No politics behind meeting with Sri Sri, says Yogi

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath described his recent meeting with Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar – his second since November – as a personal meeting that had no political motive.

“No politics should be seen behind the meeting,” Yogi said at a press conference at the UP BJP office on Sunday without elaborating further.

The spiritual guru has been making efforts to thrash an out-of-court settlement on the Ayodhya issue and his meetings with Adityanath, a staunch votary of the temple at Ayodhya, but the CM has stayed clear of the subject.

Adityanath spoke of his long association with the AoL founder.

Earlier, the spiritual guru has visited Varanasi, Gorakhpur and Lucknow besides several other places as part of his ‘dowry-free society’ campaign.

Last week, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar had held a meet at the residence of politician Luv Bhargava where he met Salman Nadwi, dean of Lucknow-based Islamic seminary Nadwatul Ulama, who was initially a part of his efforts to build a consensus on Ayodhya issue.

However, in a sudden U-turn, Nadwi pulled out of the Ayodhya initiative citing roadblocks to his peace moves. Earlier in November, the AoL founder had met Adityanath in Luckow before visiting Ayodhya. He had then described his meeting as a “courtesy call”.

“The government is not a party to the Ayodhya dispute. We would welcome attempts to come to a negotiated settlement but we are very clear that if mediation fails, all must abide by the court verdict,” an official had said after the meeting.