UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath at the opening session of Uttar Pradesh Investor Summit 2018 in Mumbai on Friday. Express Photo by Pradip DasThe Yogi government came to power in the state with a grand menu on March 19, 2017. One year since, the flavour has been a Hindutva agenda sprinkled with talk of development and served with claims of having saved the state from a “prevailing communal divide”. Out went the long-standing tradition of the chief minister hosting Iftar parties and in came “Kanya pujan” during Navratri, with 24-hour power supply to all temples. The government’s Diwali celebration, Deepotsav, was celebrated in a grand manner in Ayodhya, police were allowed to celebrate Janmashtami at their stations and the CM said in the Assembly – he is a Hindu and does not celebrate Eid. The Opposition then had claimed that a chief minister should be beyond religion.
At the administrative level, Adityanath brought in long hours and strict deadlines. Secretariat officers said he was a regular there and would personally review and set deadlines for officers and projects – something they said few past CMs did. However, with a large part of the first-year budget set aside to implement the loan waiver scheme – almost Rs 36,000 crore – the state suffered in terms of undertaking any large infrastructure projects.
Significant of these was the cancellation of the tender process for the 354-km Poorvanchal expressway (connecting Lucknow and Ghazipur) because land was unavailable. The government says it will restart the project soon.
The government’s crackdown on illegal slaughterhouses was so enthusiastic that just 10 days into its rule, more than half of licensed businesses were “temporarily closed” for not following norms.
The police’s anti-romeo squads were also implemented with gusto and while some welcomed the move, there were situations in which the squads operated in the grey and in other there were clear violation of individual rights.
Staying with the police, the number of alleged encounter killings rose significantly this year, a fact that the chief minister attributes to the government’s zero-tolerance policy to crime. In over 1,300 alleged encounters, 43 wanted people were killed in the last 12 months. While no encounter has been declared “fake”, the National Human Rights Commission, after a gym trainer was shot in Noida, said the police were “misusing their power”. The claim of “no riots” since the last year seems to be ignoring two significant episodes – the Kasganj communal clash and the Saharanpur caste clash. The government maintains these were “isolated incidents” and should not be considered as “riots”.
On corruption, the failure to take action against former Gorakhpur District Magistrate (DM) Rajiv Rautela (who was recently transferred to be Commissioner of Devipatan division) and Kanpur Dehat DM RK Singh despite court orders in a case of alleged illegal mining during their respective tenure as Rampur District Magistrate, drew flak from the Opposition. They claimed said that action against graft were concentrated on just junior officers.
The biggest blow to the government was the death of children at the Gorakhpur BRD Medical College. The government denied the deaths were due to a shortage of oxygen, as was widely claimed, but other medical reasons. The incident generated a lot of discontent in the state’s health affairs.
The government’s push for the colour saffron soon turned into an obsession with some departments. The outer walls of Uttar Pradesh Haj Committee office was painted saffron and later re-painted; many police stations across got a fresh paint and even the cranes with the traffic department were saffron.
“One year of this government was a complete failure and full of controversies. They might make big claims but youth were not given jobs as promised, action was taken on just junior officers, potato, as well as sugarcane farmers, were in distress and the Investors Summit was an eyewash.” said Congress Legislature Party leader, Ajai Kumar “Lallu”.
However, Mrityunjay Kumar, media adviser to the chief minister, said, “New trends and steps have been taken in past one year – the loan waiver, which is the biggest in the country, wheat procurement and the encounters. Irrespective of the allegations, the Investors Summit is an example that things have changed especially on the law and order front.”
The Investors Summit brought in MoUs worth Rs 4.28 lakh crore, according to the government. The biggest highlight of the Summit was the Bundelkhand Defence Corridor with the capacity to attract investment worth Rs 20,000 crore and provide jobs to 2.5 lakh people. Also, giving an impetus to local handicraft, the state government also allocated significant sums to the “one district, one product” scheme in which signature craft from each district would receive incentives.
Government sources say that while the regime had big plans to mark its anniversary, the recent setback to the BJP in Lok Sabha by-elections in the state has forced them to curtail it.