Monday, 15 APRIL 2024 | my uttarakhand news | DEHRADUN Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath said that the election manifesto of the Bharatiya Janata Party focuses on the welfare of all sections of society while the Congress has failed to ensure their betterment. Citing the various developments achieved during the past 10 years under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he reiterated the resolve of the BJP to make India a developed nation and ensure the prosperity of the people while lambasting the Congress for corruption and policies which were not in national interest. The UP CM said this while addressing public rallies in Srinagar, Roorkee and Dehradun to elicit votes for BJP candidates on Sunday. Addressing the public, Adityanath said, “The BJP manifesto released today focuses on the youth, women, farmers and the poor, among other sections of society. I have represented Gorakhpur five times in the parliament since 1998. Even in those days I used to feel disappointed seeing how the Congress government lacked a national agenda. The agenda of the Congress has always been selfish and divisive. They have always ignored the youths, women, farmers and the poor of this country,” he said. Referring to the change brought about by the NDA government under PM Modi, he said that today the value of the Indian passport has increased across the world and that Indian citizens are treated with more respect. “Recently, I went to Jammu and Kashmir and was happy to see the enthusiasm among the people after the abrogation of Article 370. Similarly, people of the north eastern States are also feeling proud while being integrated with the national mainstream,” the UP CM said. Speaking about the infrastructural development that has been facilitated by the Modi government during the past 10 years, he said that unprecedented work has been done to enhance the infrastructure including roads, basic facilities and important institutions. He said, “Following the reconstruction and beautification of Kedarnath, it has returned to the grandeur it had before the 2013 disaster. My childhood was spent in Uttarakhand. I remember at that time we used to climb two to three kilometres down the mountain to fetch water. Today, most of the homes in the State have tap water. The people had to forage for firewood because the Congress government was inept at providing even kerosene. Now, the firewood has been replaced by cooking gas provided by the government. The Congress managed to build one All India Institute of Medical Sciences in its 60 years in power. During the tenure of Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the PM, six AIIMS were built while 15 more AIIMS were opened during the past 10 years under PM Modi. Similarly, our government at the Centre has provided free ration to 80 crore people, free medical treatment costing upto Rs five lakh in a year to 60 crore people under Ayushman Bharat scheme, opened Jan Dhan accounts for 50 crore people and paid 12 crore farmers under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi. We provided homes to four crore people and in this manifesto we have promised to provide three crore more homes for the poor. In Uttar Pradesh, all the 80 Lok Sabha seats will be won in favour of PM Modi. I request the people of Uttarakhand to also vote for the BJP candidates in all the five parliamentary constituencies here,” Adityanath said.