Contents

1. A ‘Yogi’ as Chief Minister, means an Honest Government

Massive Administrative Changes that Yogi Brought in UP’s Work Culture

2. Why Criminals Fear Yogi?

How Yogi Overhauled Policing in UP

3. How Yogi Electrifled Dark Uttar Pradesh?

Yogi’s motto has been - ‘Sabko Bijli, Paryapt Bijli aur Nirbadh Bijli’

4. How UP became an Expressway State under Yogi’s Regime?

A Connected UP is a Prosperous UP

5. How Industries, Prosperity & Jobs are Returning to UP under Yogi?

Yogi Means Business

6. Yogi’s Merit-based Education System vs Akhilesh’s Cheating-based System

Learning Outcomes Guaranteed for Students in UP Now

7. Why WHO and UNICEF Praised Yogi Government?

Story of Yogi’s One-District-One-Medical-College Mission to his Covid Management

8. How Farmers Finally Got Their Due in Yogi Government?

How Yogi’s Massive Pro-Farmer Steps Rendered So-Called Farmer Protests Irrelevant

9. Cultural Renaissance of UP under Yogi Government

UP is No More Only about Taj Mahal Now

10. Double Engine Ki Sarkar: How Modi-Yogi Brought Welfare for the Poor in UP?

Foreword

When Yogi Adityanath took over as CM, Lutyens Delhi- the name by which the power structure and supporters of the ancient regime are known- exploded in anger and derision. They questioned his capability to be CM, abused him roundly, and predicted the total failure of his regime. They accused him of being communal, a person of no consequence or experience in governance and openly hated the fact that he was a Religious Leader. They forget that he was a 5-time MP, a person of great accomplishment as an MP going by his track record in Parliament, had toured most districts of UP and knew the living conditions of the people of UP more than any of his critics, a man of the masses with the common touch, who has spent much time solving their challenges and had successfully managed more than 40 educational, medical and social institutions with over 80,000 students. The same Lutyens Delhi had earlier hailed a member of the ancient regime who was chosen as PM of India with the major qualification of being the progeny of a previous PM, living a privileged life in Lutyens Delhi with scant knowledge of the life of ordinary Indians. The contrast in their approach speaks much about their elitist, oligarchical outlook.

In this book author Shantanu Gupta, the biographer of Yogi Adityanath, writes about the transformation of UP under the new CM in the last 4.5 years. Indeed, the track record of achievement is impressive and profound and the author gives an enormous quantum of verifiable data to back his writing. UP will soon go to the polls and citizens will decide whom they will entrust the next government but the facts remains that this is a new aspirational UP which hopefully will fulfill the promise made by our Founding Fathers when they gave us our Constitution in 1950.

In a democracy the most important role of any government is the protection of the life, liberty and property of all citizens. UP had been a classic case of a badly governed state earlier where women were scared to venture out after sunset, criminals openly ruled the roost, law and order was broken with ineffective inadequate police, there were regular communal riots, land grabbing, political nepotism and corruption was common. Yogi Adityanath’s first priority was setting this right. Police were empowered to hunt down criminals and arrest violators, corrupt police were sidelined, criminals were prosecuted with a sense of urgency, influential political leaders who had grabbed land and exercise influence over the police were put behind bars and women got the protection of the law.Within two years there was a discernible difference in the maintenance of law and order and the Rule of law was established. Communal riots, crime, rioting and land grabbing declined perceptibly. About 1.3 lakh additional police were hired and trained and the State started operating in the manner needed. This alone, in a broken-down State, should give the CM recognition as a leader of good governance.

This massive improvement in law and order led to an improvement in the industrial climate. Investors have started flocking to the state as can be seen by the massive growth in industry and investment. Large job creation has resulted in a huge reduction in unemployment. UP suffered from an inadequate road network both between districts and to villages. The various expressways most of which are in an advanced stage of completion will revolutionize travel and communication, opening up backward areas of UP to industry and development. The power situation has dramatically improved with large increase in generation and distribution with much better availability of power all across the state for industry, agriculture and to citizens. Tax collection has gone up and UP has seen a large increase in the State GSDP and per capita income, rising to No. 2 amongst all states in India in the last four years!

Citizens have long suffered from lack of the basic necessities of life in UP. Today most households have power in the switch, toilet in the house, a gas stove, a roof over their head, increased water in the tap, a bank account with DBT transfers, a mobile phone connection with easier internet availability, better education, access to quality healthcare and medical insurance, good roads to their homes and better prospects for children in terms of education, jobs and income. Before Yogi, the state was known for mass copying in school examinations with former CMs justifying mass copying. The system has been cleaned up with improvement in quality of school education. More medical colleges, technical universities and colleges have ensured better access to higher education and a higher GER which is in par with the average for India. Women in particular have benefited with this huge increase in the capacity with UP seeing near Gender parity. The massive investment in industry and infrastructure is leading to much higher job opportunities for the educated graduates in their home State.

Farmers have seen a dramatic improvement in their incomes, with sugar production going up multifold with prompt payment, increased procurement at MSP for wheat, rice and other grains ensuring higher incomes and better infrastructure in the Mandis. The implementation of various central government schemes like the DBT to marginal farmers, farm insurance, pension schemes etc have all led to a better future for farmers. Agriculture makes up a large part of UP’s GSDP and this augurs well for the future. UP has large tracts of fertile land and increased productivity also assures India’s food security with huge capacity for exports.

