Those who don’t know traditions can’t understand Ganga’s value : CM
PRAYAGRAJ: Hitting back at former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav over his comments on the Ganga yatra, chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday said that those oblivious of the country’s rich traditions, and those who speak the language of an enemy, cannot understand the value of the Ganga.
Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav had on Tuesday termed the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh an “event management company” that had now launched a new event, ‘Ganga yatra’.
Yadav had said the government had only organised inaugurations and mahotsavs in the last three years.
In retaliation, Adityanath said, “Jinhe Bharat ki sampada aur sanskriti kaa gyan nahin aur jinhone desh ki keemat pe rajniti ki ho, jinhone garibon ko unki suvidhyaon se vanchit kiya ho, un logon se ummeed karna ki vey log Ganga ke arth ko samjh paayenge bekar hai” (One cannot expect those who know nothing about Indian traditions and culture and who have made their political career at the cost of the country and deprived the poor of their facilities, to understand the importance of the Ganga).
Adityanath was speaking at a public meeting at United College of Engineering ground, Naini, on the outskirts of Prayagraj.
For his part, the SP chief told reporters in Azamgarh on Wednesday that crime was on the rise in the state, but the chief minister had gone on Ganga yatra.
Adityanath’s comments came on a day on which he welcomed the Ganga yatra in Prayagraj, took part in Ganga aarti later in the evening and met prominent seers, including Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas head Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, in the Magha Mela area. He purportedly assured Das that those who had played a key role in the Ram temple movement would get a place in the trust to be formed by the Centre for construction of the temple.
The Ganga yatra, which began in Ballia on Monday, entered Prayagraj district in Baskadi after crossing over from Mirzapur on Wednesday afternoon.
Allahabad MP Rita Bahuguna Joshi welcomed this leg of the yatra being led by UP minister Mahendra Singh at Baskadi.
From Mirzapur, the CM flew in a helicopter to the Reserve Police Lines in Prayagraj, headed to the Circuit House and went to the
Magh Mela area on the Sangam banks.
Here, he met a number of prominent seers camping in the tent city, including Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, Shankaracharya of Puri’s Govardhan Peeth Swami Nischalanand Saraswati, Mahamandaleshwar Santosh Das ‘Satua’ Baba and Swami Vasudevanand Saraswati.
Police detained a few Samajwadi Party workers at Karma police outpost under Ghoorpur police station while they were on their way to the CM’s event at United College of Engineering and register their protest.
Samajwadi Party workers led by the party’s former state secretary Sandeep Patel and former district secretary Shrikant Yadav were detained for the night, said Virendra Rai, the station officer of Ghoorpur police station.
Later at night, the Ganga yatra reached the Magh Mela area. The CM took part in the Ganga aarti and pujan before going to see the cultural programme ‘Chalo Mann Ganga Yamuna Teer’ in the Magh Mela area. He also saw the Ganga Yatra exhibition before heading to the Circuit House. The CM will perform ‘Ganga Puja’ at Magh Mela area on Thursday morning before heading to Lucknow. The Ganga yatra will then head towards Kaushambi.