Lucknow/Ayodhya (UP), Feb 29 (PTI) Samajwadi Party MLA Manoj Kumar Pandey visited Ayodhya with his family on Thursday and paid obeisance to Lord Ram Lalla.
Pandey, MLA from Unchahar in Raebareli, had on February 27 resigned from the post of SP chief whip and cross-voted in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls.
“I believe that the country belongs to Lord Ram and he resides in the souls of everyone. Today I had darshan of Shri Ram with my family,” the MLA told reporters after his temple visit in Ayodhya.
“I was the one who had demanded that all the MLAs of the state should go for darshan. But unfortunately we had to stop after our party’s leader gave instructions that no MLA will go to Ayodhya,” he said.
SP chief Akhilesh Yadav had turned down an invite to attend the consecration ceremony on January 22, saying he would visit later with his family. The party’s assembly members also did not join the legislators during their visit to Ayodhya on February 11.
Pandey claimed that most of the Samajwadi Party MLAs wanted to offer prayers at the Ram temple. “Nothing can be more unfortunate than stopping them from the darshan of Ram Lalla,” he said.
The SP MLA said he had had the opportunity of Ram Lalla’s darshan earlier as well, when the idol was kept in a tent before the consecration.
Asked about his recent meeting with Chief minister Yogi Adityanath, Pandey said, “I am the sitting MLA from Raebareli, so meeting the chief minister regarding development projects is part of my job. Our recent interaction, too, was a routine meeting on similar grounds.” Reports suggest that the BJP could field Pandey from Raebareli in the upcoming Lok Sabha election. Pandey is a three-time MLA from Unchahar assembly segment that falls under the Raebareli parliamentary seat.
Earlier in the day, the SP MLA told PTI “After sacrifice of a number of generations, the grand temple was built… It is a matter of pride that I am going to pay obeisance to Ram Lalla with my family.” “I had visited the city earlier as well and offered prayers to Lord Ram,” Pandey said.
“I will pray for the well-being of the people. People are happy with decisions like free ration taken by the government,” he added. PTI COR ABN CDN RPA
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