Yogi Adityanath Exclusive: 'Caste, Dynasty politics halted UP's development'

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today said that politics based on caste and dynasty halted the development in Uttar Pradesh. The Chief Minister said that the dynasty and nepotism based politics didn't let the state grow despite having the "most cultivable land and best water resources in the world".

"Nepotism, caste-based politics always came in the way of UP's development," Adityanath said in an exclusive conversation with Zee Media's Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary. "We have the best manpower, land and water resources. Still, we were not able to grow. Why?" Adityanath said during Zee Media's prime time show Daily News & Analysis.

"Nepotism and casteism must have helped a few families. It must have helped some mafia elements grow in the state. But the state suffered due to that," Adityanath said. 

The Chief Minister opined that frustration with caste and dynasty based politics were the reasons behind the state's overwhelming mandate to BJP in the year 2014. 

Issuing a sharp rebuttal to SP chief Akhilesh Yadav's "useless (un+upyogi)" jibe, Adityanath said that the development projects in the state were "UP+Yogi" or useful for the 25 crore people of the state. However, the same development projects were useless (un+upyogi) for those who used to instigate riots for politics. "Professional criminals and mining mafias used to dominate Uttar Pradesh, (of course) we are useless for them," Yogi Adityanath said.