PM Modi lauds Yogi Adityanath for busting Noida myth

New Delhi: Praising Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath for daring to break the “Noida jinx”, according to which any chief minister who visits Noida does not return to power, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said, “It is Yogi Adityanathji who has done what CMs of UP never did — he came to Noida. Faith is important but blind faith is not desirable.”

The Prime Minister, who was in Noida to inaugurate a 12-km stretch of Kalkaji Mandir-Botanical Garden segment of Delhi Metro’s new Magenta Line, also made a strong pitch for use of public transport to save on fuel and costs associated with import of petroleum, saying travelling on a metro train should be a “prestige issue”.

Praising Mr Adityanath, Mr Modi said, “Due to his dress, a few people find it fashionable to believe that CM Yogi Adityanath is not modern enough. But it is Yogi Adityanath who has done what CMs of UP never did — he came to Noida.”

“Faith is important but blind faith is not desirable... If anybody thinks that not going to a place will prolong their CM tenure and visiting a place will curtail it, such a person does not deserve to be a CM,” asserted Mr Modi, at a public gathering after flagging off the newly-commissioned Metro line. Incidentally, Mr Adityanath on Monday was on his third visit to Noida in the last four days.

Mr Modi also recalled that when he became Gujarat chief minister, people had advised him against visiting certain places but he visited all those places to bust the myth.

The Prime Minister boarded the new Metro at Botanical Garden, which is the terminal station of the Magenta Line, and alighted at the Okhla Birds Sanctuary after a four-minute ride, before addressing a public meeting in Noida.

Calling upon people to use public transport like the Metro, Mr Modi said, “The top 10 industrialists would not travel on Metro. You will. For us, riding a Metro and not driving our private vehicles should be a prestige issue.”

Mr Modi also hailed BJP patriarch and former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee as “Bharat Marg Vidhata” and recalled that he was the first person to travel in a Metro when it was launched in the national capital in 2002.

“It was a historic moment. Since then, the Metro network in NCR has expanded considerably,” he said.

He later tweeted: “I recalled the visionary leadership of Atal Ji, who emphasised on building a roads network across India. He is the ‘Bharat Marg Vidhata’, a statesman who has shown the way for India’s transformation in the 21st century.”

The Prime Minister conveyed his wishes on the occasion of Christmas and also noted that the day marks the birthdays of two Bharat Ratnas — Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya and Mr Vajpayee.

Addressing the public meeting, Mr Modi said that good governance is possible only when the mindset of deriving personal benefit while framing policies and completing projects is shunned.

“For us, decisions are about national interest and not political gains...”

The Prime Minister observed that a multi-modal transportation system will ensure that use of fuel is cut down, which will help the common man save money and also be useful for the environment.

Mr Modi also said that by 2022, when India celebrates its 75 years of Independence, he wants to cut down on imported petroleum products.

Without getting into specifics, Mr Modi lamented that development at times is seen through the prism of politics.

“But I have taken upon myself to change all this. It is a tough decision (for many) when they have to think whether the policy would benefit them politically,” he said.

The PM noted that if a policy is in “black and white” and well laid out, it will leave little scope for discretion, thus, bring down corruption.

Referring to the connectivity issue, Mr Modi said that people live in an era in which connectivity is important. “Without connectivity, life comes to a standstill. This Metro... Is not only for the present but also for future generations,” he said.

Mr Modi thanked the people of Uttar Pradesh for adopting him when he became member of the Lok Sabha from Varanasi. He said that the people of the state moulded him to shoulder the responsibility of the country. Mr Modi also said that Uttar Pradesh contributed in giving the country a stable government by voting for BJP in the Lok Sabha polls.

Later, Mr Adityanath announced new Metro projects for Agra and Kanpur and said that the work for setting up an airport at Jewar near Delhi also had been expedited. He also said that in the nine months of his rule, he was taking decisions without any partisan attitude or self-interest and following Mr Modi’s mantra of “Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas.”

Significantly, Mr Adityanath’s chief ministerial visits to Noida came eight years after the last by the then chief minister Mayawati. In the ensuing elections, Ms Mayawati’s BSP lost and her successor Akhilesh Yadav did not vist Noida.

Several chief ministers in the past have not visited Noida, something attributed to the “jinx” about the city.