Sultanpur, Jan. 24: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday kicked off the Samajwadi Party’s election campaign by promising to provide better living conditions if he was re-elected.
In his first public meeting after a bitter feud with his father Mulayam Singh Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav said his party had fulfilled all promises made in the 2012 manifesto.
If people reposed trust in the Samajwadi Party again, it would usher in an era of prosperity in the state, he said.
Listing various work down by his government, the 43-year-old said the biggest achievements were in infrastructure and power sectors and maximum budget had been allocated for farmers’ welfare.“The US is a powerful country. It became so as governments there focussed on building fast lane roads. We propose to do the same here in Uttar Pradesh so that economic progress is expedited,” he told the gathering. “We have completed the Agra-Lucknow Expressway in record time and we will build the Poorvanchal Expressway in 30 months,” he added.
This is also the first public rally by the Chief Minister after his party sealed an alliance with the Congress for the staggered assembly polls starting on February 11.
Mulayam Singh was expected to join the Chief Minister in the campaign but he did not turn up. Akhilesh Yadav also came down heavily on the Narendra Modi government and blamed it for making people stand in long queues with its demonetisation decision that caused an unprecedented cash crunch.
He also slammed the BSP and said its leader Mayawati was busy building parks and erecting statues when she ruled Uttar Pradesh.
