Yogi Adityanath refuses gold chain with rudraksha beads gifted by BJP MLA
Adityanath accepts gifts like shawl, mace and a sword but costly gifts put him off, an aide of the chief minister said.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath refused to take a gold chain with rudraksha beads offered as a gift by party MLA, Ravindra Nath Tripathi at a public function in Bhadohi on Sunday.
Tripathi, 56, who represents Bhadohi in the state assembly, had got one specially ordered for Adityanath, who is also the head priest of the influential Gorakhnath temple in Gorakhpur.
Rudraksha beads are said to have biomedical properties, with abilities to control various types of diseases and are also used as prayer beads in Hinduism. But Adityanath is known to refuse costly gifts.
“It’s a regular practice in Varanasi, which shares its boundary with Bhadohi, to gift rudraksha beads in gold chain. I had specially got it made for him. But Maharajji (Adityanath) said no,” said Tripathi, who was briefly seen trying to convince the CM that it was a religious gift.
“I told him that it was rudraksha but Maharajji refused,” said the legislator, who, however, declined to divulge how much the religious gift was worth.
“I don’t know its cost as I had ordered it through someone,” he said.
Adityanath accepts gifts like shawl, mace and a sword but costly gifts put him off, an aide of the chief minister said.
Had it just been rudraksh, he would have gladly accepted them, but since it was in a gold chain, he perhaps said no, claimed a Gorakhpur-based BJP leader, who has closely followed Adityanath.
Adityanath’s aides used this gesture to convey the CM’s intent on clean politics. “The messaging is simple. Stay above board, set high standards. If the top is clean, whatever trickles down would also be clean,” the aide said.
