They avoided, but now compelled to take Ram’s name: Yogi in Ayodhya

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday attacked the Samajwadi Party (SP) over the Ram temple issue and targeted the Congress government in Rajasthan for not doing enough during the second wave of Covid-19 to ensure the safe return of Uttar Pradesh’s 15,000 students from Kota. He added that these students were brought back home safely by the BJP government despite resistance by the Ashok Gehlot government.

Yogi Adityanath was addressing gatherings in Ayodhya and Gorakhpur where he distributed smartphones and tablets to about 3000 students.

“They used to avoid taking the name of Lord Ram. Now, they are compelled to take Ram’s name,” he said in an apparent reference to the Samajwadi Party in Ayodhya. He also inaugurated ₹49.74 lakh Integrated Traffic Management System for Ayodhya under which 10 prominent crossings in the city will have traffic signals, 14 will have public address systems and four will have free Wi-Fi systems.

Yogi Adityanath assured that Ayodhya would be developed into a world class city, so much so that people will say “muskuraiya ki app Ayodhya mein hai (Smile because you are in Ayodhya).”

The chief minister also laid the foundation stone of a Ayodhya Development Authority housing project that will come up on the 14-Kosi Parikrama route.

“Now, opposition leaders are also talking about visiting Ayodhya,” Yogi Adityanath said.

In Gorakhpur, he inaugurated 20 projects worth ₹62 crore. These included a hotel management institute.

Continuing his attack during the Ayodhya visit, Yogi said , “Under previous governments, there used to be riots every third day (in UP). Now, even after five years, there has been no riot.”

“Some people are seeing Lord Krishna in their dreams. Lord must be cursing these people as when they were in power, the first riot took place in Mathura. Then after sometime, Jawahar Bagh incident happened,” Yogi Adityanath said.

At an event organised at the Government Inter College in Ayodhya, chief minister distributed tablets and smartphones to students of Ram Manohar Lohia Awadh University, Saket PG College, Government Polytechnic and ITI among others.

He also talked about his government’s stern action against the mafia.

In Gorakhpur, smartphones and tablets were distributed to 1,000 students. Twenty-two students received tablets and smartphones on stage from the CM.

“We brought back 15,000 students of UP by sending buses despite opposition to Rajasthan’s Congress government,” he said on the occasion.

The chief minister said that the state government had decided to distribute smartphones and tablets to one crore students enrolled in undergraduate, postgraduate, ITIs, Polytechnic and other skill development courses. The drive began on December 25,the birth anniversary of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, when these gadgets were distributed to 60,000 students in Lucknow.

He said that free digital access with best curriculum content will also be provided free of cost to beneficiaries so that they can seek help in studies and prepare for competitive exams. The tablets and smartphones will also be provided with employment related information about state and central government schemes, he said.

In addition, the government has offered Abhyuday, free civil service and competitive exam coaching, both through offline and online. With such initiatives, students will no longer be required to go outside the state for preparation of competitive exams, he told the audience.

The chief minister said that in its almost five-year tenure, his government had given jobs to 4.5 lakh youth, and given self-employment to another 60 lakh, and was working relentlessly for the better future of the youth.

Describing the Omicron variant as less dangerous but highly contagious, the chief minister asked the crowd that students above 15 years of age should get vaccinated to avoid any untoward situation.