Two Ram temple trustees back Rahul yatra, Yogi questions its intent
A day after Ram temple chief priest Acharya Satyendra Das “blessed” Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, more voices from Ayodhya – from VHP’s Champat Rai to the Hanuman Garhi mahant to Ram temple trust treasurer Swami Govind Dev Giri – backed “the cause of uniting the country” with Rai pointing out that none, be it the RSS or the Prime Minister, has criticised the Yatra.
In Mumbai, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath, responding to a query on the Yatra making its way through UP, said everyone has the freedom to conduct programmes and “we have to respect the feelings of people”.
“The question is what is their intention and ambition. If you are talking of connecting, then it should reflect through work and statements. For the BJP, as the Prime Minister says, the nation comes first and we keep the country above the party. But for many people, the party is above the country. If you look at the incident of Tawang and some other issues, the kind of statements that were made, I think the statements were not to connect the country but to increase the divide and to encourage the enemies. We should avoid doing that,” he said.
RLD joins Bharat Jodo Yatra, steps away from Opposition, ally SP ranks on march
After the National Conference, whose supremo Farooq Abdullah joined the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Delhi, the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) on Wednesday became the second Opposition party to join Rahul Gandhi’s march.
Other non-BJP parties in Uttar Pradesh to whom the Congress had reached out had welcomed Rahul’s initiative but decided to stay away, including RLD ally Samajwadi Party.
On Wednesday, the RLD top leadership welcomed the Congress leader as his Yatra entered Baghpat, RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary’s home district. They will also be present during the Yatra’s Shamli stretch on Thursday, after which the march will cross over into Haryana.
Over its three days in the state, the Rahul Yatra is confined to west UP, which is the RLD’s stronghold.
