After filing his nomination papers at the collectorate in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath exclusively speaks to Network18's Group Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi. CM Yogi is all set to contest from the Gorakhpur city assembly constituency.

The 49-year-old BJP candidate, who is contesting the assembly elections for the first time, has mentioned himself as the son of Avedyanath — his mentor and guru. As per the affidavit, he owns a revolver and a rifle worth Rs 1,00,000 and Rs 80,000 respectively.

Adityanath’s total assets stand at over Rs 1.54 crore. This includes movable assets only, as in the section for immovable assets, he has marked ‘Not Applicable’. According to the document, the chief minister has gold ‘kundal’ weighing 20 grams, and are worth Rs 49,000 (at the time of purchase). He also has a Rudraksh mala in gold chain weighing 10 grams worth Rs 20,000, and a mobile phone worth Rs 12,000.

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Here are the important highlights from the interview:

Narendra Modi

PM Modi is our guardian. No differences with my guardian. We are all working under the guidance of the prime minister. He is our 'margdarshak'. It is our country’s fortune to get a leader like Modiji. PM Modi has been an inspiring leader. Union home minister Amit Shah has drafted the Lok Kalyan proposal for the state.

Chief Minister Adityanath said he is grateful to the party and PM for choosing him from Gorakhpur for his first Assembly election. Uttar Pradesh has shown immense faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi. People's trust in their leader is the most important thing.

Defections in BJP

Many people from other parties have also joined the BJP. People joining BJP are not lured by tickets. Those leaving BJP are siding with ‘Parivarwaad’.

Kairana Exodus

No one will forgive Samajwadi Party for Kairana exodus. All surveys were proven wrong in the 2019 elections. It is SP who believes in violence. No one will forgive SP for firing on Ram devotees. SP believes in riots.

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Priyanka Gandhi and Congress

Everyone has the right to contest elections, but we still need to see how many people end up with her. Congress’s fate will be sealed on March 10. I belong to the Shaivite tradition, so I can drink poison and distribute nectar. This is our way of working, and we will keep working.

Rahul Gandhi

His comments on Kashmir in Parliament have to be condemned. He is speaking in Pakistan’s language for vote bank politics. They are playing with national security, only a vote bank is important for them.

Akhilesh Yadav

We talk about nationalism, they talk about castes. We take up issues related to development, but they talk about their family. They may call themselves ‘Samajwadis’, but they think like ‘Parivarwadis’ and ‘Dangawadis’.

Attack on AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi's convoy

In a democracy, we believe in ‘Ballot, not in Bullet’. Such incidents of attack are not acceptable. No one will be allowed to take law into their own hands, even if we have our political differences. We have already given him Y+ category security. The government was not aware of his program and the route taken by him.

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Jayant Choudhary

Chaudhary Charan Singh was a respectable leader. Everyone knows RLD leader Jayant Chaudhary never moved out of Delhi. Home minister Amit Shah gave useful advice to Jayant, but he misconstrued his advice. Jayant might be a good person but is in a wrong alliance. We have huge respect for Chowdhury Charan Singhji, and the legacy he has left.

(Edited by : Jomy Jos Pullokaran)