War of words over Gkp, Saifai fests continues

LUCKNOW There seems to be no end to the war of words between chief minister Yogi Adityanath and his predecessor Akhilesh Yadav over the Saifai Mahotsav and the Gorakhpur Mahotsav.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday counterattacked Adityanath over his Saturday’s comment “Gorakhpur Mahotsav isn’t the festival of one family.”

“CM Yogi shouldn’t have issued a clarification on the Gorakhpur festival,” Akhilesh said on Sunday.

He made the comment at the Janeshwar Mishra Trust office in Lucknow. The Saifai Mahotsav, an annual cultural extravaganza, was not held in the Yadav family’s ancestral village this time. The Gorakhpur fest in its new avatar concluded on Saturday. Gorakhpur is the hometown of Yogi Adityanath.

Adityanath had also said: “The Gorakhpur Mahotsav can’t be likened to a festival in any other place. But it’s true that unlike the festival (Saifai Mahotsav), there was no rowdyism here. Earlier, only one village had a monopoly on festivals. That monopoly has ended.”

For his part, Akhilesh also said on Sunday: “For us Samajwadis, all the 75 districts in the state are VVIP districts, not just Gorakhpur. Festivals should be held in all districts to promote art, craft and culture. The Gorakhpur festival should have been bigger than the Saifai festival.”

The previous day, Akhilesh had said: “I have no problem with the Gorakhpur Mahotsav, but it could not match the class of the Saifai event. I will request the chief minister to jack up the government budget for it. If he cannot even increase the budget for his native place, one can imagine what kind of a weak chief minister he is.”

On January 7, Akhilesh spoke on the Gorakhpur festival for the first time at a press conference and said: “Now, ours (SP regime) and this government are on the same page (as the government is sponsoring the Gorakhpur festival in the CM’s hometown). Just dig out old records of BJP leaders for what they had said about the Saifai festival.”

Both the Gorakhpur festival and the Saifai Mahotsav have had their share of public controversies. The Saifai festival was scaled up whenever the Samajwadi Party was in power in UP. Top artistes from ‘Bollywood’ and abroad performed here.

However, it was not held last year because of the UP assembly elections. Nor was it organised this year.

The Gorakhpur festival too is not new.

But this is the first time that it has hit the headlines.

:

THE SAIFAI MAHOTSAV, AN ANNUAL CULTURAL EXTRAVAGANZA, WAS NOT HELD IN THE YADAV FAMILY’S ANCESTRAL VILLAGE THIS TIME. THE GORAKHPUR FEST IN ITS NEW AVATAR CONCLUDED ON SAT