After completing the 72-hour campaigning ban imposed on him by the Election Commission for violation of Model Code of Conduct, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath offered prayers at Aliganj Hanuman temple on Hanuman Jayanti before addressing four election rallies on Friday.
Sources in the Bharatiya Janata Party said Yogi drove to the Aliganj temple and offered ‘prasad’ in the morning,
During the ban period, Yogi visited three Hanuman temples — Hanuman Setu temple in Lucknow, Hanuman Garhi in Ayodhya and Sankatmochan temple in Varanasi.
Yogi reiterated his Hindu identity as he defended his visits to temples during the ban. He tweeted that the visits should not be linked to politics as he was practising his right to faith enshrined in the Indian Constitution.
“The experience attained through darshan of Ram Lalla and Bajrang Bali at Hanuman Garhi and Sarayu Mata temples is difficult to express,” he said.
On Friday morning, Yogi tweeted, “BJP ideology is to respect constitutional institutions and democratic values. Have given respect to the order of EC for the past 72 hours and followed their instructions.”
Addressing Vijay Sankalp rallies in Sambhal, Firozabad, Mishrikh and Etawah, Yogi said that the first two phases of polling had set the tone and tenor of the outcome.
“The alliance is set to get a big zero. The BJP has gained ground and now it is responsibility of the people to ensure that the saffron flag flies high all the time,” he said.
In Sambhal, Yogi said that the region had a glorious past but some leaders reduced it to a region fostering goondas, anarchy and corruption.
“The BJP government has improved law and order and in the last two years, we have changed the face of Sambhal. Criminals have been sent to jail. In the next three years, we will further transform the area,” he said.
Yogi said that Samajwadi Party candidate in Rampur used derogatory language against Dr BR Ambedkar and now Mayawati was asking people to vote for him.
“A few caste-based parties have joined hands just to oust (Narendra) Modi. These parties do not have any principle or ideology and the only religion they follow is to make money and earn riches for themselves,” he said.
In these rallies. Yogi spoke about the achievements of the Modi government, saying that the guiding principle of the BJP government was ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’.
“Previously we had the Manmohan Singh government at the Centre that claimed that the first right on government resources was that of the minorities. On the contrary, the Modi government works for the welfare of all people. The BJP government does not differentiate while providing toilets, power connections or houses to the poor,” he said.
Before his rally at Kaila Devi Temple grounds in Asmauli in Sambhal, Yogi visited the local temple.
