Modi showers sops on poll-bound Uttar Pradesh; invokes Shiva, Buddha, Ganga

Modi virtually inaugurated nine medical colleges which have been set up in different parts of UP

Prime Minister Narendra Modi invoked Lord Shiva, Buddha and Mother Ganga as he addressed public meetings in Siddharth Nagar and his Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi on Monday and inaugurated nine medical colleges, besides launching the 'Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission'.

Modi accused the previous Samajwadi Party (SP) government of 'blocking' development of the state, and lauded CM Yogi Adityanath, saying that the latter's government had been able to successfully tackle the Covid-19 pandemic and save the lives of thousands of children by checking the spread of Japanese Encephalitis in the eastern UP.

"The previous government took no interest in developing the state.....its aim was to fill the coffers of some families...it was neck deep in corruption....the cycle of corruption was continuously moving," the Prime Minister said in a veiled reference to the then SP regime while addressing a rally at Siddharth Nagar.

He virtually inaugurated nine medical colleges which have been set up in different parts of UP and said that the eastern UP region would become the "medical hub" of the country. "Earlier Japanese Encephalitis used to claim the lives of thousands of people but the UP government has been able to check its spread," he added.

Speaking at the rally at Varanasi, Modi invoked Lord Shiva and Mother Ganga, said that any developmental project which was in Kashi (the old name of Varanasi) was bound to succeed as it would have the blessings of 'Baba Vishwanath' and the 'Mother Ganga'.

The Prime Minister said that health was never the priority of the governments since independence. "There were no hospitals in the rural areas...no facility to treat serious diseases in district hospitals and testing facilities were not available at block levels," he added.

Explaining the 'Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission', Modi said that its objectives were to strengthen detection, testing and research facilities.

He said that the present government was alive to the problems of the poor, Dalits, backwards and medium class people and had taken steps to provide succor to every section of the society.

Modi also listed the developmental projects being undertaken to beautify Varanasi and said that they would go a long way in easing the problem of traffic jams in the city. "Kashi would have been different had the previous regimes been honest in implementing the developmental schemes," he remarked.

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