Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said the state had faced serious law-and-order and governance challenges before the BJP came to power in 2017, with people troubled by mafia elements and the police left in a helpless position.
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He made the remarks on Thursday while attending a ceremony to flag off 87 interceptor vehicles fitted with advanced equipment. The Chief Minister said Uttar Pradesh had lagged in several areas despite being the country’s most populous state, including the economy, recruitment, adoption of emerging technologies and implementation of welfare schemes.
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Yogi Adityanath said that before 2017, people were often dismissed with the label of being from Uttar Pradesh, while residents were forced to submit before mafia groups. He attributed the weak law-and-order situation to a lack of political resolve and said police reforms had since been carried out under his leadership.
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He said the state had moved away from policy paralysis since 2017 and was now progressing. The reforms, he added, include the installation of more than 14 lakh cameras in cities and the establishment of Integrated Command and Control Centres in every district.
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The Chief Minister also said the objective of the โSafe Cityโ traffic initiative had been fulfilled through the deployment of interceptor vehicles equipped with modern technology.
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Separately, Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Rai visited Gorakhpur and met the owner of a beauty parlour in Betiahata whose entire stock was submerged after three days of continuous rain caused waterlogging.
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Rai said the situation across Gorakhpur was distressing and that the affected woman was running the parlour with borrowed money to support herself and her family. He demanded immediate compensation for her and action against officials responsible for the alleged mismanagement.
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Rai also called for Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to apologise to the residents of Gorakhpur.