PM tries to counter outsider image

Assembly polls 2017: Modi says he is adopted son of Uttar Pradesh

In a bid to counter the “outsider” tag, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday invoked Lord Krishna.

Also, Modi again attacked Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav for going against his father’s wishes to join hands with the Congress.

“Lord Krishna was born in Uttar Pradesh, but made Gujarat his ‘karmabhoomi’ (place where one works)... I was born in Gujarat, but I have been adopted by UP,” Modi said at rallies in Hardoi and Barabanki districts.

The prime minister also used the Krishna reference to attack Akhilesh.

“I am not a son who abandons his parents... I will always serve you (people of UP),” Modi said.

The Congress and SP leaders have projected Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav as “sons of the soil”. They have been hailed as “UP ke ladke”  (sons of UP).

The prime minister continued his attack on the SP-Congress alliance and said that it was surprising to see the Congress, which till the other day criticised the SP regime, joining hands for power.

He also said that UP lagged behind other states and needed to be developed. “There is an urgent need to rid the state of the SP and the BSP... UP does not have hospitals, doctors... schools have no teachers,” Modi said.

“UP also accounts for the maximum number of attacks on Dalits,” he said.

The prime minister claimed that the BJP had performed very well in the first two phases. “Wherever I went, I could see hatred for the SP, BSP and the Congress among the people,” he added.