Questioning the impartiality of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, senior Congress leader and former Uttarakhand minister Kishore Upadhaya said that if Yogi continued to be like a Mahant of a temple, how can he do justice with people belonging to other religious faiths.
“Yogi ji should choose between the posts of CM and Mahant of Gorakshnath Peeth. How can a saint look at people of other religious belief with the same eye. Either Yogi remains a Mahant of Gorakhsnath or continue as the CM, but continuing on both posts creates confusion and controversy,” he said.
Upadhyay also raked up the issue of Ayodhya alleging that when there were BJP governments both at the Centre and the state, why are the top leaders not ready to solve the vexed issue and start construction of Ram temple.
“As a Hindu I have unflinching faith in Ram and other Gods and Goddess. But the BJP since 1984, has only been interested in using lord Ram for its own vested interests,” he said.
Addressing media persons in lucknow on Wednesday, Upadhaya, who is the Provincial Returning Officer(PRO) of Congress organisational poll for eastern UP, said that he visited Ayodhya and took stock of the situation there. “How can the BJP still keep lord Ram in prison in Ayodhya,” he said.
Hitting out at the BJP, Upadhyay said that earlier the BJP used lord Ram as a political tool and now it was doing the same with Ganga.
“In Uttarakhand and other states nothing has been done in the name of ‘Namame Gange’ project for the past three years but the issue is being raised at all political platforms,” he said.
Talking about ‘Swacch Bharat’ campaign launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Congress leader said, “People can see the situation in Ayodhya, Gorakhpur and Varanasi where mounds of filth are piled up near temples which turns awful during the monsoons. If the BJP government cannot clean the area around Ram temple (Ayodhya), near Gorakshnath temple (Gorakhpur) and Kashi Vishwanath temple (Varanasi) they cannot claim themselves to be a party of Hindus,” he said.
Talking about Congress organisational polls, he said that all workers – big or small – will participate in this election.
Commenting on the performance of BJP government in UP and Uttarakhand, Upadhaya said that both governments are doing nothing for the people and were only trying to encash the schemes and projects launched by their previous regimes.