UP Minister Upendra Tiwari heaps praise on PM Modi; dubs him 'incarnation of God'

Ahead of the Assembly election due early next year, Uttar Pradesh Minister Upendra Tiwari heaped praise on PM Modi describing him as an "incarnation of God". This comes days after BJP organized various events to celebrate the PM completing 20 years in public office. Tiwari who holds Independent Charge of Sports & Youth Affairs and serves as MoS Panchayati Raj in the Yogi Adityanath-led government highlighted that corruption by middlemen had been eliminated owing to the Direct Benefit Transfer programme. 

UP Minister Upendra Tiwari remarked, "If Rs.100 is released from Delhi and Lucknow, Rs.100 will be transferred into the accounts of farmers and labourers via DBT. No person can steal this money. And whoever steals will be behind the bars."

"Narendra Modi is the creator of a new dawn. Such a great man comes on the earth only once. Narendra Modi is no ordinary person. He is the incarnation of God. He is not a Prime Minister but has come to work among us as a Pradhan Sevak," he added. 

Tiwari stokes row

On October 22, Tiwari doubled down on his controversial comment downplaying the impact of the fuel price rise on the people. He claimed at an event in Jalaun that 95% of the people don't require petrol as a handful of persons drive cars. Coming down heavily on the BJP leader, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said, "Now even the Minister will not require petrol as the people make you walk (after the Assembly polls). The reality is that 95% of the people don't need BJP". 

Defending his remarks, Tiwari remarked, "In comparison to other states, the price of petrol and diesel in Uttar Pradesh is less. Compare the inflation and the per capita income. I say with responsibility that the inflation hasn't increased as compared to the rise in per capita income after Yogi Ji and Modi Ji formed their governments."

PM completes 20 years as head of government

Promoted as the BJP general secretary (organization) in 1998, Narendra Modi served in this position until he took over as the CM of Gujarat from Keshubhai Patel on October 7, 2001. While the PM was elected to the Assembly by winning the Rajkot-II by-election on February 24, 2002, he came under fire for his government's handling of the Gujarat riots subsequently. After facing a lot of criticism, he decided to go for a fresh mandate. In December 2002, the saffron party won 127 seats in the 182-member Assembly under his leadership.

Thereafter, he consolidated his position in BJP by leading the party to victory in the 2007 and 2012 Assembly elections. He was appointed the head of BJP's 2014 election campaign committee in June 2013 despite opposition and named as the party's Prime Ministerial candidate thereafter. He was sworn in as the PM on May 26, 2014, after his party got a majority on its own in the General Election. In 2019, he became the first non-Congress PM to get a second term as BJP improved its performance by bagging 303 Lok Sabha seats.