Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said it will be a privilege to serve people of Varanasi till his dying day, alluding to a remark by Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav that people come to the city in their final days.
Addressing BJP workers in his Lok Sabha constituency, Modi also alleged that opposition leaders take their parties as private property and they can never challenge the BJP, which is a party of workers.
Without taking any name, Modi said, "When people prayed for my death in Kashi, I was very happy."
"I realised that neither Varanasi nor the people here will leave me. It will be a privilege for me to die while serving people of Varanasi," Modi said alluding to the remark made by Yadav weeks ago.
On the day Modi inaugurated the Kashi Vishwanath corridor in Varanasi last December, Yadav had taunted him, saying people stay in Kashi "when the end is near".
Modi said for him party workers are a university, from which he learnt a lot of things.
"The dynasts who consider their parties as their private properties can never challenge the BJP, which is a party of its workers and works only for the development of the country," Modi said speaking at the event on the Sampurnanand Sanskrit university campus.
Modi also accused previous government of neglecting the pilgrim city and said criminals had a free in the state.
Terrorists used to "operate without any fear" during the Samajwadi Party's rule in Uttar Pradesh, Modi alleged.
"Under the rule of dynasts, temples of Varanasi were looted by people and bombs use to explode at temple but nothing was done under the Samajwadi Party, which did everything to protect those accused of terrorism," he alleged.
Modi said the dynasts neglected Varanasi, which is now changing.
"After so many years, the Kashi Vishwanath temple has met the bank of river Ganga again. The double-engine government is taking UP to newer heights," said the PM.
Modi said UP had only 33 medical colleges before 2017 and now their number has gone up to 65. The BJP government has constructed over 10 lakh houses for the poor, he said.
The government gave free ration to 15 crore families, including the Dalits, backward classes and the general category people, he said.
"Moreover, 2.6 crore farmers of UP have received Rs 43,000 crore directly into their bank accounts," he said.
Modi said around Rs 11,000 crore has been invested in various projects meant for cleaning the Ganga in UP and urged party workers to inform voters about the work done by the party in the state.
The prime minister said the development of religious places like Varanasi, Ayodhya and Prayagraj also leads to economic development of the areas.
"While everybody was feeling proud about the Kashi Vishwanath Dham project, some saw it from the communal lens," he added.
