supporters here.
Taking aim at all rival parties, Modi said “This election is BJP’s fight against ‘scam’; ‘S’ for Samajwadi, ‘C’ for Congress, ‘A’ for Akhilesh and ‘M’ for Mayawati.”
He added that despite Uttar Pradesh having so much potential for development, youth from the state were still being forced to look for employment opportunities in other states of India.
He said his government wanted to do so much for Uttar Pradesh but could not because the state government has been obstructing the developmental initiatives.
“Every initiative (of the central government for Uttar Pradesh) gets stuck in Lucknow,” he said.
Modi also promised that the BJP, if voted to power, would clear all dues of sugarcane farmers within 14 days.
Targeting the SP-Congress alliance, Modi said that till a few months back the Congress was taking out rallies across Uttar Pradesh and accusing the ruling Samajwadi Party of corruption and neglecting farmers, but the two have now embraced each other.
“What changed overnight that the two arch rivals embraced each other? This is to save themselves. Those cannot save themselves, how would they save Uttar Pradesh?” Modi said.
Uttar Pradesh goes to the polls in seven phases from February 11 to March 8. The counting of votes will be held on March 11.
The BJP hopes to repeat its 2014 Lok Sabha performance, riding on the Modi wave which got them 72 of the state’s 80 seats.
Its contest in the assembly elections beginning on February 11 is against the Samajwadi Party led by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav in alliance with the Congress spearheaded by Rahul Gandhi.
The young duo has been campaigning aggressively in the state and was recently seen together at a ‘rath yatra’ in Lucknow.
The BJP has not yet declared its chief ministerial candidate. It is relying on its star campaigner PM Modi and the anti-incumbency.
It also hopes to gain from the infighting in Samajwadi’s first family which saw Akhilesh Yadav take party control from his father and SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav in a bitter takeover.
