Probably for the first time in the annals of independent India a cabinet meeting of the state government will be held in a temple complex as Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has plans to hold the meeting of his cabinet at Kashi Vishwanath Temple complex on December 16.
In this meeting, along with the chief minister, both Deputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dr Dinesh Sharma as well as other ministers and officials will be present.
This meeting will be held two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor on December 13, during his two-day visit to his parliamentary constituency. On December 14, the prime minister is likely to have a meeting with all the chief ministers of Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states from the Kashi Vishwanath Dham.
This will be the second time when the cabinet meeting will be held outside Lucknow. In 2019, Yogi had held his cabinet meeting on the banks of Sangam during Prayagraj Kumbh Mela.
A senior cabinet minister told ‘The Pioneer’ that with this decision the BJP had made an attempt to tame eastern Uttar Pradesh and send a message across the political spectrum that after Lucknow, Varanasi was the second capital of the state.
Before the cabinet meeting on December 16, the chief minister along with all the ministers will have a darshan of Baba Vishwanath.
The chief minister will personally oversee the arrangements of Kashi Vishwanath Dham inauguration as well as other programmes therefore he will stay put in Varanasi from December 8 to December 16.