A top Uttar Pradesh minister whose department organised a big investor meet in Lucknow today, where the government said foundation stones were laid for projects worth Rs 80,000 crore, referred to the state as the land of 'Kashi and Mathura' and said UP was not known by 'Saifai' or 'Amethi' any more. Saifai is the home turf of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav while Amethi is the erstwhile stronghold of the Congress from where Rahul Gandhi was MP between 2014 and 2019.
Disputes over the mosque in Kashi or Varanasi and Mathura have been in the headlines in the last month with court battles being fought over the status of these mosques located right next to prominent temples, with litigants even asking for permission to pray inside Varanasi's Gyanvapi Mosque.
Nand Gopal Nandi, the Cabinet Minister for Industrial Development in the Uttar Pradesh government, made the remarks in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi - the chief guest at the function and Yogi Adityanath, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister.
"Uttar Pradesh is not known by Amethi or Saifai, but by Ayodhya, Kashi, Mathura and Kushinagar. People across the whole world who believe in Lord Krishna, Lord Ram, Baba Viswanath and Lord Buddha are happy with UP's ancient identity being restored, and they express their happiness. Only one emotion rises in their mind - 'Raghukul reet jahan ke hain Ram Ramaiya, jis dharti pe janme Kishan Kanhaiya, desh hi nahin, poore vishwa mein sabse vishesh hai, ye apna Uttar Pradesh hai'," Mr Nandi said in his speech welcoming the Prime Minister and other dignitaries to the function.
The minister's remarks came a day after Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat called for a "path through mutual agreement" on the controversy over the filming of the Gyanvapi mosque in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi.
Hindu and Muslim petitioners are fighting a legal battle over court-ordered filming of the mosque complex to check whether there are idols of Hindu Gods and Goddesses and whether a "Shivling" has been found, as claimed by the Hindu petitioners.
"We had special devotion towards some places, and we spoke about them, but we shouldn't bring out a new matter daily. Why should we escalate the dispute? We have devotion towards Gyanvapi and doing something as per that, it's alright. But why look for a Shivling in every masjid?" said the chief of the RSS, the BJP's ideological mentor.
The RSS chief's statement defuses weeks of comments by right-wing groups and leaders that indicated the matter could turn into street mobilisation, making some draw parallels with the demolition of the Babri Masjid in UP's Ayodhya in 1992.
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