Lucknow, June 6 -- Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday targeted the mafia, saying that development can take place only when people elect "good representatives" and not those involved in criminal activities. If the people elect the mafia, they will exploit the poor, he said while inaugurating and laying the foundation stones for 75 projects worth more than Rs.294 crore at Madhyanagar Biloha in Balrampur district. "The process of development moves forward when people elect good representatives. If you elect the mafia, they will exploit the poor. We have crushed the mafia, and on the land they once occupied, we are building houses for the poor. The double-engine government is working at double speed. Today, every district is connected to the mainstream of development," he said. At the same event, the chief minister felicitated beneficiaries of the Mukhyamantri Awas Yojana (Grameen) and other government welfare programmes, according to an official press release. He also honoured students of Kasturba Gandhi Residential Girls' School for their outstanding performance and interacted directly with the public about Balrampur's development model. He said until nine years ago, communal riots would often break out in places such as Pachpedwa, Gainsari, Balrampur, and Utraula during Durga Puja celebrations and he used to come from Gorakhpur to help people. He said now all 75 districts, 350 tehsils, and more than 57,000 gram panchayats in Uttar Pradesh are riot-free. Asserting that the state is progressing rapidly, he said before 2017, people from Balrampur faced an identity crisis wherever they went, as they were associated with the mafia. He said the mafia has been wiped out now and there was no such stigma. "If you say you are from Uttar Pradesh, you will be respected everywhere," he said. The chief minister recalled that before 2017, poor families often did not receive their rations because Samajwadi Party-backed goons would take it away. Yogi also spoke about environmental conservation on the occasion of World Environment Day. "The day reminds everyone that if there is water, there is a future. Polluting water sources and cutting down forests damages the environment, and humanity will ultimately pay the price for environmental degradation," he added....