Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said everything was done at the right time. (To file)
Lucknow:
The state government will bring in a law for population control “at the right time”, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said today.
The government had unveiled a policy in July aimed at stabilizing the population in Uttar Pradesh and reducing maternal and child deaths within a specified timeframe, with Mr Adityanath calling the population increase an “impediment to development”.
“Everything is done at the right time. The media used to ask the BJP when it would announce a date for the construction of the Ram temple, but the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi), despite the COVID-19 pandemic , laid the foundation stone of Ayodhya Temple on August 5 last year, and all must be happy now,” Mr Adityanath told a conclave.
“Similarly, Article 370 was also removed by Prime Minister and Union Home Minister Amit Shah,” he said.
On August 5, 2019, the Center had repealed Article 370, which granted special status to the former state of Jammu and Kashmir, and divided it into union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
At ‘News 24’ conclave, asked about his recent ‘Abba Johnremark, the chief minister said: “They (the opposition) want the vote of the Muslims but are irritated”Abba John‘.”
In Kushinagar, Mr. Adityanath, during an apparent attack on the Samajwadi Party had said people who say “Abba John” used to digest the whole ration earlier.
On the Population Act for Uttar Pradesh, the Chief Minister said, “Everything comes at the right time and needs to be done in the right place.”
“When the population law is introduced, it will be done with fanfare, with the full knowledge of the media, because we don’t believe in anything should be done in silence,” Mr Adityanath said.
In July, a draft Population Control Bill was posted on the Uttar Pradesh Law Commission website, inviting public input until the 19th of the month.
It states that people with more than two children in Uttar Pradesh will be banned from contesting polls by local bodies, applying for government jobs or receiving any type of grant.
The bill also aims to ban promotions in government jobs for such people, while providing incentives for those who limit their children to two.
The law commission reportedly submitted the bill to the government.
On Samajwadi Party Chairman Akhilesh Yadav’s tweet claiming that a record number of riots have taken place in the state, Yogi Adityanath said: “The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) says there is no has been no communal rioting in Uttar Pradesh.”
They (the opposition) do not depend on their intelligence, but on Twitter, he said.
Asked about Mr Yadav’s claims that he is inaugurating the works carried out under the Samajwadi Party government, the Chief Minister said: “The situation that had arisen in 2017 from the rapprochement of the couple (Congress and SP alliance for the elections) , it is in their nature to humiliate the State.”
“The BJP is forming the next government with over 350 seats in the upcoming parliamentary elections,” he said.
Asked if he would be chief minister again, Mr Adityanath replied: “If you say so, I accept it. Thank you for your good wishes.”
Polls for the 403-member assembly of Uttar Pradesh are expected next year. The BJP won 312 seats last time out.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)