Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that Swami Vivekananda changed the world’s perspective on India in the Chicago Convention leading to a changed global perception about the nation and its religious power.
“It was the compelling arguments about India’s rich tradition, culture and heritage by Swami Vivekananda in Chicago that changed global perception about India,” Yogi said after Governor Ram Naik unveiled the statue of Swami Vivekananda at Raj Bhawan on Wednesday.
Yogi lauded the constructive role of the Governor and said that he had turned Raj Bhawan into a ‘Jan Bhawan’.
“The Governor’s role in governance was more of a guide than a Governor,” he said.
Speaking about Naik’s book ‘Charavaiti, Charavaiti’, the Chief Minister said that the book elaborated Swami Vivekananda’s message of ‘Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached’.
Addressing the audience, Naik said that Swami Vivekananda’s thoughts and teachings were like a power house which inspired millions. “They (Vivekananda’s teachings) are relevant to the youth of this era too. The country will move on the path of progress only if it follows the teachings of Swamiji,” he said.
In the programme, Naik announced that Raj Bhawan would be open to the public for viewing Swami Vivekananda’s statue from 5 to 7 pm from Thursday to Sunday.
“Didn’t realise how the five years have passed as a Governor, but today is a golden day of my tenure. The Raj Bhawan of Uttar Pradesh has become the first Raj Bhawan of India to have a statue of Vivekananda. I feel proud,” Ram Naik said .
The Governor further said: “My tenure is about to end on July 22, and I will be carrying very pleasant memories from here. It was my proposal to rename Allahabad as Prayagraj and Faizabad as Ayodhya.”
Elaborating further about his achievements, Naik said that Bal Gangadhar Tilak gave the slogan of ‘Swaraj is my birthright’ in the Lucknow convention of Congress.
“After 101 years of that momentous occasion, a programme is organised and the day has been recorded in history. For the first time, the Foundation Day of UP was celebrated in 2018 and the same day a commendable programme, One District, One Product, was launched,”
Several UP ministers including Laxmi Narayan Chaudhary, Siddharth Nath Singh, Ashutosh Tandon, Manohar Lal Kori, Suresh Pasi, Mayor Sanyukta Bhatia, Chief Secretary Anup Chandra Pandey, Additional Chief Secretary (Information) Awanish Awasthi, Additional Chief Secretary (Culture) Jitendra Kumar, Hemant Rao and others were present.
