In a first, Adityanath's cabinet to meet at Kumbh Mela
For the first time after being made the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath will chair a cabinet meeting outside the state capital Lucknow. Adityanath and his cabinet ministers will attend a meeting at the ongoing Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj and are expected to take a dip in the holy confluence later. Here are the details.
Adityanath and ministers to meet at Kumbh's Sector 1 area
Suhas LY, district magistrate (Prayagraj) told HT special arrangements have been made for the cabinet meet. The meeting will be held at Sector 1 of the Kumbh Mela. After arriving at Bamrauli airport, the 24 ministers, including deputy chief ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma, will head towards religious fair. They will offer prayers at Akshayvat and Hanuman temple later in the day.
Bollywood movie 'Uri' to be screened for ministers
The ministers will also attend a special screening of Vicky Kaushal's movie Uri: The Surgical Strike. They will watch the Aditya Dhar directorial in a mobile theater, it has been learned. However, the agenda of the meeting has been kept under wraps. The Adityanath government spend nearly Rs. 4,200 crore to make the fair grand with millions flocking Prayagraj for a holy dip.
Are cabinet meetings usually held outside Lucknow?
The events of Tuesday qualify as one of the rare occasions when a cabinet meeting was held outside Lucknow. In 1962, Govind Ballabh Pant-led Congress government met at Nainital (now in Uttarakhand). In 2003, Mayawati's cabinet met at State Public Library in Prayagraj (formerly Allahabad).
Akhilesh Yadav visited Kumbh, spoke about religious unity
The Kumbh Mela has already been turned into a political hotbed. On Sunday, former UP CM and Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav made a surprise visit to the fair. After bathing in the Sangam of rivers Ganga, Yamuna, and mythical Saraswati, Yadav said people came to Kumbh due to their religious faiths. He said while BJP wants to divide people, SP united them.
On Ayodhya issue, Yadav has a suggestion for Adityanath
On Adityanath's statement that he can solve the Ram temple issue in 24 hours, Yadav said, "He (Adityanath) should first save farmers in the next 90 days from the onslaught of bulls, which are ruining crops."
Meanwhile, Priyanka Gandhi may also visit Kumbh with brother Rahul
Politics in UP, which sends 80 MPs to Lok Sabha, got interesting after Congress President Rahul Gandhi appointed sister Priyanka as in-charge for eastern UP. Speculations are rife that Priyanka may visit Kumbh on February 4 along with Rahul. The brother-sister duo could also address a press conference in Lucknow. The fair, which started on January 15, will end on March 4.
