Moradabad: Soon Akhilesh Yadav too will be seen chanting Lord Ram’s name and repenting for his mistakes, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Monday, apparently taking a jibe at him over the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
Adityanath, while addressing a public gathering in Moradabad, said, “Looking at recent statements, does it seem that better sense has prevailed over the Samajwadi Party chief? Or is he trying to bluff? He (Yadav) is saying that he will make Ayodhya shine.”
The double-engine government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already done it, he said, adding that he would thank Yadav for finally accepting Ayodhya, which is an ideological victory for the BJP.
Adityanath also said he was surprised to hear Yadav’s statement, who on Saturday promised to make Ayodhya a “dharam nagari” (religious city) if his party comes to power in the state.
On Saturday in Azamgarh, Yadav said that people’s faith had been played with in view of the alleged embezzlement of donations received for the Ram temple in Ayodhya. He added that if his party comes to power, they would develop Ayodhya into an “inimitable” sacred city.
“You say your government will make Ayodhya a religious city. What religious city will you make?Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav should be aware of the history of his own party, which had fired on Ram Bhakts in Ayodhya,” Adityanath said in a reference to Akhilesh Yadav’s father, Mulayam Singh Yadav, who, as the then Uttar Pradesh chief minister, ordered firing on karsevaks in Ayodhya in the 1990s.
He further challenged the SP chief, saying, “Akhileshji, now talk about Mathura. If you are truly trying to present yourself as religious, then speak openly about Mathura, Vrindavan, and Krishna Janmabhoomi. Say that, just like the Ram Janmabhoomi liberation movement, a campaign should also be launched for the liberation of the Krishna Janmabhoomi.”
He asserted that “Lord Krishna’s birthplace also deserves respect” and alleged that the Opposition lacked the courage to speak on the issue. There is a legal dispute concerning the Krishna Janmabhoomi. The Hindu side claims that the Shahi Idgah mosque at Mathura was built after demolishing a temple at the birthplace of Lord Krishna.
The chief minister added that Ayodhya had regained its identity under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi through the efforts of Ram devotees and said the city did not need the Samajwadi Party’s endorsement.
“Akhilesh Yadav should not talk about Ayodhya because it was during his regime that the celebration of Janmasthmi (birth of Lord Krishna) at police stations and jails was stopped and ‘kanwar yatra’ was banned,” he alleged.
‘Why does not Akhilesh Yadav, who is shedding crocodile tears for Ayodhya, come out in the open and support the idea of a movement for the Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi on the pattern of the Ram Janmabhoomi agitation and get the pride of Krishna Janmabhoomi restored?”
“We are doing our best on a war footing to improve the infrastructure in Mathura and Vrindavan, but Akhilesh Yadav cannot dare to take its name because he has no other agenda than to bow before ‘mullahs’ and ‘maulvis’,” Adityanath said.
Attacking the Congress as well, he said both the Samajwadi Party and the Congress tried to mislead people in the name of the Constitution during the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
“It was the Congress which strangulated the spirit of the Constitution drafted by Dr BR Ambedkar while imposing the Emergency in June 1975,” he said.
“Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lalu Prasad Yadav were also arrested by the then anti-Constitution regime of the Congress. Insulting the legacy of party patriarch the late Mulayam Singh Yadav, the same Samajwadi Party has now joined hands with the Congress,” he said.
In Hathras, the chief minister laid the foundation stone and inaugurated development projects involving an investment of over ₹500 crore. He claimed that unlike the past, a “totally peaceful” Moharram was observed across the state on June 26 and said safety and security need to be ensured first to foster economic development.
