It is PM Modi's dream to make Ayodhya the most beautiful city, Yogi Adityanath (File)
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday said it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dream to develop Ayodhaya as "Vedic Ramayana City".
"Our generation is not only fortunate to see the beginning of the Ram Temple's construction in Ayodhya but also attend the historic event. In the 500-year-struggle, many saints died with a dream to see the construction start. I thank PM Modi who implemented the ideology of Ram Rajya," Yogi Adityanath said while addressing the fourth "Deepotsav", an event to mark Diwali, in Ayodhya.
The prime minister had performed the "bhoomi pujan" of the Ram temple in Ayodhya on August 5 this year, bringing to fruition the BJP's "mandir" movement that defined its politics for three decades.
The chief minister said earlier when he would visit Ayodhya, people used to say, "Yogiji, Ram mandir nirman karwaiye (Yogiji get the construction of Ram temple done)."
"I would only ask them to trust Modiji," he added.
"It is the dream of PM Modi to develop Ayodhya as Vedic Ramayana City and for it to be the most beautiful," the chief minister said.
"PM Modi himself came to begin the construction of the Ram temple while following all COVID-19 protocols and gave strength to the concept of Ram Rajya, where there is no discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, religion, language, region, area, etc. There is honour and security for all. He introduced schemes like Ayushman Bharat, free cylinders, power connection, toilets for the poor and paved the way for development," Yogi Adityanath added.
The chief minister said there would have been a grand "Deepotsav" event this year had there be no pandemic.
"Countries like Korea, Thailand, Nepal, Japan, Fiji had connections to Ayodhya earlier as well but Deepotsav showed a modern way for them to relate to the city," he said.
Hailing the prime minister for India's fight against the coronavirus, the chief minister said, "We are fighting strongly under his leadership and we will defeat the virus."