A temple dedicated to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has been built on the Faizabad-Prayagraj highway at Maurya Ka Purwa village under Ayodhya district. The temple has been built by a local resident Prabhakar Maurya who says he is deeply impressed by the CM.
In the temple, Mr. Maurya has placed a statue of Mr. Adityanath wearing saffron robes and carrying a bow and arrow — a depiction matching Lord Ram. Prayers are offered in the morning and evening and after the prayers, prasad is distributed to the worshippers.
Maurya Ka Purwa village is roughly 20 kilometres from the area where a grand temple of Lord Ram is under construction, popularly known as Ram Janmabhoomi.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has said that it is not very right to install an idol and temple for a living person. “Yogi Adityanath is the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh; he is doing remarkable work and is providing good governance to the State. But temples are dedicated to gods and goddesses, not of living persons,” said Rakesh Tripathi, U.P. BJP spokesperson. The party added that it is the personal dedication of the individual.
Recently, a temple dedicated to Prime Minister Modi also came up in Maharashtra’s Pune.
The Opposition has reacted sharply to the news with former Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav alleging that Mr. Adityanath is two steps ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in publicity.
“He has moved two steps ahead of him...Now the question is, who is the first ( ye to unse bhi do kadam aagey nikle...ab sawal ye hai ki pehle kaun)?” said Mr. Yadav on Twitter.
