On Teej, one of the most significant days in the Hindu calendar, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was in Ayodhya paying his respect to Ramchandra Paramhans Das, one of the leaders of the Ram Janmbhoomi Movement.
It was the death anniversary of Das. But Yogi’s visit went beyond paying respect. He said that the late saint was committed to building a grand temple of Ram—much like Adityanath’s own guru Advaityanath.
“Today temples are being broken in India’s neighbouring country…a society which does not understand from the errors of history, has to suffer,” he said.
He added, “The mandir is just a stop, it is not the destination. We have to keep moving like this…”
Adityanath, however, was not just making symbolic gestures in Ayodhya. He announced that a trauma centre will come up in the district and asked officials to identify land as soon as possible.
On Tuesday, the CM chaired a meeting to take stock of the upcoming byelection in which two seats (one each in Faizabad and Ambedkarnagar) go to the polls soon. He has taken charge of both, after BJP lost Ayodhya in the Lok Sabha election. On Wednesday, the meeting to review the preparedness was in Ambedkarnagar where workers were told to meet each segment of voters.
The Milkipur seat in Ayodhya fell vacant after sitting MLA Awdhesh Prasad of the Samajwadi Party resigned following his win in the Lok Sabha polls. Prasad defeated BJP’s Lallu Singh in Faizabad seat.
The Katehari seat in Ambedkarnagar was also vacated by SP’s Lalji Verma. On both seats, the offsprings of the former occupants are the strongest contenders, and thus the BJP has to work against this sentiment of carryover popularity, too.
Adityanath asked workers to focus on strengthening campaign at the booth-level, and also on checking for any bogus names in the voters list. He asked workers to stay away from any show during the election campaign but to work quietly with the voters.
The criticism that party workers have not been given the respect they deserve is set to be met adequately. Chairman and other political posts of corporations, boards and commissions will be filled soon. These are posts that go as rewards to party workers. This step will also take the sting out of deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya’s comment that it’s the party and not the government which wins elections.
Both deputy CMs have their own charges for the byelections and are likely to keep busy with that going forward. Of the two, Maurya has the relatively easier Phulpur and Manjhawa; while Brajesh Pathak’s charges are traditional Samajwadi Party strongholds—Karhal and Sisamau.