Yogi on ‘Noida jinx’: Previous CMs were scared, but I’ve come here many times

Noida: Chief minister Yogi Adityanath was in NCR for the second time in three days, visiting GIMS in Greater Noida on Wednesday to review the facility for serious Covid patients as well as the Covid control room.
The CM, who has during his tenure brushed aside a political superstition that has stuck to Noida for a long time – coming to be known as the Noida jinx for apparently bringing bad luck to chief ministers who couldn’t get re-elected if they visited the NCR city – has made several visits here, personally inaugurating projects and overseeing pandemic preparedness.
Also in the middle of the assembly election campaign now, Yogi, while speaking to reporters later, chided his predecessors for being “scared of visiting Noida in fear of losing the CM’s seat”. “It was all the more important that I should come here as previous chief ministers were afraid of coming to Gautam Budh Nagar,” he said.
Taking a jibe at Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, who did not visit Noida during his tenure as CM from 2012-17, the CM added, “For him, his own life and power were more important rather than the interest of people and development work. Since they had no agenda for the betterment of people, they avoided coming here. But I have got a chance to come here many times during the first and second wave of the pandemic. Now, I have come here once more to witness the good work being done at GIMS by the team of doctors.”
Other than visits related to the pandemic, the CM has made other trips to Gautam Budh Nagar. He visited Dadri last September to unveil the status of Samrat Mihir Bhoj and again in November along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the Noida International Airport at Jewar. The CM also rode the inaugural train of the DMRC’s Magenta Line to Botanical Garden in December 2017.
This was in stark contrast to previous years when the ‘Noida jinx’ often circulated in political circles and made a chief ministerial visit to the city that drives UP’s economy rare. In any case, no incumbent CM has returned to office in UP in the last three decades and one can hardly blame that on the ‘Noida jinx’ alone. The last time a CM returned to office was ND Tiwari of Congress in 1985.
During his visit to GIMS, Yogi commended the facility for treating many Covid patients during the first and second waves, noting that out of the 450 beds at GIMS, 300 are equipped with oxygen and 120 are ventilator-enabled. The CM also pointed out that during the third wave, hospitalisation has been less than 1% but the district is well-prepared.
Later, talking to TOI, GIMS director Brig Rakesh Gupta (retd) said, “The CM, during his visit to the facility, was very happy with our achievements during both waves of Covid and our management of the patients even during the third wave. GIMS has recently been awarded the best Covid care centre among 67 medical colleges across Uttar Pradesh on parameters like treating a large number of patients, bringing out publications, etc.”