Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday lauded Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for defying superstition and said there was no space for blind faith in governance.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday hailed the mass transportation systems as the “need of the hour” as he flagged off the 12.64-km long Botanical Garden-Kalkaji section of the Magenta line which has to be extended till Janakpuri (West) in future.
Congratulating him, Modi said that due to his (Adityanath’s) attire, a few people believe that the Chief Minister is not modern but he has done what earlier Chief Ministers of U.P. have never done — travelled to Noida.
I appreciate the work of the UP Government under CM @myogiadityanath Ji towards developing the state. He has shown inspirational leadership by rejecting superstition, blind faith and visiting Noida. pic.twitter.com/qOWnUVRemS
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 25, 2017
The Prime Minister was referring to a popular Nodia jinx that holds that Chief Ministers who visit Noida will lose power.
Modi said, “Faith is important but blind faith is not desirable,” adding that as Chief Minister of Gujarat, he too had broken many such jinxes by visiting places considered inauspicious.
“When I was CM of Gujarat, a section of people told me of a few places where no CMs went because they were inauspicious. From day one I was clear and decided to go all those places in my first year Unfortunately due to superstition, leaders maintained distance from those places for decades,” he said.
“If a CM lives with a fear that he will lose his chair upon going somewhere, then such people don’t have any right to become the CM. A society trapped in superstitions can never progress. We are living in an era of technology and science. Faith has its own place, but blind faith has no place anywhere,” Modi emphasised.
Mr. Adityanath had visited Noida last week and again accompanied the Prime Minister to the city on Monday for the inauguration of the new Metro linethat will reduce travel time to parts of south Delhi by at least 30 minutes.
“There must be no space of superstition in governance. Government must not be driven by superstition . A good administrator must avoid such practices and I congratulate Yogi Adityanath that he has set an example,” Mr Modi said.
PM Modi said, “Uttar Pradesh had adopted me and groomed me for new responsibilities. I am in my own state,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Metro opening event in Noida on Monday.”
It is said that the Noida jinx has been the reason for several U.P. Chief Ministers, including Veer Bahadur Singh, Narayan Dutt Tiwari, Kalyan Singh and Mayawati losing power after a visit to Noida. Rumours about the jinx started in 1988 when Chief Minister Veer Bahadur Singh lost power within days of visiting Noida. Later in 1997 and again in 2012, Ms. Mayawati lost power after visiting Noida.
In 1989, N.D. Tiwari and 10 years later, in 1999, Kalyan Singh seemed to be hit by the same jinx. In 1995, Mulayam was out of power within months of his Noida visit. Most recently Ms. Mayawati lost in the 2012 Assembly elections after she flew to Noida in October 2011 to inaugurate the Dalit Prerna Sthal. In August 2012, CM Akhilesh Yadav inaugurated the Yamuna Expressway from Lucknow and avoided travelling to Noida. The following year, he inaugurated infrastructure projects in Gautam Buddh Nagar without visiting the city.