Lucknow: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said the BJP would implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in Uttar Pradesh, expressing confidence that the party would return to power in the state after assembly elections next year.
Addressing the party’s state working committee meeting here, Shah targeted the Samajwadi Party and other opposition parties over the Ram temple issue and alleged voter list irregularities.
“This time, when the government comes to power, UCC will be implemented in Uttar Pradesh. UCC has already been implemented in many states,” he said.
Shah kickstarted the daylong meeting at the Dr Ram Manohar Lohia National Law University auditorium. It was chaired by BJP state president and Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Deputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak, BJP state in-charge Vinod Tawde and national general secretary Smriti Irani were among those present.
Shah said the BJP in Uttar Pradesh could not be dislodged as the government has firmly established itself in the state.
“The BJP government in Uttar Pradesh is like Angad’s foot. Nobody can move it. The BJP is going to form the government again. There should be no doubt about it,” he said.
Claiming that the Samajwadi Party would remain out of power in the state, he said, “(SP president) Akhilesh babu, mark my words, your party will not form the government in Uttar Pradesh for the next 30 years. The people will not forgive even your third generation.”
Referring to the events of October 30, 1990, when police opened fire on kar sevaks in Ayodhya, Shah targeted the Samajwadi Party and its leadership over the Ram temple issue.
“I want to ask them, on what grounds do they talk about forming a government? They ordered firing on Ram devotees, while we have built the Ram temple,” he said.
Shah also attacked opposition parties over their allegations of vote theft, and compared their complaints to a team blaming the umpire after losing a match.
“After losing the match, they are blaming the umpire and alleging vote theft. The BJP is ready for a discussion on SIR in Parliament. Let them come today and convene a special session. We are ready to answer every question. Let there be a discussion in Parliament,” he said.
Earlier, the Union minister lit a ceremonial lamp to start proceedings of the meeting, and paid floral tributes to portraits of party ideologues Syama Prasad Mookerjee and Deendayal Upadhyaya.
Further addressing the party cadre, Shah urged them to remain focused on securing a third consecutive term for the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, invoking the example of Arjuna from the Mahabharata. He said workers should have only one target in sight, like Arjuna focusing on the eye of the bird, as the party prepares for the next assembly elections.
Shah also credited the Adityanath government with a substantial decline in incidents of dacoity, robbery, extortion and riots in Uttar Pradesh. He said investment summits, which earlier had to be organised in Delhi because of the law-and-order situation in the state, were now being held in Lucknow.
He claimed that improvements in law and order had helped attract investments, generate employment and check migration from the state. Uttar Pradesh accounted for around seven per cent of India’s electronic components exports, while the state’s defence corridor alone had attracted investments worth Rs 35,000 crore, he noted.
Shah further claimed that the work undertaken by the BJP government in the last 10 years was approximately 200 per cent more than the work carried out during the combined tenures of the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party.
He said the Narendra Modi government had not held back in extending support to Uttar Pradesh, while the Adityanath government had ensured the effective implementation of central schemes on the ground.
Referring to the BJP government’s decisions at the national level, Shah mentioned the abrogation of Article 370 and the abolition of triple talaq, before reiterating that the UCC would be implemented in Uttar Pradesh after the BJP returned to power in the state.
