Yogi met RSS functionaries to discuss Kumbh mela.
At a meeting with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in New Delhi Tuesday, top RSS functionaries said that the next Kumbh Mela in the state should be organised on a “grand scale” as a “religious and cultural event”. They further said that volunteers from various offshoots of the RSS will participate in the mega event.
The Kumbh Mela is scheduled to be held in Allahabad early next year, close to the Lok Sabha elections.
Sources said RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, who was also present at the meeting, suggested to Adityanath that government programmes related to farmers and deprived sections be expedited and made more accessible.
Bhagwat praised the wheat procurement centre model of the UP government asked the chief minister to maintain focus on the upliftment of farmers and deprived sections including Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
At a separate meeting with RSS Sarkaryavah Suresh Bhayya Joshi, it was suggested to Adityanath that amenities for the public be developed in 60 sq. km area of the Sangam in Allahabad, said sources. While numerous priests from northern and central India visit the Kumbh mela every year, the turnout from the south has been low. At the meeting, it was discussed that priests from south India be specially invited to participate next year, sources said. People from nearly 190 countries are expected to be invited as well.
Sources said Adityanath also met some Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leaders because VHP have planned a “Dharm Sansad” of priests in Allahabad during the Kumbh. That everyone should wait for the Supreme Court’s judgment on the Ram temple issue, was also discussed briefly, sources added.
Later, a coordination meeting between the state government, organisations of BJP and various wings of the RSS was held in Lucknow. RSS’s Sah Sarkaryavah Krishnagopal and Dattatreya Hosabale were present, apart from Adityanath, deputy chief ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma, and BJP state president Mahendra Nath Pandey. Sources said feedback related to the functioning of the government was discussed and the need for more coordination between the government and organisation and redressal of cadre workers’ grievances was stressed upon. Sources said it was also suggested that differences within the government and with the organisation be avoided.
Social engineering was also reportedly part of the discussions, keeping the Lok Sabha elections and BJP’s recent losses in the bypolls in mind.