Summary of this article
PM Modi launched a sharp attack on the Samajwadi Party, accusing it of having an anti-women mindset.
Modi further said that the Samajwadi Party (SP) does not like the progress of Uttar Pradesh and wants to "push the state back into its old era".
The prime minister said such politics reflected a tendency to divide society and stall development.
On a day defined by the concrete and steel of the future, Prime Minister Narendra Modi used the inauguration of the 594-km Ganga Expressway to draw a sharp, ideological line in the Uttar Pradesh dust. Standing in Hardoi this Wednesday, the Prime Minister framed the state’s journey not just through its rising infrastructure, but as a moral battle against what he termed an "anti-women" and "anti-development" mindset within the Samajwadi Party (SP).
The rhetoric was pointed and personal. Modi accused the SP of betraying its own constituents by aligning with southern allies like the DMK—parties he claimed "abuse" the people of the north. For the Prime Minister, the SP’s opposition to the women’s reservation bill was more than a legislative choice; it was a window into a regressive soul. To the families gathered to see the new expressway, his message was clear: the opposition doesn't just dislike the roads you drive on—they dislike the progress you represent.
Yet, the speech was as much about the "New UP" as it was about its detractors. Modi leaned into the state’s dramatic facelift, reminding the crowd of a time when the state’s identity was "potholes and jungle raj." He humanized the industrial shift by pointing to the smartphones in their pockets, noting that nearly half of India’s mobile production now calls Uttar Pradesh home. From the semiconductor plants in Noida to the massive stretch of the Ganga Expressway, the Prime Minister painted a picture of a state finally shedding its "backward" skin to become the engine of a Viksit Bharat.
In a world currently scarred by "war, unrest, and instability," Modi framed India—and specifically Uttar Pradesh—as a rare island of steady momentum. He didn't shy away from naming the "hunger for power" that he believes drives internal critics to run the country down. For the people of Hardoi, the day wasn't just about a faster route to the next city; it was an invitation to see themselves as the frontrunners in a global race, moving forward even as the world around them wavers.
