Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday led his team of cabinet ministers through Ayodhya on electric buses amid high-decibel sloganeering of “Jai Shri Ram”, taking stoppages at two of the temple town’s iconic religious landmarks – the under-construction Ram Mandir and Hanuman Garhi temple– before sitting with his ministers to clear key decisions that would further transform a city that is in the midst of a remarkable metamorphosis.
The cabinet meeting that Yogi held in Ayodhya on Thursday was only the second one outside Lucknow. It came two days ahead of Deepotsav on November 11 and about 72 days before the grand inauguration of the Ram temple on January 22 -- two events that are expected to attract a lot of attention before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The first cabinet meeting outside the state capital was earlier held during the Prayagraj Kumbh in 2019.
Soon after his helicopter landed near the Ram Katha Park on Thursday, Yogi Adityanath boarded the electric buses with his ministers for a short Ayodhya tour, waving at the crowd all the way before sitting at the old Temple Museum complex to clear key proposals, including formation of a Teerth Vikas Parishad (Pilgrimage Development Council), according international status to the Ayodhya Research Institute and sanctioning 25 acres of land for the new temple museum.
Deepotsav, the grand simultaneous illumination of earthen lamps that started in 2017 when Yogi first came to power, has seen new Guinness Records year after year. This time, the event before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls will see a new record being attempted with 24 lakh (2.4 million) earthen lamps being lit simultaneously on all 51 ghats of the river Saryu on which the U.P. cabinet’s decision for formation of Inland Highway Authority would pave way for opening of travel via waterways.
{{/usCountry}}Deepotsav, the grand simultaneous illumination of earthen lamps that started in 2017 when Yogi first came to power, has seen new Guinness Records year after year. This time, the event before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls will see a new record being attempted with 24 lakh (2.4 million) earthen lamps being lit simultaneously on all 51 ghats of the river Saryu on which the U.P. cabinet’s decision for formation of Inland Highway Authority would pave way for opening of travel via waterways.
{{/usCountry}}Perhaps aware that fairs have largely driven the temple town’s economy all these years and provided local employment too in some measure, Adityanath also announced the status of state fairs to many such events in the temple town.
“This means that government funds would also be available for holding and organising these fairs,” an official said.
The bus ride and temple run coupled with decisions high on religious symbolism and outreach were set to impact 2024 Lok Sabha polls, experts felt.
“From today, a series of high voltage events in Ayodhya and other pilgrim places would continue to force attention on the double engine government’s focus on Hindu religious hot spots and naturally impact mindsets ahead of a crucial election. The attempt is to convey to the masses that here is a government that cares for the sentiments of the majority; something that might not have been done by the previous governments,” said Irshad Ilmi, a political expert.
Barely 24 hours back, during his election campaign in Madhya Pradesh, Adityanath had deftly reminded the masses about the 2006 statement of the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about “minorities having the first right to the country’s resources.”
Adityanath had then gone on to ask the crowd, “This is what the Congress would do. Now, if that were to happen what would Hindus do?”
The double engine BJP governments at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh are currently running about 178 projects worth ₹30,500 crore in Ayodhya.
“Ayodhya is moving towards a new era. Today, the whole world is getting attracted towards Ayodhya,” Adityanath said on the occasion.
There is a view that after the temple inauguration on January 22, the number of global tourists arriving in Ayodhya would increase manifold and that is the reason Adityanath gave for the formation of Shri Ayodhya Dham Teerth Vikas Parishad.