Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday said that politics is not a full-time job for him, and he is a monk at heart.
“Politics is not a full-time job for me. Ultimately, I am a Yogi (monk) at heart,” he said on his supporters seeing him as a future prime minister.
He made the remarks during an interview with news agency PTI.
“There will be a time frame for this as well,” he said to a question on how long he sees himself in politics. “I am the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, and the party has placed me here to serve the people of the state.”
Adityanath also excoriated Waqf boards, saying they have become a means to appropriate government properties without ever giving anything back to the society, least of all to the Muslim community.
He rejected criticism of any discrimination against Muslims. Muslims are 20 percent of the state’s population but their share is 35-40 percent among the beneficiaries of government welfare schemes, he said, asserting that he does not believe either in discrimination or in appeasement.
Asked about the row over the warning by his administration in Meerut against offering namaz on roads, he staunchly defended the government’s move, saying there was nothing wrong in it.
“Roads are meant for walking. And those who are speaking (against the decision) should learn discipline from Hindus. Sixty-six crore people arrived in Prayagraj. There was no robbery, destruction of property, arson, abduction… This is called religious discipline. If you want benefits, you should also follow discipline,” he said.
Slamming critics of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, he said Waqf boards have become a den of selfish interests as well as “loot khasot” (property grabbing), and have done little for the welfare of Muslims.
Citing examples of charity in fields like education and health by Hindu temples and mutts, he asked if any Waqf board has done welfare work like this despite having properties many times more. Forget about the entire society, have Waqf properties been used for any welfare of Muslims, he asked.
“It (Waqf) has become a medium to capture any government property. This reform is the need of the hour, and all reforms draw opposition. I believe Muslims will benefit from this (proposed law),” he said.
With his “bulldozer model” now adopted by other states too as a show of quick justice despite frequent questions over its legality, Adityanath said that he did not consider the popular practice as an achievement but a necessity.
The bulldozer can be used to create infrastructure and remove encroachments as well, he said. “It seems to me that we have shown how it can be used in a better way.”
He also claimed that the Supreme Court has supported the UP administration’s use of bulldozers and never reprimanded it. However, again on Tuesday, the apex court came down heavily on the UP government and Prayagraj administration for demolishing homes without legality.