Will work for everyone, promises Adityanath

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday pledged to work for all sections without bias and said he believed in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's slogan 'sabka saath sabka vikas'. Addressing his first press conference after taking oath, the Gorakhpur MP also vowed to end the law and order problems in the sprawling and the country's most populous state. In an apparent move to allay fears that he, as a long-time Hindutva icon, might discriminate against the minorities, Adityanath promised there would be no bias for or against anyone. Agriculture, he said, would be made the base for all development work in Uttar Pradesh. "Our government is fully committed to fulfil the promises made (before the assembly elections)." Calling the swearing in of a new BJP government a historic occasion, the Chief Minister recalled BJP ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, saying his government was committed to fulfilling his dream of antyodaya. "We want to assure the people of UP that our government will take the state on the path of development and prosperity and would do everything that it takes to do so," the 44-year-old said. "We will adhere to the credo of 'development for all' initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi." Government jobs, he said, would become corruption free and transparent. Lamenting how in the past 15 years successive governments of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Samajwadi Party had deprived the state of the development it deserved, he said the scourge of family politics and poor law and order would soon end. "Our government will work for the empowerment, welfare and betterment of the poor and will be dedicated to public welfare." The government and its officials would be made accountable to the people, Adityanath said. Improved educational system, better law and order, job creation, skill development, round-the-clock power supply and women security would be the priority issues of his government, he said. Cabinet ministers Shrikant Sharma and Sidharth Nath Singh were named the official spokespersons of the new government. The spokespersons later told the media that the Chief Minister had directed his ministers to declare their assets within the next fortnight and to avoid making statements in the public. Hindutva leader Adityanath was chosen by the Bharatiya Janata Party to be Uttar Pradesh's 21st Chief Minster after the party swept the elections.