Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, who was banned from electioneering for 72 hours by the Election Commission of India (ECI) over inflammatory remarks, is making the most of it by going on a whirlwind tour of famous temples across the state.

However, his political opponents including Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Samajwadi Party (SP) presidents Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav respectively, are fuming at the EC over the wide media coverage being given to these temple visits.

Over the past three-days, during the 72 hour prohibition that commenced from 0600 hrs on Tuesday, Adityanath has visited Lord Ram and Hanuman temples in Lucknow and Ayodhya.

On the first day, the CM visited the revered Hanuman Setu Temple situated on the banks of river Gomti in Lucknow and offered prayers. This was barely an hour before union home minister and local BJP candidate Rajnath Singh filed his nomination papers from the state capital amid a massive roadshow.

The saffron party leaders have defended the CM’s visit to temples saying that the ECI had restrained Adityanath from public speaking or media interaction, and not from offering prayers.

On the second day of the ban on Wednesday, the CM visited the Ramjanmabhoomi in Ayodhya and also met prominent saints and seers, including Ramjanmabhoomi Nyas chief Mahant Nrityagopal Das.

Adityanath also had lunch at a dalit household in the temple town. The family had been provided the accommodation under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

Today, Adityanath is scheduled to visit the famous Sankat Mochan temple in Varanasi before returning to Lucknow.

Meanwhile, Akhilesh Yadav has criticised news channels for covering his temple visits during the ECI ban. Interacting with the media at party headquarters last evening, where he announced the candidature of Poonam Sinha – the wife of actor turned politician Shatrughan Sinha, from Lucknow, Yadav said that action should be taken against news channels, which were covering Adityanath’s temple visits.

Mayawati has also put the ECI in the dock over Adityanath’s temple sojourns. The BSP president was also handed over a campaigning ban of 48 hours, along with the CM, for breaching the model code of conduct.

In her Twitter feed on Thursday, Mayawati noted that despite the ECI ban, Adityanath was touring different towns and temples, and indulging in ‘theatrics’ of eating at the dalit households for gaining political mileage out of the media coverage, while the ECI kept mum.

Apart from Adityanath and Mayawati, two more politicians in the fray - BJP’s Maneka Gandhi and SP’s Mohd Azam Khan from Sultanpur and Rampur constituencies respectively - were also prohibited from electioneering for 48 hours and 72 hours over objectionable speeches made in their public meetings.

During their gag period, Mayawati, Khan and Gandhi stayed away from public gatherings unlike Adityanath.