"I am one-year younger to Rahul and one-year older to Akhilesh," says new UP CM

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today said perhaps his date of birthand age -- "one year younger to Rahul Gandhi and one year elder to Akhilesh Yadav" - has played a decisive role in the final outcome of the election results in the state."Perhaps I came in between the team (of Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav) and that led to the defeat of the Opposition parties," he said in the Lok Sabha participating in the discussion on Finance Bill, 2017.

However, Congress veteran Mallikarjun Kharge made use of the occasion to counsel the new Chief Minister that he should "keep the garima (dignity)" of the office of the Chief Minister.
During his brief speech, Yogi invited all Lok Sabha MPs to visit Uttar Pradesh assuring them that the state will see major changes.
Almost in a tongue-in-cheek fashion, he said, "Uttar Pradesh mein bahut bandi honey wali hai (In Uttar Pradesh, many things will be closed now)". 

This statement can be seen is in reference to the closure of slaughter houses as was evident in the speeches of BJP chief Amit Shah and Yogi Adityanath himself in the run up to the keenly fought elections in the northern state.

Yogi Adityanath attends LS proceedings, participates in Finance Bill debate

The new Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Gorakhpur lawmaker Yogi Adityanath today lauded Prime Minister Narendra Gandhi as an "icon" of democracy and said the measures like Ujjwala Scheme has proved to be game changer in the lives of 25-crore poor people.

Participating in the discussion on the Finance Bill, 2017, in the Lok Sabha, Yogi also commended Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for steering country's economy at a difficult time since 2014 when the BJP-led NDA coalition has come to power.

He exuded confidence that the new UP Government would fulfill the expectations of the people as was
reflected in the election results.

"The Finance Minister deserves appreciation as he has given new life to the country's economy," he said.

Yogi Adityanath further said by his uncompromising commitment to the development, Mr Modi has set an example and the world over when elections are held Prime Minister's "developmental model" is being discussed.

By his presence in the Lok Sabha proceedings today, Yogi has joined the illustrious club of Giridhar Gamang and Arjun Munda -- who as Chief Ministers of Odisha and Jharkhand have attended the proceedings.

In 1999, Gamang voted against Vajpayee Government resulting in defeat of the Vajpayee Government by mere  one vote.
Mr Munda once came to the House as Jharkhand Chief Minister to participate in a debate and voting during the time of Manmohan Singh regime.


The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister said previously there was no proper utilisation of the funds which were allocated by the Union Government to the state.
He said the BJP government in the state will give such model of development that will ensure that youth will not leave the state in search of jobs. The Gorakhpur MP expressed confidence that they will be successful in maintaining law and order in the state. He thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for giving AIIMS to Gorakhpur.

Earlier, when the UP Chief Minister entered the House to participate in the discussion, he was welcomed by treasury benches with slogans--''Bharat Mata ki Jai' and 'Jai Shri Ram'.

BJP getting into 'high command culture' as was done by syndicates in Cong: Mahtab

New Delhi, Mar 21 (UNI) The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) today said a kind of "high command culture" propagated mostly during the time of erstwhile "syndicates" in the Congress has set in the ruling BJP and the election of Yogi Adityanath as the new UP Chief Minister reflected that.

"There is a new high command culture. It is anti-thesis to the Atal Behari Vajpayee era. This high command culture is akin to the syndicate days in the Congress when Chief Ministers used to be appointed from Delhi," BJD floor leader in the Lok Sabha Bhartruhari Mahtab told UNI here.

"This is definitely not a healthy trend," he said.

However, to a question Mr Mahtab said he was not sure whether the 'imposition' of Yogi Adityanath as the Chief Minister was the handiwork of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah duo or the RSS.

"At least Yogi was not with the RSS ever. This is what I know," he said adding, "now it is for you to draw inferences". Mr Mahtab pointed out that during Mr Vajpayee's tenure, it was clearly pronounced that the party would always project a Chief Ministerial candidate.

"But since 2014, except for Assam wherein Sarbananda Sonowal was projected as CM candidate, in all states BJP won -- like Maharashtra (Devendra Fadnavis), Jharkhand (Raghubar Das) and Haryana (Manohar Lal) were appointed as Chief Ministers from Delhi," he said.

The BJD leader admitted that the BJP's popularity in terms of electoral victories was on rise both in UP and outside including in Odisha -- as was seen during last month's Panchayat elections.
"They have a good propaganda machine. They did well in Odisha Panchayat polls in hardly eight districts spread over only five parliamentary constituencies out of 21 (Lok Sabha seats) but gave an impression nationwide that they are all set to wrest power in 2019," said Mr Mahtab.

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