Hans News Service Basti

UttarPradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday targeted Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, alleging that the previous government imposed restrictions on Hindu traditions, such as the Kanwar Yatra, while the BJP government welcomed kanwariyas with flower petals.

Addressing a gathering in Basti after inaugurating and laying the foundation of 77 development projects worth over Rs 504 crore, Adityanath mocked Yadav, claiming that the SP chief is now “waiting to participate” in the very same Hindu event which his government had allegedly banned.

“When Shiv devotees, the kanwariyas, carry water from Saryu in Ayodhya to Bhadeshwarnath Dham (in Basti) to perform ‘jalabhishek’ of Lord Shiva, we shower flowers upon them from a helicopter. But the (former) Samajwadi Party government had banned this ‘Kanwar Yatra’.”

“They used to say that the ‘Kanwar Yatra’ should not take place. They used to impose restrictions on Durga Puja, disallowed the celebration of Shri Krishna Janmashtami, and banned the 84-Kosi Parikrama. Now, no one can impose such restrictions. No one can stop it now,” he said. Taking a jibe at Yadav, the UP chief minister said, “I feel that, in the near future, the Samajwadi Party president, too, is waiting to wear saffron attire and join you in the Kanwar Yatra. He seems to be hoping for an invitation, so that he can also go and shower flower petals.” He also levelled serious allegations on the Samajwadi Party (SP), saying that whenever the Waqf Board designated a piece of land as a “graveyard”, the SP members would displace the poor, Dalits, and the marginalised people from that land. “Earlier, land was encroached upon in the name of graveyards, and the poor were harassed. If the Waqf Board declared a plot to be a graveyard or Waqf land, no one dared to object, and the Dalits, the poor, and the marginalised were uprooted. It was these SP people who carried out such work,” he said. Hitting out at other opposition parties as well, he said, “This was the very ‘contract’ held by the SP, BSP, and Congress.”