Tight security for VHP's sankalp diwas in Ayodhya

When the VHP remained adamant on observing Friday as Sankalp Diwas to construct Ram Temple in Ayodhya, the state government pulled all stops to avoid a flare-up.

The Akhilesh Yadav government of Uttar Pradesh can ill afford another Muzaffarnagar.

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So when the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) remained adamant on observing Friday as Sankalp Diwas (pledge day) to construct Ram Temple in Ayodhya, the state government pulled all stops to avoid a flare-up.

On Thursday, principal secretary home Anil Kumar Gupta and DGP Devraj Nagar reviewed the security arrangements in Faizabad. Also, additional forces were rushed even as the entry points to Ayodhya were sealed.

Three-tier security, including the CRPF, was put in place around the disputed Babri Masjid-Ramjanmabhoomi site.

Even though the VHP planned to observe Sankalp Diwas all over the state, VHP leaders were to gather in large numbers in Ayodhya where the saffron cadres would take pledge to construct the Ram temple at Ayodhya.

SP spokesman and food minister Rajendra Chaudhury said during the last one-and-a-half year the BJP had been trying to polarise people on communal lines, but the government would not allowed it.