Yogi rakes up Mathura, says BJP has honoured commitment on Ram temple in Ayodhya
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath accuses Congress of framing Hindu, RSS leaders in terror cases when it was in power
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday joined the growing list of his party leaders who have been talking about Mathura being the next destination by stating that if the BJP has fulfilled promises on Ayodhya and Kashi, Mathura won’t be left behind either.
Addressing a public meeting at Amroha in western UP, Yogi who had so far refrained from flagging the issue of the Mathura temple, reminded the people that the BJP had honoured its commitment on Ram temple in Ayodhya.
Mathura, the western UP town believed to be the birthplace of Hindu god Krishna, has a prominent mosque, the Shahi Eidgah, located next to the Krishna Janmabhoomi (the site believed to be Krishna’s birthplace). The mosque has been at the centre of a legal battle with Hindu groups claiming that the Eidgah was built on land where Lord Krishna was born.
“Humne kaha tha Ayodhya mein prabhu Ram ke bhavya mandir nirman ka karya prarambh karayenge. Modi ji ne karya prarambh kara diya hai na. Khush hain? Ayodhya mein Ram Mandir bananey se khush hain, sabhi log? Aur abhi Kashi main bhagwan Vishwanath ka dhaam bhi bhavya roop se ban raha hai. Aapne dekh liya na .. aur phir Mathura Vrindavan kaise chhoot jayega (we had promised to start work on a grand Ram temple at Ayodhya. Modi ji has started the work, isn’t it? Are you happy? Are all of you happy that Ram temple is coming up in Ayodhya? And, a grand abode of Lord Shiva is also coming up in Kashi. You have seen it, right? Then, how can Mathura and Vrindavan be left behind),” he asked the crowd.
“There (Mathura) also, work is in progress,” said Yogi who had already launched one of the six Jan Vishwas Yatras from Mathura on December 19.
Earlier, on December 2, deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya had stirred up a fresh row in the poll-bound state as he said that preparations were underway for the construction of a grand temple in Mathura on the lines of Ayodhya and Varanasi.
“Ayodhya aur Kashi bhavya mandir nirman jaari hai, Mathura ki tayyari hai (grand temples are being constructed in Ayodhya and Kashi and Mathura will be next),” Maurya tweeted. The tweet had come days after a right-wing group, Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha, announced plans to install a Krishna idol at the Shahi Eidgah after elaborate rituals. The group had, however, cancelled the plan later.
“If not in Mathura, where else do you think a grand temple of Lord Krishna would come up? In Pakistan?” UP minister Laxmi Narain Chaudhary had said recently. Chaudhary is a lawmaker from Mathura. Mathura MP Hema Malini too had raised the demand for a grand temple.
The growing chorus for a Mathura temple elicited a reaction from the Opposition.
“All of them are now playing openly and unabashedly to a familiar polarisation script. Their game plan is clear and by now it is evident to one and all too,” said Congress spokesman Zishan Haider.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav had on Tuesday accused the BJP of seeking votes in the name of religion.
“They are taking credit for Ram temple when the fact is that it has come up on the directions of the apex court. Now, none can stop temple construction. But the BJP is an expert in distracting masses,” he had said.
The chief minister inaugurated or laid the foundation stone of various schemes while participating in the Jan Vishwas Yatras in Farrukhabad and Amroha.
In Farrukhabad, Yogi laid the foundation stone of or inaugurated 174 projects worth ₹196 crore while in Amroha too he inaugurated/laid foundation stone of 31 projects worth ₹43 crore.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday accused the Congress of framing Hindu and Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) leaders as well as saints in terror cases when it (the Congress) was in power.
“Congress ruled the country for the most time. But how were they ruling? You would have seen a statement by Maharashtra ATS today, about how back then (during Congress rule) attempts were made to frame leaders and cadres of the Bharatiya Janata Party, RSS leaders and Hindu leaders in fake cases. You would have noticed Congress mischief in Malegaon case. This is a crime against the country and the Congress should apologise to the country for this,” he said at public meeting in Farrukhabad in western UP.
“When in power the Congress attempted to frame Hindu leaders. Now, out of power, they are blocking all constructive attempts,” he said in Farrukhabad.
