BJP has clinched UP, last leg a bonus, says Modi

Lucknow: Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed on Wednesday that the BJP has already won the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh even with two more phases of polling to go in the state, which he said resembled sub-Saharan Africa — a region plagued by poverty and extreme inequality.

The PM said the last two phases of polling would now be a bonus, in a comment which came just two days after he asked voters to give the BJP a decisive mandate, arguing that in case of a hung Assembly the SP and the BSP would resort to bargaining.

“The picture is clear now. People are now talking about how big the BJP’s majority would be. People of Uttar Pradesh have avenged 15 years of misrule,” the PM said at rallies in UP’s Maharajganj and Deoria.

“Buaji (BSP’s Mayawati) bhi gayi, Bhatija (CM Akhilesh Yadav) bhi gaya and Bhatije ka naya yaar (Congress’ Rahul Gandhi) bhi gaya. Their pact to rule UP by turns has ended now,” he said.

The PM referred to a UP government website, which, according to him,  states that “life in UP is short and uncertain. A female expects to live less than 55 and the under-five mortality rate is 141 per 1,000. In these respects, UP resembles sub-Saharan Africa”.

“I know the axe will fall on some officials for writing the truth on the website,” he said, adding that CM Yadav says that “kaam bolta hai” but his website proves that “kaarnama bolta hai”.

Mr Modi also mocked economists who have been critical of demonetisations. “Hard work,” he said, “is more powerful than Harvard”, in a sweeping jibe at Dr Manmohan Singh, P. Chidambaram and Amartya Sen, among others. His comments came a day after the latest GDP data shows demonetisation did not affect India’s growth rate much.

Mr Sen had called demonetisation a “despotic action that has struck at the root of economy based on trust”, and Dr Singh had called the implementation of demonetisations “monumental mismanagement”.

The PM also mocked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his “coconut juice” and “potato factory” remarks.

“There is a Congress leader, and I want to pray for his long life... he recently went to Manipur to address an election rally. There he told farmers that he would extract juice from coconuts and send it to London. In fact, a coconut possesses water (and not juice) and it is grown in Kerala,” he said.

“It is like setting up a potato factory,” Mr Modi, said referring to Mr Gandhi’s earlier remark that he wants to set up potato factories in UP.

However, the Congress was quick to point out that Rahul Gandhi was referrign to pineapple juice and not coconut juice. “Modiji has a habit of lying, Rahul Gandhi had talked about pineapple juice,” the Congress’ Randeep Surjewala said. The last two phases of elections in UP will take place on March 4 and March 8.

The PM said that the state will celebrate “Vijay Holi” by forming a majority government two days after results are out on March 11.