CM seeks Ayodhya-like progress for Mathura

. In Vrindavan, the chief minister attended the Vaishnav meeting in which Hindu priests in Vrindavan hold talks before the Vaishnav Kumbh. The festival will begin on February 16 and end on March 25 in Vrindavan.

By: Express News Service
Lucknow | February 15, 2021 02:40 AM IST

3 min read

yogi adityanath, Mathura, Mathura development, Ayodhya, lucknow news, Indian express news

CM Yogi Adityanath performs an ‘aarti’ on the banks of the Yamuna in Vrindavan on Sunday. (PTI)

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday inaugurated schemes worth Rs 411 crore during his visit to Vrindavan in Mathura district.

Adityanath said the government wants to develop Vrindavan and Mathura like Ayodhya, which is also a religious and pilgrimage centre. In Vrindavan, the chief minister attended the Vaishnav meeting in which Hindu priests in Vrindavan hold talks before the Vaishnav Kumbh. The festival will begin on February 16 and end on March 25 in Vrindavan.

At an event, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said, “When I got the proposal [for Vrindavan Kumbh] for the first time, then the whole country and world was struggling with the Covid-19 pandemic. As you all know, all programmes were getting stopped. Because we had a choice between celebrating festivals and saving human lives… We are all in the debt of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. India is the only country that has managed to make two Covid-19 vaccines that are being given to Indians and the citizens of countries that are India’s allies. It is the reason that we could muster the courage to hold the event because it happens every 12 years. I would not want to comment on what happened in the past, but if today, there is a BJP government then the Vaishnav meeting in the form of Vrindavan Kumbh should happen with the same fervour as Prayagraj Kumbh.”

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Praising his government’s efforts to organise the Prayagraj Kumbh, Adityanath claimed, “The UNESCO also had to praise the Prayagraj Kumbh.”

The chief minister said that in the past at some point, around 14 crore litres of sewage used to be dumped into the Ganga. Now, not one drop of sewage is dumped in the Ganga in different places in Kanpur. “If the Ganga can be cleaned in Kanpur, then the Yamuna can also be cleaned if Delhi government cleans it up in Delhi and leaves the rest to us,” Adityanath added.

The chief minister performed “aarti” at the Devraha Baba ghat on the Yamuna. Actor Hema Malini, who is also the MP from Mathura, was also present at the events Adityanath attended in the city.

Addressing Hindu priests at an event in Mathura, the chief minister claimed his government had organised the Kumbh Mela on a scale not seen before. It was well managed under different parameters such as cleanliness and security, Adityanath said.

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“The Kumbh used to happen earlier too, but the Prayagraj Kumbh last time was an example of how it can be done on a big scale… It was because of the blessings by priests like you that the foundation for the grand Ram temple in Ayodhya was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. All of you were part of the struggle for the temple. Generations had been involved, and now we can see it with our own eyes,” said Adityanath.

The chief minister told the priests that the UP Braj Teerth Vikas Parishad had been constituted to oversee the development of the Braj region.