In a veiled attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his recent remarks in the UK, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday said when India's dominance on global platforms is growing, some people are criticising the country on foreign land.
“Those who are criticising Indian democracy today are the same people who left no stone unturned to strangle democracy itself when they were given a chance,” Adityanath said without taking any name.
Addressing an event in Gorakhpur, he added that while Prime Minister Narendra Modi is making the country famous in the world, some people are "trying to defame" the country.
The chief minister said these people criticise the country when they are abroad, and when they are home, they criticise Uttar Pradesh while they are in Kerala and Kerala when they are in Delhi.
The CM said that such people who wish to weaken the strong democracy of the country and whose family's legacy has been that of the politics of "divide and rule" should be recognised and must not be allowed to succeed in their "evil designs".
Gandhi had on March 6 told British parliamentarians in London that functioning microphones in the Lok Sabha are often silenced against the Opposition. He made the comment during an event organised by veteran Indian-origin Opposition Labour Party MP Virendra Sharma in the Grand Committee Room within the House of Commons complex.
Meanwhile, Union Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani also hit out at the former Congress president over his UK remarks, saying he apprehends defeat in the 2024 general elections.
Irani was speaking to reporters after inaugurating a pontoon bridge in Amethi's Jagdishpur.
"It is natural for him to shed tears due to his defeat in Amethi. Today, the country has become the world's fifth economic power. But instead of respecting it, Gandhi's unrestrained statement shows he has an apprehension that he will be defeated again in 2024," the Union minister said.
Adityanath said that the achievements of the country in the last eight-nine years under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi represented the new India.
He further said that in the times to come, India will be the country to show the way to the world. He also urged party workers to take the messages of the President to the masses.
The chief minister said that getting the presidency of G-20 shows India's potential, pointing out that the country's global dominance is growing.
“Whether it is Afghanistan or the Russia-Ukraine war, the initiative of PM Modi is awaited everywhere. Prime ministers of Italy and Australia visited India recently whereas the Japanese PM is going to visit India soon. All these present a new picture of the country,” he said.
The chief minister said that in the last nine years, the people have got the benefits of government schemes without any discrimination in line with the government's mantra of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas and Sabka Prayas'.
Saying that today everyone is getting an LPG connection easily, Adityanath asserted that the government is giving free LPG connections to eligible families and as many as 1.74 crore people in UP and 3.5 crore in the country have got free cooking gas connections through the Ujjwala Yojana.
He also mentioned late Rajiv Gandhi's remark that only 15 paise of Rs 1 sent by the government reached the needy and the poor due to the involvement of middlemen.
The CM said the middlemen used to take commission even in pensions for widows and the old.
“Today, PM Modi has made such arrangements that the entire amount reaches the beneficiaries' accounts through DBT. There is no burglary anywhere and crackdown on corruption has increased,” he said.
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