Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday said there would be ‘Ram Rajya’ in the country very soon, indirectly indicating that the Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya will be completed by 2022.
“Dreams are always seen to be realized,” he said when asked if he would fulfill the dream of his mentor Mahant Avaidyanath, who was so closely associated with the temple movement.
Adityanath was interacting with daily Hindustan’s editor-in-chief Shashi Shekhar after inaugurating the ‘Hindustan Shikhar Samagam, an annual conclave, at a five-star hotel here.
On the deadline for the temple construction, the CM said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had put up a 2022 vision seeking to free the country from filth, poverty and anarchy and thereby establishing the ‘Ram Raj’ in the country.
When asked if the foundation stone for the temple would be laid by the time his government completes one year in office, Adityanath replied saying “We are working in that direction moving from ‘sankalp (resolution) to ‘siddhi’ (attainment) every day.”
Insisting that when intentions are pure, God too helps, he said, though in a different context, that nothing was impossible for a Yogi.
To a question if his recent visit to the Taj Mahal and wielding the broom to clean the historic monument that had been, of late, in a controversy, should be seen as his beginning of entering into a compromise and peace (read with the Muslim community), the CM said he had already made the beginning from Ayodhya.
“We will develop all tourist places, Ayodhya and Agra included,” he said.
On law and order
Talking about the growing police encounters in Uttar Pradesh, the chief minister said his government had given a free hand to the police to deal with criminals acting on its policy of zero tolerance on crime.
He claimed this was for the first time that criminals were in fear. “This is why criminals are now getting their bails cancelled while many others have surrendered to police or in courts not only in UP but in other states also,” he said.
He blamed the previous governments for demoralizing the police force by its gross misuse.
Claiming that 1.46 lakh posts of police constables and sub-inspectors were lying vacant in UP, he said all the posts will be filled within next three years.
Around 47,000 of them will be filled by the end of this year only, he claimed.
“We will also reinstate the 54 PAC companies that the previous government had abolished.
When pointed out that controversies had been raised over the functioning of the force from time to time, he said the PAC was a commendable force.
Replying to a question from the audience as to what the government was doing to save women from domestic violence, the CM said, “The 75 rescue vans, one each in all the districts, had been deployed for this purpose, apart from launching the dedicated helplines.”
He claimed his government was trying to create a lot of job opportunities for the youth in the private sector by creating a favourable climate for the industries in terms of a better law and order and infrastructure like expressways, regional air connectivity and 24X7 electricity.