For One Hour, This is What UP CM Yogi Adityanath Discussed With PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath met in Delhi on Friday amid speculations of tensions and a possible Cabinet reshuffle in the state which is headed for polls next year. The over an hour-long meeting between PM Modi and Adityanath in Delhi on Friday focused on Covid-19 management and development projects in the state. Sources said that the prime minister praised the efforts of the state government in tackling the pandemic.

In an official statement, the UP government said the chief minister briefed PM Modi on how Uttar Pradesh followed a trace, test and treatment model to get good results during the second wave of coronavirus and successfully controlled the pandemic. Adityanath also thanked the PM for his decision to provide free vaccines to the states for the 18-44 age group as many states were facing difficulty in bearing the financial burden of the same. The chief minister further expressed gratitude for Centre’s decision to extend the PM Garib Kalyan Yojana till Diwali and said 15 crore people in UP will benefit from it.

Adityanath met PM Modi besides BJP president JP Nadda, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and President Ram Nath Kovind during his two-day long visit to Delhi that has raised a lot of speculation.

According to sources, issues of public interest and others, including politics, were also discussed between the PM and the UP CM in the meeting that lasted for nearly 75 minutes. The development works done in Uttar Pradesh were discussed and the CM also briefed PM Modi on projects in the state which are nearing completion, like the Purvanchal Expressway and the ongoing metro rail project in Kanpur. The prime minister may visit UP soon to inaugurate the Purvanchal Expressway and lay the foundation stone of the Jewar International Airport in Noida.

The chief minister further briefed PM Modi that the state’s focus is on prioritising both lives and livelihoods and has put a limited curfew compared to other states in which industries ran amidst guidelines and wheat procurement also continued. The CM also said that keeping farmer interests in mind, kisan mandis and sugar mills were allowed to operate and thanked the PM for raising the MSP of crops and 140% rise in the fertilizer subsidy.

Adityanath said the state stood with the poor and needy during the pandemic and 23 lakh labourers were given Rs 1,000 per month while 14 lakh daily-wagers and roadside vendors will be given the same amount soon. The Uttar Pradesh government has also issued directions to speed up work under MNREGA, under which 17 lakh workers were employed.

The CM thanked the Centre for the help extended to fight the pandemic, like running Oxygen Express trains to provide Oxygen supplies to UP, Indian Air Force ferrying empty Oxygen Tankers and the PM CARES Fund being used to grant Oxygen generation plants in UP.

On the Covid-19 management front, the state worked on the trace, test and treatment mode and did door-to-door screening of 18 crore people out of 24 crore population, he said. Maximum tests in UP had been done in rural areas of UP, the CM told Modi, saying 70% of tests in UP since March 31 were done in rural areas.

Meanwhile, UP Cabinet Minister Sidharth Nath Singh objected to “wrong reports and rumours” being reported in media regarding CM Yogi’s Delhi visit, referring to two reports — one about UP’s bifurcation and another about Yogi telling the RSS Sangh that it is better he resigns. “These are baseless and wrong reports,” Singh said.

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