Lucknow: Yogi Adityanath’s cabinet met at the Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj for the first time on Tuesday, followed by a dip in the Sangam waters.
This is the first time that the UP Cabinet held an official meeting outside Lucknow during Adityanath’s tenure. This year’s religious gathering is crucial for the BJP as it hopes it will give a push to the party’s campaign ahead of the general elections.
The move is the latest among a series of measures by the Chief Minister to hype up the festival, which is among the world's largest religious gatherings, at Prayagraj.
After the dip, the ministers will watch the Vicky Kaushal-starrer “Uri" on the 2016 surgical strikes at a special screening in a mobile theatre.
In UP, which sends 80 lawmakers to the Lok Sabha, the elections are expected to be a close contest with the BSP-SP alliance posing a stern challenge, and Priyanka Gandhi’s political entry has added another dimension to the contest.
The area around Sangam nose was cleaned and decorated on Monday for the holy dip that the ministers would take after the cabinet meeting.
Several other politicians have also been flocking to the festival. On Sunday, Samajwadi chief Akhilesh Yadav took a dip at the Kumbh.
PM Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi are both expected to attend the festival before it wraps up in March. There is also speculation that Priyanka Gandhi could also visit the Kumbh before or after taking charge in Lucknow.
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