PRIYANKA’S FIRST AYODHYA VISIT LIKELY TOMORROW
TEMPLE TOWN CALLING Meetings, road show set to be part of her programme
LUCKNOW : After her recent Ganga Yatra from Prayagraj to Varanasi, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is likely to undertake her first-ever journey to Ayodhya on Wednesday as she launches the campaign for the Faizabad Lok Sabha constituency. She is likely to begin the campaign with a “darshan” at Hanuman Garhi temple.
LUCKNOW :After her recently concluded Ganga Yatra from Prayagraj to Varanasi, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is likely to undertake her first-ever journey to Ayodhya on Wednesday as she launches her campaign for the Faizabad Lok Sabha constituency in the Awadh region of Uttar Pradesh.
Priyanka is likely to begin her election campaign in the temple town with a ‘darshan’ at Hanuman Garhi temple. Later in the day, she will hold corner meetings and hold a road show in Ayodhya and Faizabad, the headquarters of Faizabad district that the Yogi Adityanath government has renamed as Ayodhya.
“Yes, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will reach Ayodhya on Wednesday morning. She may have ‘darshan’ at the Hanuman Garhi temple and some other temples in Ayodhya. She will hold corner meetings and a road show during her day long visit to the constituency,” said Ayodhya City Congress Committee president RP Singh. Ayodhya has remained in the political focus after the Vishwa Hindu Parishad intensified its agitation on the Ram temple issue in the mid-1980s.
Demolition of disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid structure on December 6, 1992, the “dharam sansads’ that the VHP has been organising demanding early construction of Ram temple coupled with the Hindutva agenda have kept the issue alive.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi too had visited the Hanuman Garhi temple for ‘darshan’ when he undertook ‘kisan yatra’ from Deoria to New Delhi in 2016 to turn the spotlight on issues concerning farmers. Priyanka’s visit is being considered politically significant in the backdrop of attempts by BJP leaders to keep the Ayodhya issue in focus. Besides carrying out development work, chief minister Yogi Adityanath has been frequently visiting Ayodhya. The Yogi government has recently decided to set up tallest statue of Lord Rama on the banks of Saryu in Ayodhya.
Asked whether Ram temple issue will help the BJP in Ayodhya, former state Congress chief Nirmal Khatri, who is now the party candidate from the Faizabad Lok Sabha seat, insists that the Ram temple issue does not matter for the local people.
“We won this seat in 2009 despite the BJP’s consistent attempts to keep the issue in political focus in successive assembly and parliamentary elections. Our focus is now on issues concerning development, the youth and the farmers. Loan waiver and menace of stray cattle have adversely affected the farmers and the people of the region are waiting to vote the BJP out of power now,” said Khatri, who had lost the seat to BJP in 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Khatri said the people and workers here were enthused about Priyanka’s visit.
“We are sure we will be able to convert the enthusiasm for her visit into votes,” said Khatri.
However, he added he was yet to get any official programme about the visit and so he was not sure whether she will travel by train or reach Ayodhya by other means.
Priy anka is likely to leave Faizabad on March 27 evening for Amethi. She will visit Amethi and Rae Bareli on March 28 and 29.