On Thursday, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath said that Samajwadi Party has become history and will never return in power to the state. Taking a dig at Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav, Yogi stated that no one will know Uttar Pradesh by ‘Saifai Mahotsav’ and the people who organised it are now ‘past’.
“The state is now identified with ‘Divya Kumbh’ and ‘Grand Deepotsav’, it will remain the same. Those who yearn to make the state’s identity with ‘Saifai Mahotsav’ are now history, history will remain”, he tweeted.
प्रदेश की पहचान अब ‘दिव्य कुंभ’ और ‘भव्य दीपोत्सव’ से है, वही रहेगी…
— Yogi Adityanath (@myogiadityanath) January 27, 2022
प्रदेश की पहचान ‘सैफई महोत्सव’ से बनाने की लालसा रखने वाले अब इतिहास हैं, इतिहास ही रहेंगे…
This is a day after Mulayam Singh Yadav citing the occasion of 73rd Republic Day said that he would make all kinds of sacrifices to protect the constitution and further strengthen the security and honour of the country. Addressing the SP workers at state headquarters yesterday, he also said that the party would stand by the farmers and wage workers.
He pledged to resolve all problems faced by citizens and said that the party will keep up to the faith shown by the people of Uttar Pradesh.
What was the Saifai Mahotsav?
Saifai annual festival used to be held in the ancestral village Saifai of the Yadav family almost every year between December and January since the mid-1990s. Mulayam Singh Yadav’s nephew Ranvir Singh had first held the festival at the block level in 1996. Subsequently, the then CM Mulayam Singh Yadav scaled it up and named it after Ranvir who was the first block pramukh of Saifai and who died in 2002.
According to the reports, the annual festival often courted controversy back in SP’s regime in Uttar Pradesh due to issues like trade tax holidays for purchase of vehicles from the village Saifai amidst the festival. During the Samajwadi Party rule, Akhilesh Yadav used to ferry Bollywood stars in chartered planes to perform at the festival, using government funds.
After wide controversy and criticism over state spending on a political family’s entertainment event, the organisation of Saifai Mahotsav was cancelled in 2016 during Samajwadi Party’s government itself and it was decided that the festival would be never be organised again.
Deepotsav and Mahakumbh
In what it actually means to nurture India’s cultural legacy, the Uttar Pradesh government led by Yogi Adityanath, for last four years has been celebrating the grand Deepotsav at Ayodhya during Chhoti Diwali. The birth place of Lord Rama at Ayodhya every year is lit up with lakhs of earthen lamps to celebrate his triumphant return from Lanka.
The Yogi government ensures that every year, 9-10 lakhs earthen lamps are procured from each of the thousands of villages in the state reach Ayodhya for the Deepotsav. This gives a boost to the small scale artisans, traders and ultimately boosts the state economy, promoting Ayodhya as a centre for cultural and spiritual tourism.
The Yogi Adityanath led government had also scaled up the grand celebrations of Divya Kumbh last in the state. The boost in infrastructure development, providing amenities and security during the Kumbh has been bringing millions of pilgrims from all over the world to the state. Both the Deepotsav and the Kumbh have made it to record books and international news, promoting Uttar Pradesh as a cultural tourism hub.
Legislative Assembly elections are scheduled to be held in Uttar Pradesh from 10 February to 7 March, 2022 in seven phases to elect all 403 members of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly. The votes will be counted and the results will be declared on 10 March 2022.
