Gorakhpur (UP): As Rahul Gandhi arrived in UP on his first visit to the state after becoming the Congress president, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today advised him to shun "negative politics" and instead focus on development.
The Congress leader arrived in the state on a two-day
visit to galvanise party workers for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls
and breathe life in the party which saw its worst-ever
performance in the 2017 Assembly elections getting only
seven seats in the 403-member House.
"The Congress president should give up doing negative
politics," Adityanath told reporters here even as Rahul Gandhi
arrived in Lucknow en route Raebareli and Amethi - the party
bastions.
Asked as to how he viewed his first visit to the state
after donning the mantle of party head, the chief minister
said, "My advise to Rahul is that he should focus more on
politics of development."
Adityanath said that had the Congress laid more emphasis
on development, Amethi would not have languished.
"See the plight of his Lok Sabha constituency - Amethi
- nursed by four generations of Nehru-Gandhi family," the
chief minister told reporters on the sidelines of an event at
Gorakhnath temple, of which he is the head priest, on the
occasion of Makarsankranti.
Adityanath also attacked former chief minister Akhilesh
Yadav, saying he should ask his supporters to behave.
"They (SP workers) killed innocent villagers in Azamgarh
with spurious liquor and were also caught in Hardoi for making
spurious liquor. They tried to disturb the environment in
Lucknow which is not good," he charged.
In Lucknow, two persons, including a Samajwadi Party
worker, were arrested last week for allegedly hurling potatoes
near the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly and some other
places in the VVIP zone to highlight the plight of farmers.
Meanwhile, Adityanath greeted BSP supremo Mayawati on her
birthday today. PTI
