With Bharat Mata Ki Jai chant and target of 265 seats, Maurya hits the ground running

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Maurya, who started his speech by chanting “Bharat Mata Ki Jai”, said: “From the very day I was declared the state president of BJP, it is being propagated that criminal cases are pending against me. I tell you all that there is no case against me. In the past, if anybody had ever tried to harass my party worker, I had not remained silent. I will not remain silent in future too.”

In his affidavit submitted to the Election Commission before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Maurya had declared that 10 cases were lodged against him. On Sunday, his media in-charge Manoj Kushwaha had released the status of each of the cases. He had claimed that while Maurya has been acquitted in two cases, eight cases are still pending against him, which were “politically motivated”.

Maurya went on to warn the Akhilesh Yadav-led SP government that no BJP worker should be harassed. “There is no difference in my promises and my working for the honour of my party workers. You all must always remember this about Keshav Maurya,” he claimed.

While urging party workers to repeat the success of 2014 Lok Sabha polls in 2017, Maurya said: “Take a pledge to make the state free from SP and BSP… The party national president (Amit Shah) expects us to win more than 265 seats in 2017.”

Maurya said he has been asked whether BJP in UP has leaders who are equal to SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and BSP supremo Mayawati. “Each party leader sitting on the stage, including the office-bearers, Union ministers and MPs, is equal to 10 Mulayams and 10 Mayawatis,” he claimed.

“In BSP, can anyone speak against Mayawati and remain in the party… or in SP, can anyone other than a family member of Mulayam become the CM?” he asked.

Maurya said he was surprised to be handed over the responsibility of such a big state. “It is possible only in BJP where even a common worker can reach the top rung of the leadership,” he added.

Claiming that BJP wants to work for development, he said: “The party has formed the government at the Centre in the name of development. I announce from this stage that BJP’s election agenda will be only development. BJP wants to make the country and UP free from poverty, disease and unemployment.”

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made UP his karmabhoomi… the party’s goal was a Congress-free India and a SP-BSP free UP… BJP has already won the Vidhan Sabha elections. Only voting is left. I am confident that the next government will be led by BJP and will turn UP into Uttam Pradesh,” said Maurya.

Earlier, Maurya’s predecessor Laxmikant Bajpai, in his address, asked him to follow the policy of “tit for tat” when it comes to dealing with SP and BSP. “You should not be soft on them. You should have attitude of an enemy against SP and BSP,” he said.

Union ministers of state Mahesh Sharma, Santosh Gangwar, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti and Ram Shankar Katheria, along with 14 other Lok Sabha and two Rajya Sabha MPs — Vinay Katiyar and Jugul Kihore — welcomed Maurya at the party office. BJP and VHP workers had arrived from across the state to welcome Maurya.

Meanwhile, chaos prevailed at Kanpur railway station, from where Maurya left for Lucknow. Around 1,500 BJP workers had gathered to welcome their new chief. The train, which was scheduled to stop for five minutes at the station, could only leave after 15 minutes. Several passengers disembarking at the station were forced to abandon their luggage in the train due to the heavy crowd. Railway police later managed to extricate the passengers safely.