UP election: BJP made Purvanchal education hub, SP ignored it, says Amit Shah

Azamgarh (Uttar Pradesh) [India], March 3 : Amid the ongoing sixth phase of the Assembly election in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah attacked the Samajwadi Party (SP) saying that the ruling BJP government has made Purvanchal (East UP) an education hub while the SP had ignored it during their rule.
"Earlier, they (opposition) neglected Purvanchal, our government made it an education hub. We made universities in Azamgarh, Ballia and Gorakhpur along with 12 new medical colleges in the region," said Union Home Minister Amit Shah while addressing an election rally in Azamgarh's Lalgunj.
Stating that the BJP has freed Uttar Pradesh from mafia and musclemen, Shah said, "There was a time when kattas (indigenously built gun) were made in UP, today it makes missiles, which even Pakistan is afraid of."
He added, "In Azamgarh, under Akhilesh government, goons, mafia used to roam in open jeep carrying AK-47. He (Akhilesh) used to do bomb blasts in Ahmedabad from Azamgarh. Today no one has the courage to do riots."
Taking a dig at Akhilesh Yadav's stand on abrogation of Article 370, Shah said, "When Article 370 was being removed, Akhilesh told us not to remove it or else there will be rivers of blood flowing in the country. But in reality, no one even dared to pelt a stone let alone rivers of blood."
The seventh phase of the Uttar Pradesh election is on March 7.
Meanwhile, polling for the sixth phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections began at 7 am today and will continue till 6 pm. Polling is being held for 57 Assembly constituencies spread across 10 districts, including Gorakhpur, Ambedkarnagar, Ballia, Balrampur, Basti, Deoria, and Kushinagar, Maharajganj, Sant Kabir Nagar and Siddharthnagar.