Back from Ban, Yogi Adityanath Defends Temple Visits, Says Nobody Can Question Right to Faith

Reacting to the political slugfest that erupted on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath‘s Ayodhya visit to offer prayers at temples despite facing the 72-hour campaigning ban imposed on him by the Election Commission, the CM on Friday said that it is his Constitutional right to have faith and nobody can stop him.

Banned for his ‘divisive’ comments in a rally in Meeut, Adityanath on Thursday reached Ayodhya to offer prayers at the makeshift Ram Lalla temple and the Hanuman Garhi temple. On reaching, he first visited a Dalit settlement and had lunch at the house of Mahavir, a beneficiary of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

According to party officials, Adityanath was not campaigning but made “personal visits” to temples, a claim the CM reiterated in a tweet on Friday. “My faith in Ramallah, Bajrang Bali and Mahadev should not be mixed with politics in any sense. It is my Constitutional right to have faith in my religion and nobody can stop me from doing that,” he said.

Earlier on Tuesday, when the 72-hour ban imposed on him started, the CM managed to stay in the limelight by visiting the famous Hanuman Setu temple in Lucknow where he recited the Hanuman Chalisa. Inside the temple, the BJP leader was filmed folding his hands before the deity and praying, surrounded by TV cameras. The Chief Minister did not speak to the media as the poll body had also barred him from media interactions.

The EC had imposed a 72-hour ban on the UP chief minister in light of his statements comparing the Lok Sabha elections to a contest between 'Ali' and Bajrang Bali. He also referred to the Muslim League as a “green virus”, inviting the ire of the Opposition. The poll body also took cognizance of BSP supremo Mayawati's Deoband speech, where she appealed to Muslim voters to not split their votes.

The EC in its order said it was convinced that both the leaders “made highly provocative speech which has the tone and tenor to aggravate existing differences or create mutual hatred between different religious communities”.