Yogi chairs cabinet meet at Kumbh

Amid growing resentment in the saint community over ''delay'' in the Ram temple construction, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath chaired the state cabinet meeting at Kumbh on Tuesday.

Adityanath also took the holy dip in the Sangam (the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers) with his cabinet colleagues after the meeting. Never had the state cabinet met at Kumbh before.

The chief minister told reporters that the state government had decided to ''beautify'' the 'ashram' of the Hindu seer 'Maharshi Bhardwaj' near Prayagarj. He also said that the 'ashram' of 'Maharshi Valmiki' would also be beautified.

Although the state BJP leaders rejected assertions that the cabinet meeting at Kumbh was aimed at ''sending the message'' to the saint community that the saffron party was ''committed'' to the 'Hindutva', sources said that the BJP was ''concerned'' at the growing resentment within the seers over ''delay'' in Ram temple construction.

A 'dharm sansad' had on Monday slammed the BJP over what it termed'' inaction'' of the saffron party on the Ram Temple issue and warned that the latter might have to pay a heavy price for the same.

The BJP leaders, however, said that the party wanted to ''assure'' its core voters that it had not ''abandoned'' the 'Hindutva' issues.

''Millions of devotees from different corners of the country visit Kumbh... a cabinet meeting there will certainly help BJP reach out to the Hindus,'' said a state BJP leader.