'Kashi, Mathura Waking Up After Ayodhya's Ram Temple': Yogi Adityanath

"This was the first time that the last Friday namaz before Eid was not held on the streets," he also said.

Uttar Pradesh (UP) Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, on Sunday, 29 May, said Kashi, Mathura, Vindhyavasini Dham, and Naimish Dham appear to be waking up after the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

"After the beginning of the construction of the grand Ram temple in Ayodhya, the waking up (angadai) of Kashi is before us. All pilgrimage centres like Mathura Vrindavan, Vindhyavasini Dham, Naimish Dham are once again waking up. In this situation, we all have to move forward once again," the chief minister said while speaking at the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) one-day state executive meeting in Lucknow.

Yogi Adityanath's comments come amid legal proceedings in Mathura and Varanasi, also known as Kashi, over the temple-mosque disputes.

Talking about the removal of loudspeakers from religious places, he pointed out, "You must have seen how the unnecessary noise was got rid of."

Adityanath also said there had been no communal riot in the state and added that for the first time in UP, namaz on the last Friday before Eid was not held on the roads.

"Ram Navami and Hanuman Jayanti were held peacefully. This was the first time that the last Friday namaz before Eid was not held on the streets. For namaz, there is a place of worship, the mosques where their religious programmes can be held," he said.

Referring to the inauguration of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple Corridor, Adityanath said around one lakh devotees visit Kashi every day and the place was proving the significance of its name, which was in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision.

More About the Meeting

This was the first state executive meeting of the BJP after the Assembly polls in UP.

Yogi Adityanath asked party workers to start preparing for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and work on the target of winning 75 out of the 80 seats in the state. The BJP had won 62 Lok Sabha seats in UP in 2019, while its ally Apna Dal (S) had won two seats.

"We have to prepare the ground for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from now only. We should move ahead with the target of winning 75 seats," he said.

"With people's help and by dint of our hard work during COVID, we got better results in the Assembly polls. In the 2024 general elections, under the leadership of PM Modi, we have to march ahead with the target of winning 75 seats in Uttar Pradesh," he added.

He also congratulated PM Modi for completing eight years as prime minister, adding that with the 2024 roadmap, the BJP would succeed in achieving its target.

Adityanath said that UP's perception had changed after 2017, and the state was leading in over four dozen schemes.