An untiring endeavour

When Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath took over reins of the state for the first time in 2017, doubts were casted over his vision and administrative ability, even by saying that managing a Mutt (Goraksha Peeth) is different from managing a huge state like Uttar Pradesh. But the chief minister has not only successfully managed the affairs of the most populous state of the country very well for five years but also romped the BJP home by winning the second consecutive term to write a new chapter in the political history of the state.

One must understand that what Yogi Adityanath has been able to achieve in all these years needed a consistency, commitment, hard work, administrative acumen and honesty which has made him the most popular chief minister of Uttar Pradesh whose popularity transcends beyond borders of his own state. If we start with the law-and-order situation of the state, it was the biggest problem with the previous government. The incumbent chief minister dealt with iron hands to provide people of the state a sigh of relief from prowling outlaws, criminals and goons. How did he achieve all this in a very short span of time and maintained it consistently? Yogi Adityanath is the only chief minister of the state who visited at least thrice almost all the 75 districts of the state after taking over as chief minister of the state. Why did he visit all these districts? The answer is: To assess the ongoing development work; what new development projects are required; and what is the law-and-order situation.

Even at the peak of COVID-19 pandemic, he continued visiting districts and various other places to assess the situation whether medical facilities, test centres and inoculation drives are properly managed or not? Uttar Pradesh was one of the best-managed states during COVID-19, from care to vaccination, under Yogi Adityanath administration. The CM too got infected, but he quarantined himself and the moment his infection was over, he was on the job again.

Almost everyone knows that there is a stigma attached to the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh that if he/she visits Noida and Agra, they lose their jobs; examples of Mayawati, Akhilesh Yadav and other leaders are given frequently in this respect. Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav avoided visiting Noida and Agra despite the fact that Noida is the home city of Mayawati. Yogi Adityanath not only visited Noida on more than one occasions but stayed in the same guest house in Agra which is dubbed as inauspicious for incumbent chief ministers. When such kinds of superstition were deep into the psyche of who's who of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath broke all those shackles to rid people of such fear.

Both Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav had consciously avoided visiting Noida during their stints as chief ministers as they believed that this could result in losing their chief ministerial chairs. The Noida superstition began way back in June 1988, after the then Congress Chief Minister Veer Bahadur Singh was asked to step down after his Noida visit. On many occasions, Yogi Adityanath targeted his predecessors and accused them of ignoring the state, only in furtherance of their own vested interests. Development had stopped during their tenures and investments in the state were negligible. They were plagued by such a superstition instead of serving people and the state.

Besides visiting cities which he was not supposed to as CM for the fear of losing his job, Yogi Adityanath also visited cities which are predominantly of importance for Hindu community, without any fear or hesitation. The CM visited Varanasi, one of the most important and revered seats of Shaivism and the place of the first Jyotirlinga, for 101 times so far in his six year's tenure. Ayodhya, the birthplace of Lord Ram which politicians used to avoid before the Supreme Court verdict was pronounced in favour of Ram Temple, was visited by the CM 40 times. The cities identified with Lord Krishna – Mathura and Vrindavan — were also visited over 25 times. The kind of development taking place in these cities have changed the face of these pilgrimage towns.

His priorities are clear, to work for the development of the state and for the people of the state. The chief minister has additional responsibility of six commissionaire – Saharanpur, Meerut, Moradabad, Aligarh, Varanasi and Azamgarh. He has already visited every district of these commissionaires to oversee the development of the area. The number of his visits to Gorakhpur is not counted as the city is his constituency and home town.

The visit doesn't mean that he simply goes to the district headquarters, meets senior officials posted there and comes back to state capital Lucknow. He rather visits even to Tehsils and other smaller places to look for the development work. This is the reason that not only has the law and order of the state been drastically improved but infrastructure has also improved significantly, attracting investors from across the world. It was 'goonda raj' that existed earlier which had deterred investors from looking towards UP. The way foreign investors are showing an inclination towards investing in Uttar Pradesh, the state is very soon going to achieve the target of a USD 1 trillion economy set by the chief minister.

Bundelkhand is the most backward region of the state where scarcity of water is a big issue not only for irrigation purposes but also for drinking. The chief minister extensively toured across the Bundelkhand region, and now the irrigation issue, drinking water issue, investment with defence corridor, Bundelkhand expressway and talks with Israel for technical assistance for irrigation in the region are being addressed. The CM did not let the matter pass just by sitting in Lucknow, he is visiting the areas with concerned ministers, MLAs and officials to understand, solve and execute the plans.

When he visited Hathras in July 2022 to lay the foundation stones of 34 development schemes worth Rs 156 crore, the accomplishment of visiting every district by the CM was made. During his visits to various districts, the chief minister has launched welfare and development schemes worth several crores. He himself checks the ground reality of the schemes, launched by his government. He had held several meetings with administrative and police officials of almost every district to review development works and law-and-order situation to ensure that no part of the state feels neglected.

So, a monk with a vision to take Uttar Pradesh — once dubbed as BIMARU state — to a new developmental height with his focused approach and tireless efforts has ensured betterment of the people of the state.

Views expressed are personal