Festivals no longer moments of gloom: Aditynath on his riot-free regime in UP

Accusing previous state governments of siding with people running illegal abattoirs, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday said he would neither allow cow slaughtering in the state, nor let the animal ruin crops.

"As soon as our government was formed in the state, we closed down all the illegal abattoirs in Aligarh. The previous governments were with them (illegal abattoirs' owners) and people were having no fear of the law," said Adityanath here, launching over 350 projects worth Rs 1135 crore in the district.

"We have implemented a policy for the stray cattle. We will neither allow the cows to get slaughtered, nor let the animal damage farmers' crops," he said.

Taking pride in his riot-free governance of the state till now, Aditynath said the previous governments unfailingly had communal riots in the state, turning even the festive occasions into "moments of gloom".

"But, in the two and half years of our rule, there has been not a single riot in the state," he said.

Blaming the opposition for the closure of locks and hardware industries in Aligarh, Aditynath sought to assure the city of restoring its lost glory.

"Due to the lackadaisical approach of the earlier governments, the locks and hardware industries of Aligarh had to be shut down. But, in our government, Aligarh will shine once again," he said.

"We have linked Aligrah's locks and hardware industries with the government's one-district, one-product programme," said Adityanath, adding the people of the district "will soon get a new identity" along with jobs.

He lamented that earlier governments did nothing to restore Aligarh's recognition.

As a factor that would automatically enhance the district's importance, the chief minister also pointed out that Aligarh would be one of the six districts of the state through which the 'Defence Corridor' will pass.

The Defence Corridor is the Centre's flagship, mega infrastructure development projects worth over Rs 40,000 crore underway in the arid Bundelkhand region and spanning the six districts of Aligarh, Agra, Jhansi, Kanpur, Lucknow and Chitrakoot.

The project is expected to attract investment worth Rs 20,000 crore besides creating 250,000 jobs.

Adityanath also promised to set up after the next budget a new state university in Aligarh in the name of Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh, a freedom fighter and former Lok Sabha member.

Born in a princely Hindu Jat family in UP's Hathras, Pratap was a Marxist revolutionary leader and social reformist, besides being the president of the first Provisional Government of India set up by him in 1915 in Afghanistan as a government-in-exile.

The police, meanwhile, foiled the opposition's bid to hold protests at the chief minister's meeting venue at the Lal Bahadur Shastri College ground.

Police prevented a group of protesting Samajwadi Party workers proceeding towards the meeting venue and detained some of the protestors after they had a scuffle with police.

The police also prevented a group of Congress workers from reaching the meeting venue to present a memorandum to the chief minister.