Targeting the previous Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday alleged that it did not want to construct houses for the poor and created hindrances in the implementation of the central housing scheme.

He said before 2017, Rs 18,000 crore was approved for Uttar Pradesh for constructing houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana but not even 18 houses were built by the previous government.

On the other hand, the Yogi Adityanath government has completed nine lakh houses under the scheme and 14 lakh are under construction, Modi said.

The remarks came after the prime minister digitally handed over keys of PMAY-U houses to 75,000 beneficiaries.

Modi said his government has made three crore poor families "lakhpati".

He also inaugurated 'Azadi@75 -New Urban India: Transforming Urban Landscape' conference-cum-expo here.

After arriving at Indira Gandhi Pratisthan, Modi, along with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Union Urban Development Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and Governor Anandiben Patel, walked through the three exhibitions being set up in the expo.

He also inquired about the Ayodhya development master plan.