UP governor Ram Naik, CM Yogi Adityanath join Baba Ramdev’s yoga session

Uttar Pradesh governor Ram Naik and chief minister Yogi Adityanath joined yoga guru Baba Ramdev in a yoga practice session at Raj Bhawan here on Wednesday morning.

The programme was a prelude to the upcoming International Yoga Day celebrations in Lucknow on June 21 in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi and CM Yogi Adityanath will participate.

Deputy chief ministers Dinesh Sharma and Keshav Prasad Maurya along with other UP ministers during the yoga session at Raj Bhavan. (Subhankar Chakraborty/HT PHOTO)

About 1,500 volunteers reached Raj Bhawan lawns well before 5.30 am to attend the session. Deputy chief ministers Dinesh Sharma and Keshav Prasad Maurya and ministers Siddharth Nath Singh, Shrikant Sharma and Mohsin Raza also participated in the programme.

Yoga helps in connecting with nature

Deputy chief ministers Dinesh Sharma and Keshav Prasad Maurya said yoga was a source of energy and helped in maintaining a connection with the nature and society.

“Yoga is very beneficial and gives energy. I practise yoga daily,” said deputy CM Dinesh Sharma.

Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya said, “Yoga teaches us how to maintain a connection with the nature and the society. I practise yoga daily for 45 minutes.”

“Yoga keeps one going and one does not feel tired. I perform ‘surya namaskar’ for 35 minutes daily,” said UP health minister Siddharth Nath Singh.

State power minister Shrikant Sharma said he practised yoga every alternate day to remain fit. “It is the key for not only a healthy individual but a healthy society too,” he said.

Minister of state Mohsin Raza said those who associated yoga with religion were not aware about its benefits. “Being a sportsperson, I have practised yoga for long,” he said.

The participants included retired judges, bureaucrats, officials and businessmen.

Addressing the gathering after the session, the CM said, “Yoga helps in developing a healthy mind, healthy citizen and a healthy society. This is also the aim of the government. Practising yoga is the best way to honour our ancestors who gave us the science of staying fit.”

The participants included yoga enthusiasts, bureaucrats and business from Lucknow. (Subhankar Chakraborty/HT PHOTO)

“The society that believes in the principles of yoga remains socially, morally, physically and spiritually fit and prosperous. The creation of such a society is the need of the hour,” he said.

Taking a jibe at the media, Yogi said, “Throughout the year, media makes us run behind them but this time we have made them run behind us.”

He said it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who highlighted the benefits of yoga before the world.

Governor Ram Naik said it was perhaps for the first time that a yoga event was organised at the Raj Bhawan and hoped more such programmes would be organised in future.

“It is a rarest of the rare occasion when a ‘yogi raj’ (Yog Adityanath) and a ‘raj yogi’ (Baba Ramdev) are sharing the dais at Raj Bhawan,” Naik said in a lighter vein.

Participants practising yogic asanas at Raj Bhawan in Lucknow. (Subhankar Chakraborty/HT PHOTO)

Baba Ramdev, who conducted the yoga session, kept injecting humour with his witty one-liners.

“The balance of chief minister Yogi Adityanath is good and now he is trying to balance the state. The CM’s body is flexible but his mind is very strong,” he said as the participants burst into laughter.

“Yoga is a science which is totally secular in nature. It is a way of life and is not associated with any religion or cult. Yoga helps in maintaining discipline which is important for the formation of a non-violent society,” he said.

Baba Ramdev performed ‘Dandasan’, ‘Uttan Mandukasan’, ‘Makarasan’, Ardh Matsyendrasan’ and ‘Vakraasan’ and also spoke about the benefits of these yogic postures.