Prayagraj (Uttar Pradesh) [India], October 15 : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday laid the foundation stone for the Padma Lok Awas Yojana in Prayagraj’s Kasari-Masari area, where land freed from mafia-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed’s possession will be used to provide housing to people. The project envisages 602 two-bedroom flats.
Addressing the programme, Yogi said the campaign to free land from the mafia was now paving the way for homes for the poor in Kasari-Masari. He said that during the previous regime, mafia elements treated land they set foot on as their own, while the state government remained silent.
“The mafia used to be synonymous with fear, openly brandishing weapons. Development, investment and employment cannot come in such an atmosphere,” the Chief Minister said government was committed to establishing the rule of law, making Uttar Pradesh mafia-free and developing the state as a major contributor to India’s economy.
“The government’s responsibility is to establish the rule of law and ensure that Uttar Pradesh becomes free from the mafia,” he said.
Referring to the high profile murder case of Raju Pal, Yogi said the government had moved forward with the resolve to establish the rule of law, and the results were now visible. He said mafia elements had built stables on around 15 bighas of land, but the same land would now be used to construct residential accommodation.
For context, BSP MLA Rahu Pal was shot dead in Prayagraj in 2005, days after his wedding with now expelled Samajwadi MLA Pooja Pal. In February 2023, Umesh Pal, a key witness to the murder, was shot dead in Prayagraj's Sulem Saray area. Several rounds were fired, and bombs were hurled at Umesh and his gunners. Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf Ahmad were the prime accused and were arrested by the police. On April 15, 2023, they were shot dead by men posing as press persons on the night of April 15 while being taken for a medical examination in Prayagraj. Pooja Pal, was expelled in 2025 from the Samajwadi Party after she praised Yogi Adityanath for his "zero tolerance policy" against crime. 
Yogi said the housing scheme would benefit people without discrimination. Taking a swipe at the Samajwadi Party, he alleged that it stood with mafia elements. He said around 6,000 people would live in the development and asserted that no one would be allowed to indulge in mafia activities in Prayagraj.
The Chief Minister also accused the Samajwadi Party of creating an identity crisis for the people of Uttar Pradesh.
Recalling the situation in Kasari-Masari, Yogi said even police vehicles could not enter the area earlier, let alone ordinary citizens. He said the situation had changed and roads were now accessible. The government, he added, was committed to creating a secure environment so that every poor family could benefit from development initiatives.
Yogi said Kasari-Masari would no longer remain known by its old identity and would be developed as Krishnapuri. He also announced that an ITI would be established in the name of Maharaja Bijli Pasi, whom he described as a formidable opponent of foreign invaders.
The foundation-stone ceremony for the Padma Lok residential scheme was also marked by worship of Maa Bhagwati, whom devotees revere in the form of the divine mother.
Prayagraj Development Authority’s Padma Lok Awas Yojana envisages 602 two-bedroom flats across a 14-storey residential development on approximately 9,811.35 square metres of land. The project is RERA-registered.
The project is part of the administration’s effort to put land reclaimed from mafia control to public use. Earlier, 76 flats under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana were constructed on land freed from Atiq Ahmed’s possession in Lukerganj, Prayagraj. Atiq Ahmed, a former Samajwadi Party MP, was shot dead while in police custody on April 15, 2023.