Lucknow, Nov 14 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister YogiAdityanath today attacked opposition parties, saying byopposing "Hindutva" they are objecting to "development" and"bhartiyata" (Indianness).
Hindutava is not synonymous with any religion orcommunity but with nationalism, he told reporters beforeembarking on a visit to Ayodhya to campaign for the upcominglocal body elections.
"Hindutva and development are complementary to eachother... Those who are opposing Hindutva are in fact opposingdevelopment and bhartiyata," Adityanath said.
Asked about opposition parties linking his speeches andwork to Hindutva and not development, he said, "It isridiculous that the forces which have encouraged dynasticpolitics and casteism in the name of secularism and indulgedin corruption are talking like this."On reports about former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav's move toinstall a grand statue of Lord Krishna in Etawah, he said theSP chief also "wants to install a statue of Duryodhan (thechief antagonist of Mahabharata) and this shows where he wantsto take the state".
"They are not able to get rid of their 'sanskar' and havesaid they will install a statue of Duryodhan," he said.
Adityanath said there is no doubt that the BJP will formgovernment in 2019 and "it will perform well in the urbanlocal bodies elections too".
Asked if he will celebrate Holi in Mathura, the chiefminister said: "Why not." "It will be an honour for us if the places identifiedwith festivals are restored to their traditional grandeur," hesaid.
He alleged Ayodhya was neglected by previous governmentsand the people were afraid of going there.
The BJP government has undertaken the task to develop itthrough projects worth Rs 137 crore, he said. PTI SAB NAVGVS.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.