Prime minister Narendra Modi, who laid the foundation stone of Major Dhyan Chand Sports University in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut district, on Sunday used 'sports' to target his political rivals ahead of the forthcoming state Assembly polls.
"2017 se pahle pradesh mein apradhi aur mafia apna-apna khel khelte the... avaidh kabjon ke tournaments hote the" (before 2017 the criminals and mafias used to play their games... they held tournaments of illegal occupation of lands and houses), Modi said while addressing a public meeting after laying the foundation of the varsity.
"The result of this kind of play was that the people were forced to abandon their ancestral homes and migrate to other places," the Prime Minister said referring to the alleged migration of scores of Hindu families from the nearby Shamli district after being threatened by the Muslims during the previous Samajwadi Party (SP) regime.
He said that it was impossible for the women to venture out of their homes after evenings during the previous regime as they feared these criminals and mafia elements.
"Yogiji ki sarkar aise logon ke saath ab jail-jail khel rahi hai... jo palayan kar gaye the ab wapas laut rajhen hain" (the government of Yogi Adityanath has sent such people to jail... those who had migrated to other places are now returning home), Modi said adding that the state government was now promoting and encouraging the "real sports".
The Prime Minister also said that the new education policy had accorded due importance to sports and it was no longer an 'extra activity' but a part of the core syllabus.
Modi also visited the stalls put by various sports goods manufacturing companies and did some exercises at one of the stalls there.
The sports university, which was likely to be completed in two years, would have facilities to train 1,080 students and would have all the modern equipment required for this purpose. A total of Rs 700 crore would be spent on setting up the university.
Earlier, the Prime Minister, who arrived in Meerut from Delhi following poor weather conditions, visited the famous Augharnath Temple and paid obeisance.