'Congress, SP & BSP leaders should stay in home isolation': Yogi takes dig at Opposition

Ahead of the UP polls due early next year, CM Yogi Adityanath hit out at Congress, Samajwadi Party and BSP for leaving people in the lurch during the COVID-19 crisis. Addressing a gathering in Mathura on Wednesday, the UP CM alleged that the main opposition leaders stayed confined in their homes when the pandemic was at its peak instead of extending help to the beleaguered citizens. Taunting them further, Adityanath advised the leaders belonging to these aforesaid parties to continue their home isolation phase as they had no chance of winning the election. 

UP CM Yogi Adityanath remarked, "In the COVID-19 period, you must have seen that Congress, BSP and Samajwadi Party were nowhere to be seen. All of them were in home quarantine, self-isolation. I would say that their activities increase when the election is due. They try to hatch conspiracies. But they must be told that they were in home isolation when the life of people was in danger. For you, power is still out of reach. That's why, stay in home isolation for a few more years. There is no need to come among the people now. It is necessary to give this message to these people." 

BJP seeks re-election in UP polls

In the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, BJP had won a whopping 312 seats in the 403-member House, whereas BSP and the SP-Congress alliance could win only 19 and 54 seats respectively. Leaving no stone unturned for the 2022 UP polls, BJP appointed Dharmendra Pradhan as its election in-charge and Anurag Thakur, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Shobha Karandlaje, Annapurna Devi, Saroj Pandey and Vivek Thakur as the co-in-charges. On September 24, BJP formally announced an alliance with the Nishad Party and Apna Dal (S).

Predicting BJP's victory in an exclusive interview with Republic TV Executive Editor Aishwarya Kapoor on November 27, UP CM Yogi Adityanath asserted, "In 2017, there was a coalition of two boys and in 2019 there was a Mahagathbandhan and we have seen the results. It is common that those who are of one thought - dynastic, corrupt, mafia, will come together. People know this and have decided what answer to give them. What happened in 2014, 2017, 2019 will repeat in 2022, voting for the facilities provided by Centre and Uttar Pradesh government."

Meanwhile, BJP has decided to take out 6 yatras covering all the 403 Assembly seats of the state to make people aware of the development work done by its governments at the Centre and in the state. As per sources, many national and state-level leaders of the saffron party are likely to participate in these yatras which will start from Awadh, Kashi, Gorakhpur, Braj, Western UP and Bundelkhand. This decision was taken in an organizational meeting held at Lucknow on November 30 which witnessed the participation of Adityanath, Dharmendra Pradhan and other leaders.