Shahjahanpur/Bareilly (UP), Dec 7 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath appealed to people on Monday to vote for the BJP in the upcoming civic polls, saying the "triple-engine government" will accelerate the pace of development in the state.

Addressing two meetings of intellectuals in Shahjahanpur and Bareilly, Adityanath said though the "double-engine government" of the BJP -- a reference to the party being in power in the state and at the Centre -- is committed to development, a responsive local body is a must to implement the government's development projects on the ground.

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"Now, it's time to elect BJP candidates on municipal seats to accelerate the pace of development across municipal corporations and municipalities,” he said.

The dates for the election to urban bodies in the state are expected to be announced soon.

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Speaking in Shahjahanpur, he praised the political leadership of the district for playing a key role in the development of the city in the recent past.

"It was the BJP government that promoted Shahjahanpur from a municipality to a municipal corporation, providing it many benefits which were denied by previous governments that treated development as a formality rather than a mission," he said.

"There was a time when UP's cities ranked among the dirtiest cities of the country with Gonda known as the dirtiest. However, today all the 17 municipal corporations have respectable rankings in terms of cleanliness," he said.

In Bareilly, the chief minister said it has come a long way from being known as 'jhumka city' to a smart city in the last few years because of the double-engine government.

Bareilly's name got associated with 'jhumka', a piece of jewellery, due a hugely popular Hindi film song.

Adityanath said, "Bareilly is no longer known as a city where riots and subsequent months-long curfews were regular, where hanging electricity wires pose a threat to people's lives."

It is now developing into a smart city with smart roads and better air connectivity.

He also urged the people to become part of the government's mission to make Uttar Pradesh the number one economy in the country and come up with novel investment ideas for Bareilly as the state was gearing up to host the Global Investors Summit in February next year.

The chief minister also inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of developmental projects worth Rs 308.18 crore in Shahjahanpur and Rs 1,460 crore in Bareilly.

(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)