Congress cannot respect India’s heritage as it insults the nation’s faith: UP CM

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday alleged that certain people are continuously attempting to defame the heritage of Kashi and accused the Congress of lacking respect for India’s faith and cultural legacy.

Recalling the period when the construction of the Kashi Vishwanath Dham was underway, the Chief Minister said that conspiracies were hatched even then. From the beginning of the project in 2019 until 2021, protests and conspiratorial activities continued unabated. He alleged that some elements even collected broken fragments of idols from idol-making shops and circulated their images on social media to malign the project and spread misinformation.

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Addressing a gathering here, Yogi Adityanath said, “The Congress, which insults India’s faith, can never respect India’s heritage. The Congress has consistently shown disregard for our cultural legacy.” He cited the example of the restoration of the Somnath Temple, one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, led by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. “At that time, the then Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru opposed the restoration and even wrote a letter to the President requesting him not to attend the consecration ceremony. This clearly reflects the Congress mindset towards India’s heritage,” he said.

The Chief Minister further asserted that claims suggesting temples were demolished during the construction of the Kashi Vishwanath Dham are completely false. “There can be no bigger lie than this,” he said, adding that, in reality, temples were renovated and restored. He clarified that many temples which were in a dilapidated condition were conserved and continue to exist in their original form.

Highlighting another example, Yogi Adityanath referred to the idol of Mata Annapurna, stating that it was stolen nearly a hundred years ago and taken to Europe. “With the efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the idol was brought back to Kashi and installed in the Baba Vishwanath Dham,” he said.

He further remarked that Congress governments remained in power for most of the period between 1947 and 2014 but made no serious efforts to bring back the sacred idol. “This shows that they neither respected nor took concrete steps to preserve India’s heritage,” the Chief Minister added.