LS polls: Before 2014, women were not respected, says CM Adityanath

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi prioritized women's welfare in his government's agenda in the past 10 years and claimed that before 2014, they did not get the respect they deserved.

At the Nari Shakti Samvaad programme in Varanasi, he mentioned various initiatives of the Central government for empowering women and said that women across the country have expressed their gratitude and warmly welcomed these initiatives.

"Before 2014, daughters and sisters in the country were unsafe and did not get the respect they deserved. They were harassed in the name of triple talaq and there was hesitation in giving them proper representation.

"But, in the last 10 years, we have seen a changing India in which work has been done to inspire women to live a respectable and happy life," Adityanath said at the programme that was also attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

This is why PM Modi is getting the blessings of the women of the country in the Lok Sabha polls, the Uttar Pradesh chief minister said as he listed various women-centric initiatives of the Centre such as the 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' campaign, Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, and the passage of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam in Parliament.

He said that PM Modi's focus is on four key groups -- the poor, farmers, youth, and women.

"Under the leadership of PM Modi, India is emerging as a world superpower. The borders of the country have become safe and the problem of terrorism and Naxalism has been eliminated," Adityanath said, adding that large development projects are being implemented effectively across the country without any discrimination.

"Efforts are being made to strengthen the foundation of a developed India and this is why the whole country is united in raising the slogan 'Fir Ek Baar, Modi Sarkar; and 'Abki Baar 400 Paar'," he added.