LUCKNOW: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat held a 30-minute meeting with chief minister Yogi Adityanath at Bharti Bhawan, the Sangh office in Lucknow, late Thursday. The meeting assumed significance in the wake of high-stakes assembly elections early next year.
While RSS and BJP leaders remained tight-lipped about the one-on-one, it’s learnt that chief minister Yogi Adityanath gave his feedback on the prevailing political situation and welfare measures taken up by his government in the last four-and-a-half years. Covid management too figured prominently in the meeting. The RSS boss is said to have given his suggestions to Yogi, who is considered the undisputed face of BJP in the forthcoming UP elections.
Bhagwat reached Lucknow after visiting Ayodhya, where the Ram temple is being constructed. The meeting, not surprisingly, lent traction to the theory that BJP was keen to step up the clamour around Ram Temple, besides projecting nationalism as a potent tool to counter a belligerent opposition in the run-up to 2022 elections.
The RSS chief’s visit to Ayodhya and Lucknow comes amidst the Opposition escalating pressure on BJP on a host of issues, including farmers’ protest and the recent custodial death of a Dalit in Agra. Yogi has been receiving strong endorsement from top Sangh functionaries in the recent times, especially over handling of Corona and the vaccination drive.
