PM Modi heaps praise on Yogi, virtually blows poll bugle

In an apparent bid to put at rest the speculations about rift between them, prime minister Narendra Modi on Thursday heaped praise on Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath for the latter's ''hard work'' to make a ''modern UP'' even as he virtually sounded the poll bugle by launching developmental projects worth over Rs 1500 crore in his Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi.

Assembly election is scheduled to take place in UP in March next year.

''Yogiji kadi mehnat kar rahen hain...woh lagatar yehan (Varanasi) aten rehte hain aur yojnaon ki sameeksha karte hain'' (Yogiji is working hard....he keeps coming here and reviews the projects), Modi said while speaking at a function in Varanasi.

''He (Adityanath) has ended corruption and nepotism.....the people of the state are getting the benefits of the government schemes....there is rule of law in UP and the women now feel safe,'' he went on to say as Adityanath, who was also present at the stage, looked on.

Modi also praised Adityanath for effectively tackling the Covid-19 pandemic in the state and said that the situation was now better in the state. ''UP has conducted maximum number of testing and also vaccinated the maximum number of people in the country,'' the prime minister said.

The prime minister's praise of Adityanath came amid alleged Covid 'mismanagement' by the latter's government and resentment within the BJP over latter's style of functioning. There were reports that the BJP central leadership wanted to replace Adityanath.

Adityanath, however, had the last laugh as he succeeded in thwarting attempts to make Modi's trusted former bureaucrat A.K.Sharma the deputy CM of the state. Sharma was instead appointed the vice-president of the BJP state unit.

Modi virtually sounded the poll bugle as he inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of developmental projects worth Rs 1,583 crore in his constituency even as he listed the achievements of the BJP government in the state during its stint.

The developmental projects inaugurated by Modi included a maternal and child health unit at the Banaras Hindu University and an International Cooperation and Convention Centre 'Rudraksh', which was being constructed with assistance from the Japanese government.

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