One vote can change country's fate: UP CM Adityanath

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday said it can change the fate of the country.

Addressing a conference of intellectuals organised by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Muzaffarnagar district, the chief minister said when this one vote went into "wrong hands", an "atmosphere of anarchy" was created in western Uttar Pradesh, but when the saffron party secured that one vote, it brought "respect to the faith".

Hitting out at the opposition, the BJP leader said, "You will see how much your one vote is worth. How can one vote change the destiny of the country. Whenever one of your votes went into the wrong hands, a curfew was imposed in Muzaffarnagar for months. When your one vote goes to the correct place, Muzaffarnagar is today not known for curfews, but for the Kavad Yatra."

"If your one vote goes into the wrong hands, the security of not only Muzaffarnagar, but entire western Uttar Pradesh will be in danger and if your one vote goes to the right political party, then anarchy will end and faith will get respect," he added.

Referring to Holi being played in the newly-constructed Ram temple in Ayodhya, Adityanath said, "I used to listen to a Holi song for years -- 'Holi Khele Raghuveera Awadh Ma' -- but every year, we felt sad that Lord Ram is invoked to play Holi but the lord is not present in his birthplace in Ayodhya. After 500 years, your one vote has given



respect to your faith."

Asking the gathering whether the Samajwadi Party (SP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Congress would have been able to build the Ram temple, he said, "Today, Lord Ram is seated in Ram Janmabhoomi. Could previous governments have done this work? They gave curfews, they gave anarchy, they played with faith, they breached the security of daughters and businessmen.... Today, we are moving forward in a new environment."

The chief minister said whenever that one vote went to the "wrong place", there was extortion, "but when it went into the right hands, to the right party, the result is that extortion has ended now".

Adityanath asked the intellectuals to tell people that for the BJP, it is "nation first", unlike the opposition for which it is "family first".

"They (opposition) talk about caste, Prime Minister Narendra Modi talks of the poor's welfare. This gives a different identity to Modiji from other leaders," he said.

Adityanah also said former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh should have been honoured with Bharat Ratna much earlier but claimed that it was not on the agenda of the previous governments.

"What is the INDI alliance doing? They were in power from 2004 to 2014. They should have given the honour to Chaudhary sahab, but this was done by Modiji," he said.