LUCKNOW: Known for his aggressive pro-Hindutva stand for many years, Yogi Adityanath could be the second chief minister to offer prayers at the Ram Lalla temple in Ayodhya after the demolition of the Babri mosque on December 6, 1992. Rajnath Singh was the first chief minister who offered prayers at the site in 2002. No CM has, in the past 15 years, visited the disputed site to offer prayers.
Yogi, who would review the Faizabad-Ayodhya division development works on May 31, will also attend the ‘janmotsav’ (birthday celebrations) of Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, who is the president of the Ramjanmabhumi Nyas.
Yogi is likely visit to the makeshift temple in Ayodhya would come a day after BJP patriarchs LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi along with Union minister Uma Bharati appear in Babri demolition case in Lucknow.
The CM would be staying for more than 8 hours in Ayodhya-Faizabad. He will fly to Faizabad at around 8.35am. From there, he is expected to straightaway go to Hanuman Garhi and offer prayers at the makeshift temple. He is also likely to visit Saryu ghat and inspect arrangements for pilgrims.
Thereafter, the CM will hold a review meeting before attending the ‘janmotsav’ of Mahant Nritya Gopal Das in the evening. The CM is also likely to visit Digambar Akhada, whose earlier mahant Ramchandra Paramhans spearheaded the Ayodhya movement and fought till his last breath for the construction of the Ram Temple at the disputed site.
Both Paramhans and the CM’s guru, then Gorakhnath temple head priest Mahant Avaidyanath, and Yogi, who now heads the Gorakhnath temple, had worked jointly for several years to make the Ayodhya movement a success. Mahant Avaidyanath was the chairperson of the VHP-backed high-powered committee for Ram temple construction.
When Paramhans gave a call for another Ayodhya movement in 2002, Yogi, who was then the second term Gorakhpur MP, had also made an attempt to march to Ayodhya. However, the police force had then arrested him at Gorakhpur border itself.
Though the officials are tight-lipped over whether the CM would be offering prayers at the makeshift temple, those close to him are confident that he would certainly visit the temple. If he does so, Yogi would go on to yet again present himself as a Hindu hardliner, an image he has been carrying with him for years.
With the Ayodhya dispute pending in the Supreme Court and Hindu organisations including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) mounting pressure for the construction of a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya, Yogi’s visit is sure to re-ignite the issue.