NRI delegation meets CM Yogi Adityanath, shares view on Ram temple

LUCKNOW: Amid the clamour for the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, a group of NRIs from 12 countries are scheduled to visit the temple town on Wednesday. On Tuesday, 108 NRIs met UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath and apprised him about their views on the construction of the temple.

Government sources said that the delegation met the CM at his residence on Wednesday evening and thanked him for starting development works in the temple town. “The 108 delegates from the International Hindu Economic Forum met the CM and discussed the various developmental works that have been started there by the BJP government. They also congratulated the CM for organising a Deepotsav there on Diwali. The CM has invited them to visit Allahabad in January-February next year to attend the Kumbh Mela,” said an official.

Before meeting the CM, the NRI delegation met the top leaders of Vishwa Hindu Parishad at its headquarters in New Delhi. Sources said that the discussion hovered around the legal battle around the vexed issue of temple construction and its implications on the electoral prospects of the BJP.

When contacted, VHP national spokesperson, Vinod Bansal confirmed that a delegation of NRIs did met the parishad leaders before leaving for Lucknow. “The demand for construction of Ram temple is rising, not only within the country but also abroad,'' Bansal said.

The development comes nearly a fortnight after CM Yogi Adityanath attended a Sant Sammelan in Ayodhya and asked seers to keep patience vis-avis construction of Ram temple movement, saying they needed to respect democracy and have faith in the judiciary. Earlier, a delegation of seers from Ayodhya had met the CM after senior BJP leader and union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said that the BJP would contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections on the issue of development and not religion.