Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath says the massive mandate in the Lok Sabha polls was a mandate for creating "new India's new Uttar Pradesh" and gave a befitting reply to those parties which cheated the poor in the name of social welfare and relied on caste politics. Adityanath says his government's focus on development helped him secure another term in the politically important state. "While the opportunistic coalition of the SP and BSP were relying on caste politics, I kept toiling for development of citizens rising above caste, creed or religion. This is the reason people voted for the BJP," the chief minister told PTI, giving full credit for the massive mandate to PM Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah.

"The massive mandate received in Uttar Pradesh in favour of the ruling party is the mandate for creating new India's new Uttar Pradesh. The mandate is against nepotism, casteism, corruption. It is a befitting reply to those hypocritical parties which cheated poor in the name of social welfare. It is a victory over goons of SP who were harassing our mothers and sisters by collecting 'goonda tax' from traders and industrialists," Adityanath said. During the poll campaign, while Modi talked about 55 years of Congress and his five-year tenure in rallies, Adityanath presented the report card of his two-year rule. Noting that the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh was earlier bad, the chief minister said, "Crime had become a business in the state because of nexus of criminals, corrupt police officers and politicians. But today the same group is running for cover due to 'zero tolerance' policy of the present government against criminals". "In last two years, for the first time in the history of Uttar Pradesh, stringent action was taken against criminals without looking at their caste, religion and political inclination.