CM Yogi Calls for Meeting With Senior BJP Leaders, Expected to Make Big Announcement

Lucknow: Ahead of his visit to Ayodhya for Diwali celebrations on November 6, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has called for a meeting with the senior leaders of the BJP in Lucknow on Monday. Speculations are rife that Yogi may make an important announcement during the meet.

According to sources, Deputy UP chief ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma, and UP BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey will be present in the meeting. CM Adityanath is expected to make a big announcement during the ‘Deepotsav’ in Ayodhya too, to give a push to the Ram Mandir issue in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, the sources said.

Meanwhile, Ayodhya is abuzz with the preparations for the Deepotsav festival. Senior government officials, ministers, MLAs and MPs are monitoring the arrangements for the grand festival for which over 750 artists from various countries have been roped. A grand Shobha Yatra will also be taken out on this occasion and culminate on the banks of Saryu river. According to officials involved in the preparations, 15 local cultural groups and some from five States, will be participating in the event.

South Korea’s First Lady Kim Jung-Sook, who is in India till November 7. will be the chief guest at the Deepotsav in Ayodhya. “She will be the chief guest at the Deepotsav event being organised by the State Government of Uttar Pradesh and the ground-breaking ceremony of the Queen Suriratma (Heo Hwang-ok) Memorial in Ayodhya on 6th November 2018,” said a statement from the Ministry of External Affairs.

An MoU regarding the Queen Suriratna Memorial Project was signed in July 2018, during the India visit of President of the Republic of Korea Moon Jae-In, to facilitate upgrade and expansion of the existing monument commemorating Princess Suriratna (Queen Hur Hwang-ok).

It is believed that princess Suriratna of Ayodhya travelled to Korea and married King Kim, who was later known as Hur Hwang-ok in 48 AD. Many Koreans, along with wife of former President Lee Myung-bak, Kim Yoon-ok and another former President Kim Young-sam, trace their ancestry to the royal couple.