UP is a densely populated State with multiple towns and cities. Many urban areas are now seeing the implementation of Metro Rail systems and Smart City programmes. Road networks have improved, multiple airports have come up with much improved national and international connectivity. The expressways will massively reduce distances in future. With a very rich cultural and civilizational heritage, UP has very high tourism potential. Ayodhya, the birthplace of Shri Ram will now see his own Temple after 500+ years. All Hindus, more than 115 crores globally will wish to visit Ayodhya to pray to Shri Ram in his own Temple just like Muslims wish to go to Mecca or Christians to the Vatican and Jerusalem. Kushinagar, Bodh Gaya and other places of the Buddhist circuit which are sacred to all Buddhists globally have seen a great improvement in access and infrastructure and this will also radically change tourism in the State. The wonderful management of the Kumbh Mela on a gigantic scale, has certainly made UP a must go to State.

How does one evaluate the performance of any government in an Indian State? Yogi Adityanath has demonstrated that in all areas of governance and development, his performance stands out as an exemplar. The massive reduction in corruption and decline in crime, the establishment of the Rule of Law, improvement in the quality of life for all citizens across UP is testimony to his performance and achievement. In a short period of 4.5 years the change is visible. Author Shantanu in this book clearly demonstrates the scale and magnitude of this transformation. But UP still has miles to go. If India needs to prosper and grow, UP has to lead!

Yogi Adityanath has most certainly demonstrated the qualities needed for any leader to succeed in political life. A nationalistic outlook built on love for India and patriotism will certainly ensure focus on good governance and growth. A corruption free attitude will ensure good governance. A respect and adherence to Rule of Law will ensure protection of the life, liberty and property of all citizens and ensure development. A burning desire to ensure an improvement in the lives of all citizens will ensure effective implementation of welfare schemes. A relentless focus on execution of schemes and strict monitoring will ensure action on the ground. Fairness in governance, respect for and protection of honest government officials will ensure good governance. Above all a vision for a better future for all will ensure greater prosperity.

Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, India’s largest and most complex State has transformed UP in the last 4.5 years.

Preface

- Goonda Raj, Widespread Corruption & High degree of nepotism. Bahubali mafias, who should be behind the bars were sitting inside the state assembly, elected on Samajwadi party & Bahujan Samajwadi party tickets. Height of nepotism was such that at one point in time more than two dozen people from Mulayam Singh Yadav’s larger family were holding positions in government, Parliament, state assembly or at district or block levels. Corruption became part of the basic grammar of UP. All development indices of UP remained abysmally low during those years, apart from the crime numbers, which always soared. Only industry, which was getting benefitted from Uttar Pradesh in those years, was Bollywood - which drew inspiration for many of its criminal thriller sequences from UP, where Mulayam Singh Yadav had in-famously defended heinous rapists, saying – “Ladke Hain, Galti Ho Jati Hai” (Boys, do commit some small mistakes sometimes).

Then came the 2017 UP assembly elections. In 2014 elections, people of UP have shown a huge confidence in Modi lead BJP. By 2017, the governance wave of Prime Minister Narendra Modi lead BJP was established beyond doubt. By now, people of UP have already tried Samajwadi Party (SP) & Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) multiple times – Mulayam Singh Yadav – three times, Bahan Mayawati four times and Akhilesh Yadav one time in last three decades. UP was the first big elections after the demonetization drive of PM Modi. When results came in March 2017, the nation watched how people of UP punished SP and BSP brutely for their years of mis-rule, blatant corruption and nepotism. BJP stormed to power with unprecedented 300+ seats.

To everybody’s surprise BJP named Yogi Adityanath as the Chief Minister after their landslide victory in UP in 2017 assembly elections. Many political pundits wrote him off even before he took the oath of the CM’s office. Analysts thought a saffron-clad mahant can only teach lessons in dharma and governance is not his cup of tea. This was a lazy analysis or hate for his saffron attire at best. Almost five years in office – Yogi proved them all wrong.

I am writing this book – ‘The MonkWho Transformed Uttar Pradesh’ as requested and suggested by many readers of my first book on Yogi Adityanath’s life – ‘The Monk Who Became Chief Minister’. This book will cover in detail, what media might not have told you ever. Yogi quickly became the only Chief Minister, after Modi who started finding frequent hate stories written in the New York Times and Washington Posts of the world. A simple fact-check will reveal that most of these articles were written sitting in foreign lands and based on biases rather than facts. Many journalists flourish and make their careers, writing on the politicians they love to hate. We have seen how in the last two decades, anti-Modism has emerged as a full-time career option for many. Now media has added Mahant Yogi Adityanath also in their hate list. All these journalists will conveniently discount the fact that Yogi is a five-time Parliamentarian, with an amazing track record of attendance, number of questions asked and debates participated in the Parliament.

My last book on Yogi Adityanath was largely about Yogi Adityanath’s life journey from being born in hills of Uttarakhand to becoming a Nath Panthi1 saint, to becoming a Parliamentarian and then taking oath as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. This book will take-off from there and dive into his chief ministerial tenure. In this book, I will go thematic area by area, department by department and bring to the readers an extra-ordinary story of transformation that my home state, Uttar Pradesh, has gone through under the chief ministership of Yogi Adityanath. My research will be backed with verified data points, corroborated by real stories from the ground and the vision of a hardworking, dharmic Chief Minister. During the research for this book, I have also extensively talked to and meticulously studied many critics of the Yogi government and answered many open questions for my readers.