‘Before 2017, Ayodhya was in darkness despite giving Diwali to world’ | Lucknow News

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday said Ayodhya, despite giving the festival of Diwali to the country and the world, remained in darkness before 2017, and it was his govt that introduced largescale Deepotsav celebrations in the temple town.Addressing ‘Gomti Utsav-2026’ at the Central Sanskrit University in Lucknow, Yogi said Uttar Pradesh had moved from a period of unrest to one marked by celebrations. Recalling the decision to organise Deepotsav, he said, “The city that had given Diwali to the country and the world was itself facing darkness. Our govt decided to organise Deepotsav a day before Diwali.”He expressed confidence that the festival could eventually receive Unesco recognition if it continued to grow in scale and public participation.The CM also called for greater efforts to conserve the Gomti, describing it as “the soul of Lucknow”. He urged organisers to hold the festival on the riverbank and begin it with a pledge to keep the river clean. He said sewage treatment plants were being constructed and drains flowing into the river were being diverted for treatment, with related works targeted for completion by Dec.He appealed to people to shun single-use plastic, carry reusable bags while shopping and avoid littering rivers and temples.Taking a swipe at the previous govt, he said, “The previous govt gave the state ‘One District, One Mafia’, while our govt introduced ‘One District, One Product’.” He also highlighted the ‘One District, One Cuisine’ initiative, saying women could build businesses on the scale of Nestle by taking their culinary skills to global markets.He said that Gomti Utsav should promote local cuisine, handicraft, folk art and artisans, alongside initiatives for river conservation.He congratulated the recipients of the Gomti Gaurav Samman. The awardees included Sunita Mishra, Rajesh Pandey, Dr Sunita Chandra, Jayant Krishna, Atmaprakash Mishra, Vinod Mishra, Ambika Prakash Vajpayee, Sumit Rungta, Suryamani Singh Raikwar, Dr Anand Prakash, KGMU vice-chancellor Prof Sonia Nityanand, Sandeep Tiwari, Justice Ranganath Pandey, Suresh Bahadur Singh and Atul Agnihotri.Gomti Utsav chief patron Rajiv Mishra, committee president Ram Krishna Yadav, Central Sanskrit University Lucknow campus director Sarvanarayan Jha, poet Sarvesh Asthana and corporator Malti Yadav also participated in the event.