Amit Shah launches door-to-door campaign in UP

Lucknow: Putting into the spotlight the issue of alleged exodus of Hindus from Kairana before 2017, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday visited the affected families who have since returned here as he began his door-to-door election campaign in western Uttar Pradesh.

Asserting that the people of Kairana were no longer living in fear, Shah said a satisfactory law and order situation is the primary condition for development and the Yogi Aditynath government has ensured this in Uttar Pradesh.

Accompanied by party workers and leaders, wearing saffron caps and stoles, Shah walked in the rain-drenched lanes in the winter chill and distributed pamphlets on the achievements of the BJP government, amid slogans of 'Jai Shri Ram' and 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'.

The choice of Kairana for Shah's first political programme in Uttar Pradesh after the assembly poll dates were announced is significant as BJP leaders had alleged that a large number of Hindus were forced to migrate from the area due to threats during the Samajwadi Party rule, making it a big poll issue in 2017.

In the recent election rallies, top BJP leaders have been reminding the voters of the situation during the SP reign while claiming an improved law and order under the Yogi Adityanath government. The issue, however, has had communal overtones and was seen as a polarising factor in the last polls.

"For the development of any state, the primary condition is that its law and order should be proper. This is Kairana from where people used to flee earlier, and today when I went on around, the people told me that 'Modijee kee kripa ho gayee'. "Yogiji has improved the law and order. Those who forced the exodus have had to flee. This is the kind of confidence we are seeing in the people of UP. I think that in the coming days, Uttar Pradesh will become the most developed state of India," Shah told reporters here.