‘We should get what is ours’: Yogi Adityanath on reclaiming religious places

He also rejected the allegations levelled by the Opposition parties against the ruling BJP of having a “communal mindset”, saying, “Humne to wahi kiya hai, wahi kaha hai.. jo hamara hai, woh hamein milna chahiye (What we have done and said is that we should get what is ours). We have not deviated from it. The truth is bitter but one should have the strength to accept it.”

Citing the example of recently concluded Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, Adityanath alleged that the Samajwadi Party is playing with the religious sentiments of the country after having deviated from the ideals of socialist icon Ram Manohar Lohia.

Lohia, he said, talked about how Bharat was safe till it followed the principles of Ram, Krishna and Shankar.

“You claimed that our mindset is communal.. You tell us how our thoughts are communal. We are talking about taking everyone along and the development of all. The best example of this is Maha Kumbh, where no bias based on caste, creed or religion was shown towards anyone,” said Adityanath.

“An event of jalabhishek was performed after 56 years at a Shiv temple in Sambhal on February 26. In Sambhal alone, there were at least 87 places of worship (68 teerths and 19 wells) which were closed due to some mischief in a certain period of time. Of these, 54 were identified and restored,” he added.

The CM also hit out at the Opposition parties for allegedly spreading “negativity” about the Maha Kumbh, saying the entire country and the world saw the state’s capability for successfully organising such an event. “Neither people of the state nor of the country listened to you (Opposition). For you, this is the start of a countdown.”

Women had an almost half of the participation in the Maha Kumbh but they neither faced any harassment nor there was any incident of loot or murder, the CM claimed.

Calling Kumbh an example of an efficient organisation, Adityanath said Rs 7,300 crore was spent on organising the mela that generated a revenue of Rs 3 lakh crore. “The Maha Kumbh was like an ‘agni pariksha’ (litmus test) on which the government has passed. The Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister (DK Shivakumar) who despite coming from an Opposition-ruled state praised the management of the event,” he said.