Deoria, Aug. 29 -- Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday said the state has shed its image as a "Bimaru" state, stating that Uttar Pradesh now commands a "respectable image" due to improvements in healthcare, connectivity, education and law and order.

Addressing a programme in Deoria, where he inaugurated and laid the foundation stones for 80 development projects worth Rs.305 crore, Adityanath said encephalitis was not merely a disease but reflected what he described as the "sick mindset" of previous Samajwadi Party and Congress governments.

"Encephalitis was not merely a disease; it was a sick mindset. It was the sick mentality of the Samajwadi Party and Congress governments of that time -- a mentality that was devou...