UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath attends a religious event at Janakpur, believed to be Sita’s birthplace.
New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Wednesday took off for yet another event outside the state, a day after his party received a drubbing in the assembly elections in which he had campaigned extensively.
Only instead of a poll rally this time, Adityanath was in Janakpur, Nepal, to attend Bibaha Panchami, a religious event that marks the marriage of Ram and Sita. According to the Ramayana, Janakpur is the birthplace of Sita and the two were married here.
The Uttar Pradesh chief minister addressed a gathering in Janakpur, where he mentioned the reasons behind renaming Faizabad district.
“Our priorities include a comprehensive development of Ayodhya under which, the present government has changed the name of Faizabad district to Ayodhya,” Adityanath said.
“By constituting Ayodhya Municipal Corporation, the basic amenities are being strengthened and improved in this holy town on the one hand. Action is being taken on the other, to project prominently the myriad dimensions of this sacred place at the global level with Ayodhya being the centre of it.”
He also pointed to linkages between his state and Nepal. “The Ram Katha ties the people of India and Nepal with a single thread. Ayodhya Dham and Janakpur Dham are inseparably liked to this glorious story,” he said. “The familial bonds between King Janak and King Dashrath have not only brought Ayodhya and Janakpur much closer but also brought India and Nepal in very close proximity.”
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Prolonged period outside the state
Adityanath’s visit to Janakpur in Province 2 of Nepal comes following a slew of election rallies over the past two months in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
While Hindu Right-wing group VHP and BJP ally Shiv Sena were camping in Ayodhya, raising the clamour for the construction of the Ram Mandir at the disputed site in the town, the UP CM refrained from taking a hardline stance on the issue. He maintained that the court’s orders and the Constitution need to be respected, but his poll speeches made several references to the Ram story.
“CM Yogi Adityanath and the BJP believe that antoday (uplifting the weak) is the ideal path and that is why we follow the idea of sabka saath, sabka vikas,” said Chandra Mohan, UP BJP spokesperson. “Ram rajya is the adarsh raj (the ideal state). Keeping in mind the strong historical links between India and Nepal, the CM’s visit is important.”
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Is chief ministership a part-time job? Adityanath has made it amply clear that his heart is in religious activities, promotion of Hinduism, and not in the administrative work connected with the affairs of U.P. state. Why not let him do just that, as the chief priest of Gorakhpur temple? Then he can concentrate full-time on touring different states to highlight the goodness of Hinduism, and how it is essential for all Hindus to unite under the umbrella of the RSS and BJP. Let someone else handle the governance of U.P.