Development agenda to continue as 'lotus' will blossom in UP: Irani

Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani on Thursday sounded a note of confidence ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls scheduled in February next year, saying 'lotus will blossom' in the state.

Irani, who is on a day-visit to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's parliamentary constituency Amethi, said that the BJP would go into the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls with the agenda of development.

"Our party president Amit Shah ji has already said that we will go into the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls with the agenda of development. It is certain that the BJP would emerge as victorious. I am sure that the lotus would blossom on the land of Uttar Pradesh," Irani told reporters.

As the NDA regime completes two years in office, the Union Minister said the regime of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government has been full of achievements.

"If you see from the side of subsidies, nearly 60,000 crore rupees have gone into the bank accounts of the people from the treasure of the government. We started the 'Jan Dhan Yojana'. It is also right to say that growth rate has increased significantly in the last two years. I express gratitude to the nation for their support and cooperation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi," she said.

Throughout the day, Irani is scheduled to visit all five constituencies of Amethi district.

Irani, who unsuccessfully contested against Gandhi from Amethi in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, will inaugurate a health fair and distribute aid to the physically challenged here.

In Tikermafi, she will address participants at a function organised in the IIIT complex. In Jagdeeshpur, she will pay a visit to the home of former minister Ram Lakhan Passi to meet his family and offer her condolences.

Fresh from a thumping victory in Assam and a good showing in West Bengal and Kerala, the BJP would be eyeing to win the all-important assembly election in Uttar Pradesh.

Prime Minister Modi is today holding a rally in Saharanpur to formally sound the poll bugle. The choice of venue is significant as the city suffered a communal conflagration in 2014.