Lucknow, Oct 26 Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday claimed that Uttar Pradesh under the BJP has become a “riot-free” state.
Addressing the GCC Innovation Summit-2026 in Lucknow on Monday, Adityanath pitched UP as an ideal investment destination, asserting that the situation now is the opposite of what it was before 2017.
The BJP came to power in UP in 2017, and Adityanath has been the state’s chief minister since, becoming the lone figure to return to power in UP after completing a five-year term.
“Before 2017, ahead of any festival or celebration, riots would be triggered,” he said.
“Take the recently concluded Sharadiya Navratri, for instance. Did you hear of any riots? Riots don’t happen anymore as rioters think 10 times. Now, we have to conduct mock riot drills so that the police do not forget how to act and control riots if required,” the chief minister said in a statement.
Adityanath also attacked the previous Samajwadi Party government, saying, “The government of that time could not even tell the difference between the ‘or’ of English and the ‘aur’ of Hindi, and it is we who have to fight the legal battle.”
Ten years ago, if someone had said a ‘GC Innovation Summit’ would be held in Lucknow, not a single person would have come, he said, to assert the changed circumstances under his government.
“I recall that back in 2015-2016, an ‘Investor Summit’ was planned for Uttar Pradesh, but not a single industry leader agreed to attend it. They said they could not come to Lucknow as they had heard it to be a dangerous city,” he said, adding that the refusals forced the summit venue to be moved to Delhi.
Adityanath said that under previous governments, UP earned the name “BIMARU” state, despite boasting a largely younger population.
Demographer Ashish Bose coined the acronym ‘BIMARU’ (sick in Hindi)in the mid-1980s to refer to Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
“There were no jobs for the youth, no security for traders. Women could not step out of their homes after sunset, and daughters could not attend school,” Adityanath said, recalling the period.
The chief minister insisted Uttar Pradesh has “unlimited potential” and is advancing rapidly in investment, infrastructure, technology, industry, employment and innovation.
“The new Uttar Pradesh has received investment proposals worth over Rs 50 lakh crore, of which projects worth Rs 15 lakh crore have undergone ground-breaking, while proposals worth more than Rs 7.5 lakh crore are ready for the same. The state has 36 sectoral policies, and the government’s objective is to make Uttar Pradesh a leading centre for GCCs, modern technology and high-skilled employment,” he said.
Adityanath said that over the past nine and a half years, 10 lakh people have got government jobs.
The chief minister said there was a connection between Uttar Pradesh and Operation Sindoor, the military venture against Pakistan.
“Three days after a BrahMos missile was launched in Lucknow, the same missile was fired inside Pakistan. During the COVID period, when the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) proposed the BrahMos project, Uttar Pradesh decided to provide land free of cost, placing the country’s security above all else,” he said.
The BJP leader said he asked DRDO to launch campus recruitment, a condition the state central entity accepted, and selections were made through AKTU.
“And on the day I went for the inauguration, I saw 500 young engineers — individuals who had completed ITI, polytechnic, or other engineering programs — now involved in the manufacturing of BrahMos missiles in Lucknow. The glow on their faces spoke volumes about how happy these young people were,” he said.
Adityanath said Noida International Airport was named ‘Narendra Modi International Airport, Noida, Jewar’, as it was based on the prime minister’s vision.
(PTI News)
