Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath has claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has fulfilled the dream of socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia by giving homes and power and cooking gas connections to poor citizens for the first time after Independence.

“Dr Lohia told [former Prime Minister] Shrimati Indira Gandhiji in Parliament that this country lives in the villages,” Adityanath told PTI in an interview. “The day every poor person in this country has a toilet in his home and his fuel requirements are met, whoever is the PM then shall rule for at least 25 years.”

Adityanath said: “I think there are lot of people who do politics in the name of Dr Lohia but his dream has been fulfilled by PM Modi.”

The chief minister has claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party will win more than 74 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in his state. Adityanath said bye-polls and Lok Sabha elections were two different things. “The BJP will win this election in Gorakhpur, Phulpur, Amethi, Azamgarh and Badaun – and it will be more than 74 seats in Uttar Pradesh,” he said. In 2014, the party had won 71 seats.

Adityanath predicted that the ongoing Lok Sabha election will shatter all forecasts around caste, religion, region and vote banks. “Considering the respect that the common man has today for the PM, the public is inclined towards him,” he claimed.

Adityanath accused his predecessor, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, of robbing the state with his laptop distribution scheme. “Ask ‘babua’ of the Samajwadi Party that your laptop scheme was the root of cheating and corruption,” said Adityanath. “Today our Digital India policy connects the common man with governance and facilities.”

The chief minister claimed the state government has used the Digital India scheme to cancel 37 lakh fake ration cards and distribute 3.5 crore genuine ones. “Today, we have installed point of sale machines at 80,000 ration shops and linked them with Aadhaar,” he told PTI. “People are getting rations on their doorsteps and the state is saving Rs 1,200 crore annually.”