Incumbent Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, currently engaged ina bitterly fought electionina bid to retain power in the state has stoked a needless controversy withhis remarkbelittlingnot only the developmental efforts of other states, but, in effect, their voters as well, for voting a party other thanthe BJPto power.Ina videographed diatribe posted on the social media platform Twitter in the early hours of February 10, the day polling commenced for the first phase of elections in Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath extolled the work done by his government on welfare, law and order, and (a key poll plank for BJP in the UP polls) the “safety and self-respect” of women. While this may have technically violated the model code of conduct on campaigning, it would still have been acceptable for a sitting chief minister to list outhis government’s achievements. However, Yogi Adityanath did not stop there. He ended the six-minute long video by warning UP voters: “If you falter, then the hard work of five years will be undone. This time,it won’ttake long for Uttar Pradesh to turn into Kashmir, Bengal, and Kerala.”
Quite apart from setting a new low in public discourse in a campaign that has already plumbed several lows, the implicationof Yogi Adityanath’s jibe – thatthe other states severelylag Uttar Pradesh – is also not based on fact. AS Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan pointed out in press note issued in response to the tweet, “Kerala emerged firstin the Niti Aayog report onsustainable development(in2020-2021).The infantmortality rate of Kerala (6%) is similar to that of the US. 97.9% is the literacy rate of women in Kerala, 98.1 per cent of homes have toilet facilities”. In fact, Kerala ranked first among all states in NITI Aayog’s Sustainable Development Goals Index for 2021. Uttar Pradesh ranked fourth from the bottom. In the annual health index for states, also prepared by NITI Aayog, Kerala once again topped the “larger states” grouping, while Uttar Pradesh ranked last in this grouping. Admittedly, Uttar Pradesh had improved the absolute performance on many of the indicators during the period, prompting the NITI Aayog to come up with a new tag of “mostimproved State”. However, as experts have pointed out, it is possible to improve dramatically if the baseline is low.
In absolute terms, Uttar Pradesh continues to be among the poorest performers when it comes to delivering basic services like electricity, clean water, basic health services and education. If Yogi Adityanath were to insist on comparing his states with others, he would be well advised to focus on development indicators – both economic and social – rather than try and raise bogeys about communal strife.
.jpg)
