NEW DELHI: Reaching the half-way mark in his tenure, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath appears to have reaped the fruits of running Uttar Pradesh on the ‘ Narendra Modi model’, emulating as he did the Prime Minister’s style on various counts such as implementing central schemes rigorously, touring the state extensively, addressing the public frequently and adopting a tough working style.“I thank the PM for his guidance. The way PM Modi has worked – for the villager, the poor, the farmers and women – we took inspiration from that and did the same,” Adityanath said at the outset in his address on Thursday on completing 30 months in power.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 electrification 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.This is not the case with big projects inaugurated or pursued by Adityanath, though, such as the Lucknow Metro or Purvanchal Expressway, to which former CM Akhilesh Yadav lays claim. Adityanath still needs a big project of his own on the ground before 2022 to cement his legacy. The new Defence Corridor Project and the proposed longest expressway in the country, Ganga Expressway, are the major ones that the CM has prioritised.The past 30 months have also seen a string of controversies or setbacks – such as the furore over the Gorakhpur child deaths due to Acute Encephalitis (AES), the bypoll losses before the 2019 general election, question marks over the frequent police encounters and the lackadaisical police approach in cases against BJP leaders such as Kuldeep Singh Sengar and lately Swami Chinmayanand.The big drop in AES related deaths in UP since, which got the PM’s vote of confidence last week, and the deft political manoeuvring which won back his home seat of Gorakhpur coupled with the incredible Lok Sabha polls results, despite the SP-BSP alliance, silenced Adityanath’s critics within the BJP. With complete backing of Modi and party president Amit Shah that has been publicly exhibited, Adityanath has consolidated his position in UP. But he has not stopped taking a leaf out of the PM’s book – the latest being fixing a $1 trillion target for UP, on the lines of the $5 trillion target fixed by the PM for the national economy.