UP Assembly polls to decide next 20 years of state, says Amit Shah

Shah also said the state had witnessed mafia rule and open extortion during the previous governments

The upcoming assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh are not to decide an MLA, a minister or a chief minister, the elections are to decide the future course of the state for the next 20 years, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Thursday.

Addressing a 'Prabhaavi Matdaata Samwad' (Effective Voter Dialogue) in Greater Noida, the senior BJP leader lashed out at the previous state governments helmed by the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samajwadi Party over a host of issues, including law and order.

Shah said the state had witnessed mafia rule and open extortion during the previous governments but stressed that the situation has changed over the last five years under the Yogi Adityanath government.

"The upcoming polls are not to decide an MLA, or a minister or a chief minister. The elections are to decide the future course for the next 20 years of Uttar Pradesh," he told a gathering that involved Gautam Buddh Nagar voters, including local farmers, traders, professionals and teachers.

"When we look back at the past 20 years, there were governments of Bua-Bhatija. There was mafia rule and to such an extent that nobody was ready make investment in the state. There was an era of open extortion," Shah claimed, referring to BSP chief Mayawati and SP president Akhilesh Yadav.

Talking further about the previous non-BJP governments, he alleged that under their regime, there would be no legal action against mafia elements if they belonged to a particular community but Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath "fixed" the law and order situation in the state.

"Today, Azam Khan is in jail, Ateeq Ahmed is in jail, Mukhtar Ansar is also in jail. There are so many cases registered against them that even a notebook would run out of pages," he said, adding there would have been no action against them in the past.

Shah was in Greater Noida to seek support for the BJP's Dadri candidate Tejpal Nagar with a door-to-door campaign in the constituency that goes to vote on February 10.