Lucknow, Mar 18: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday said the BJP government in state uprooted the tag of “bad omen” stuck to Noida because of previous regimes, making Uttar Pradesh emerge as an “excellent destination for investment”.
Speaking at a programme at Lok Bhavan to mark nine years of his government, Adityanath said that before 2017, “those who called our faith superstition” stayed away from Noida, believing that they lose their power and seat.
Such beliefs, he said created artificial barriers to growth, particularly in Noida.
A myth was nurtured for decades that any chief minister of Uttar Pradesh who visited Noida in Gautam Buddh Nagar district was doomed to go out of power.
Mayawati, who took oath as the UP CM in March 2007, had visited Noida in November that year to attend the wedding of close aide Satish Mishra’s relative. However, the BSP supremo’s bold move, which was seen as a myth-buster at the time, was followed by her ouster from power from the state in 2012.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, who became the CM in 2012, had continued the trend of avoiding in-person visit to Noida, often dubbed as the show window to Uttar Pradesh.
Targeting the previous governments, he said that they allowed “bad omens” and superstition dictate their governance decisions, but his administration broke such beliefs pave the way for development in the state.
“…when I was given the responsibility of the chief minister, I said, ‘I will go to Noida’. If my position goes later because of it, better it goes today. But I will go to Noida. If it is good for the state, I will go there and remove the obstacles to Noida’s development,” Adityanth said.
Today, Noida and Greater Noida are on the path of development and contributing to the country’s development, he added.
“If we hadn’t gone to Noida, UP wouldn’t have been able to manufacture 55 per cent of the country’s mobile phones and 60 per cent of the country’s electronic components wouldn’t have been manufactured in UP because it had become a bad omen for the state,” he said.
“We had decided that we would uproot this bad omen. We won’t let it hinder development. Today, we have removed. Uttar Pradesh has emerged as an excellent destination for investment,” the CM said.
Drawing a contrast with Ayodhya, Adityanath criticised earlier regimes, saying, “When it comes to Ayodhya, what did the previous governments say about Ayodhya? Ram never existed.”
These people used to call our faith superstition. The superstition was that we should not go to Noida, he added.
Highlighting broader infrastructure gains, the chief minister said Uttar Pradesh has emerged as an infrastructure-driven state, with 55 per cent of the country’s expressways located in the state — a share that will rise to 60 per cent with the completion of the Ganga Expressway this month.
He added that improved infrastructure and policy measures have helped position Uttar Pradesh as a major investment destination, with projects worth Rs 15 lakh crore already grounded and another Rs 6 lakh crore in the pipeline.
