In Gorakhpur, Modi hails sants for joining govt’s health initiatives

GORAKHPUR: PM Narendra Modi praised contemporary India’s top sants for their “growing involvement” with the Centre’s welfare initiatives, particularly in the field of hygiene.

“Our sants today are no longer confined to talking and preaching spirituality. They are voluntarily associated with social missions like Swacch Bharat Abhiyan,” he said at Gorakhnath temple on Friday. “It is a welcome development.”

He was in the city to lay the foundation stone of an All India Institute of Medical Sciences and a fertiliser plant. He also paid obeisance to Gorakhnath, the idol at the monastic shrine.

The 11th-century temple played a key role in mobilising people in eastern UP during the 1990s Ram Janmabhoomi movement but the PM avoided any talk of the right-wing mission to build a temple in Lord Rama’s birthplace at Ayodhya.

Modi, instead, chose to praise the new-age sants for their involvement with the Centre’s pro-people initiatives. At the ‘sant samagam’, he lauded the contributions of Hindu leader Mahant Avaidyanath, saying the local MP who died two years ago was an embodiment of benevolence.

“I knew Mahant Avaidyanath even before I was in politics,” the PM said. “I learned the value of compassion from him.” He praised local BJP MP Yogi Adityanath, who is also Avaidyanath’s successor at the shrine. “The temple has a great legacy and has always upheld its great age-old traditions. I know for sure that no person returns hungry from Gorakhnath mandir,” Modi said.

Political observers attached special significance to the PM’s Gorakhpur visit marked primarily by giving a boost to healthcare and job generation. The Swacch Bharat Abhiyan launched 21 months ago covers 4,041 statutory cities and towns across India, striving to clean their roads and improve infrastructure.