Lucknow, Aug 20 (PTI) Member parties of opposition block INDIA are like "blown-out" transformers which cannot power even a light bulb, let alone run the country, Uttar Pradesh Sugarcane Development Minister Laxmi Narayan Chaudhary has said.

On the other hand, Narendra Modi is a powerhouse who spreads light everywhere, Chaudhary said in an interaction with PTI on Friday.

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"For example, there are 10 transformers of 250 units each, but they are 'fused' transformers, so they would not be able to light even a bulb. On the other hand, Modi ji is such a transformer, who spreads light everywhere. The opposition block will cease to exist after the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections," he said.

He also said the alliance has "scamsters" as its members, all of whom with a history of dissensions among them.

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Chaudhary, a five-time MLA from Chhata assembly seat in Mathura, has in the past been a member of BSP and Congress. He later joined BJP and is currently a lawmaker from the same seat.

Being a leader with considerable influence in the western UP, Chaudhary said the region, with Jats as the dominant caste, stands firmly with the BJP.

"The Jats are a nationalist community, and the party which speaks about nationalism, the Jats stay with them. Even during the Mughal era, Jats had fought for and defended the 'Sanatan Dharm' and the country.

"If anyone has the highest contribution in defending and saving Indian culture, then it is those people, who live in the 200-kilometre radius of Delhi. The voters of western UP are fully with the BJP," he said.

Once a minister in the BSP government, Chaudhary dismissed his old party as inconsequential in view of the coming general election, saying its vote bank, which largely is made up of labourers, knows its interests lie with BJP.

He also explained the recent win of SP candidate from Mainpuri seat as a consequence of sympathy wave for departed Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, calling the seat not "impregnable" for BJP in future.

The minister also said the Adityanath government restarted several sugar mills shut down in the previous governments and opened many new ones in his tenure.

"In the tenure of the BSP government (2007 to 2012), 19 sugar mills were closed, while in the SP regime (2012 to 2017), 11 sugar mills were shut. After our government came, we restarted the closed sugar mills, and set up new mills," he said.

He also said that till 2017, sugarcane was cultivated across 20 lakh hectares in the state, and now that area has been expanded to 29 lakh hectares.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)