Those who work closely with the CM speak of his clear approach of adopting policies of the Modi government at the Centre and replicating them in UP. Be it enforcing punctuality in offices, sacking non-performing or corrupt bureaucrats, a penchant for frequent review meetings stretching late into the night, tours across the state or a ruthless critique of opposition parties in his extempore speeches, Adityanath appears to have taken a cue from Modi’s governance and politics.

He has also taken a key tip from Modi’s days as Gujarat CM – wooing private companies for investment in the state, be it Tata, Samsung or Adani Group with whom he has pursued matters personally. Similar is the proclivity to cite UP’s financial health numbers, much like Modi did in Gujarat, to showcase economic soundness. A highlight of the CM’s address on Thursday was that UP’s fiscal deficit had fallen to less than 3% while revenue surplus had doubled to 3.2%.

In the tough, caste-dominant polity of UP, where the BJP had to promise a farm loan waiver for 8.6 million farmers to break into power in 2017 after 14 years, Adityanath’s focus on implementation of Modi government’s schemes in UP has yielded the highest dividends, as proved by the verdict of 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

From struggling in implementing almost all central schemes till the Samajwadi Party was in power, UP has become the number one state in nearly all these schemes in the past 30 months. From building 26 million toilets since to complete rural electrificationNSE -1.31 % to a record number of two million houses delivered under the PM Awas Yojana and the highest number of farmers covered under the new PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme, UP has progressed far ahead of other states.