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Journalism of Courage
Unveiling a slew of projects and inaugurating an airport and railway station in Ayodhya with the promise to transform the old pilgrim town into a Smart City, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday urged people across the country to light the Ram Jyoti and celebrate Deepawali in their homes on January 22, the day of the consecration ceremony at the Ram temple here.
Addressing a rally in Ayodhya where he also held a road show, Modi said, “The whole world is waiting for the historic moment. With folded hands, I am requesting 140 crore people of the country that on January 22, when the consecration of Ramlalla’s idol takes place, light the Ram Jyoti in your house and celebrate Deepawali. The entire country should sparkle with lights on the evening of January 22.”
The Prime Minister, who called himself a “pujari” (devotee) of “kan kan” (every particle) and “jan jan” (every person), said he was as excited as the people of Ayodhya waiting for January 22.
At the same time, he appealed to people of the country not to crowd Ayodhya on January 22. He said the “Ram Bhakts”, who have “waited for 550 years”, should come later at their convenience because “this time the navya, bhavya, divya (new, grand, divine) temple in Ayodhya is not going anywhere and ‘darshan’ will be available for centuries”.
He asked pilgrimage places across the country to start celebrating the Ram temple consecration ceremony a week earlier by launching a cleanliness drive on Makar Sankranti.
“From January 14, the day of Makar Sankranti, pilgrimage places, big and small across the country, should start a cleanliness drive,” he said.
Listing development projects that have come or are in the pipeline for Ayodhya, he assured people that no stone would be left unturned for the development of the town.
The people of Ayodhya, he said, should be ready for the large visitor footfall once the temple is completed. Keeping this in mind, he said his government has come up with projects worth thousands of crores. “Ayodhya ko smart bana rahi hai (Ayodhya is being turned into a Smart City).”
On the importance of blending and taking along “heritage” and “development”, Modi said that in modern Bharat, the new airport and railway station of Ayodhya Dham will connect the world to the Ram temple.
The ongoing development works, he said, will provide new opportunities of employment and self-employment in Ayodhya. “With this, the income of taxi and rickshaw drivers, hotel owners, dhabha owners, those selling flowers or prasad, puja material, will increase”
He told the gathering that there was a time when “Ramlalla lived in a tent” but now will have a permanent house.
Asking people of Ayodhya to be ready for the big leap, the Prime Minister said, “People are going to come in lakhs… and this trend will be endless, timeless.”
Claiming that Ayodhya is proof of the strength of “Modi’s guarantee”, he said, “These days people ask me why there is strength in Modi ki Guarantee. It is because Modi delivers what he guarantees and works days and nights for it.”
He inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of 46 projects worth Rs 15,700 crore in Ayodhya. Earlier, Governor Anandiben Patel and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath received Modi when he reached Ayodhya.
