Lucknow, February 16 Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday warned the Samajwadi Party (SP) in the Legislative Council to refrain from what he called "divisive and irresponsible conduct," saying it could "go the way of the Congress" and lose its presence in the House if it continued on that path.
Addressing members in the Upper House, the chief minister said the Congress had already been removed from the Legislative Council and advised the SP to "learn a lesson" from it.
"If the SP also wishes to be without representation in the Assembly and the Council, it may continue with baseless rhetoric and disrespect towards great personalities. Otherwise, it should refrain from conduct that creates social discord," he said.
Urging the Opposition to play a constructive role, Adityanath said Uttar Pradesh was moving forward with a new identity and asked members not to put it at risk.
"If you discharge your responsibilities as a responsible Opposition and move ahead with the state's development journey, the people of Uttar Pradesh will honour you," he said.
The chief minister said the state was progressing with a renewed identity as the foundation of "Ram Rajya."
He claimed that Uttar Pradesh had achieved success across sectors due to coordinated teamwork between the state and the Centre.
"Today, there is the rule of law in the state, criminals are afraid, the poor are respected, farmers are prosperous, women are safe, and youth are getting opportunities. Every village has electricity and every heart has pride," he said.
Adityanath said the government aimed to establish Uttar Pradesh as a $1 trillion economy by 2029-30, in line with the prime minister's vision, adding that the state budget had been presented with that objective.
He alleged that the SP was unable to speak positively about the Budget as it had neither delivered good governance in the past nor had the intent to do so.
The chief minister also criticised the Opposition's stance towards constitutional institutions, accusing SP leaders of making statements that incite caste tensions and promote disorder.
Referring to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls being undertaken by the Election Commission of India, he said the process was conducted as per the commission's guidelines and that governments had no role in it.
He told the House that over 2.88 crore names were found to be absent, deceased or shifted during the ongoing exercise, alleging that earlier such discrepancies were exploited for bogus voting.
He also explained the utility of Forms 6, 7, and 8 prescribed by the poll panel for inclusion, deletion and correction in electoral rolls.
Adityanath alleged that SP office-bearers and workers were misbehaving with and assaulting booth level officers and others associated with the SIR process.
"This does not behove a political party. It amounts to disrespect and ridicule of constitutional institutions," he said, adding that those who take oath under the Constitution must respect such bodies.
Adityanath said he found it ironic that the Samajwadi Party talks about development and comments on the Budget despite, he claimed, having failed to advance any concrete development agenda during its four stints in power.
"They speak of development and try to hold up a mirror to us in its name. But what was their model of development? It was centred on family interests, appeasement and patronising rioters. That is what prevailed in the state," he said.
To bolster his point, the chief minister referred to the Jayaprakash Narayan International Centre in Lucknow, initiated during the SP regime. He said the detailed project report for the centre was approved at Rs 200 crore but expenditure rose to around Rs 800 crore, and yet the project remains incomplete.
He said his government took pride in honouring the last wish of Jayaprakash Narayan by constructing a hospital at his birthplace in Uttar Pradesh and improving road connectivity to the area.
Adityanath also mentioned the Gomti Riverfront project in Lucknow, alleging that against an estimated cost of Rs 300 crore, nearly Rs 1,400 crore was spent and the project is still incomplete.
Referring to the Purvanchal Expressway, he said that while the alignment had been decided, land acquisition had not been completed, yet tenders were awarded.
"This is illegal, because unless at least 80 per cent of the land is acquired for a project, the tendering process cannot move forward. But here tenders were issued in violation of norms," he alleged.
He said later when his party came to power that project's initial tenders were dismissed and taken up afresh after which the expressway was completed following due process and keeping it future-ready to align with the Bullet Train project of the Centre.
