UP cabinet meet in Ayodhya today: CM Yogi visits Ram Mandir construction site, ‘historic decisions’ likely

CM Yogi Adityanath and his cabinet colleagues offered prayers at Hanuman Garhi temple on Thursday morning, before the cabinet meeting at Ramkatha Museum.

The Uttar Pradesh cabinet will hold its meeting on Thursday in Ayodhya as the city gears up for the opening of the Ram temple in January next year. The date -- November 9 – holds significance as the Supreme Court on this date in 2019 passed its verdict in the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi case, paving the way for the construction of Ram Temple.

Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath along with his cabinet colleagues, at the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir construction site in Ayodhya on November 9. (ANI)

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath and his cabinet colleagues offered prayers at Hanuman Garhi temple on Thursday morning, before the cabinet meeting at Ramkatha Museum.

This is the first time the state's executive body will gather in the holy city. The museum has been decorated grandly. Posters of Lord Shri Ram and Lord Hanuman have been put up in the cabinet meeting hall.

Top updates on UP cabinet meeting in Ayodhya:

• Yogi Adityanath along with his cabinet colleagues also visited the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir construction site in Ayodhya. They also offered prayers at the Ram Lala temple.
• Massive security arrangements have been made for the cabinet meeting, with the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) deploying across the city.
• Ahead of the meeting, deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak said the cabinet is going to take historical decisions in the meeting and Deepotsav ahead of Diwali will be celebrated in full grandeur.

"Deepotsav ahead of Diwali will be celebrated in full grandeur; a record will be created. On January 22, PM Modi will inaugurate the Ayodhya Ram Mandir and we are all waiting for it. We are going to take historical decisions in the Cabinet meeting."

• "On November 11, we are going to create a new record. Last year, we created a Guinness World Record by illuminating 17 lakh diyas and now, breaking our own record, more than 21 lakh diyas will be illuminated in Ayodhya," cabinet minister Jaiveer Singh said.
• Ayodhya Ram Temple chief priest Acharya Satyendra Das and Iqbal Ansari, a former litigant representing the Muslim side in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case on Wednesday "welcomed" the Uttar Pradesh government's move of convening the meeting in the temple city.
• Cabinet minister Nand Gopal Nandi said the meeting in Ayodhya is historical and this day will be written in history. "The historic moment cannot be expressed in words. This day is historical and will be written in history in golden letters and we, the coming generations of this country and state," he said.
• Ayodhya district magistrate Nitish Kumar earlier said strict security arrangements have been made before the cabinet meeting. All the cabinet ministers will first have the darshan of Lord Shri Ram and Hanuman ji, after that, the cabinet meeting will be held in Ramkatha Museum.
• "A large number of police and administration people are present at the Ram Katha Museum and we are confident that this programme will be conducted very well, " added the Ayodhya CM.
• Ayodhya's Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Avadh University Administration has started preparations to illuminate the ghats of Ayodhya by lighting 24 lakh lamps on Diwali, it said in a press release, adding that volunteers at 51 ghats of Ram Ki Paidi and Chaudhary Charan Singh Ghat in order to make 'Ayodhya Deepotsav' historic.
• According to the official release, the target set by the Uttar Pradesh government is to light 21 lakh lamps and create a world record.

(With inputs from agencies)