The Uttar Pradesh government and several organisations on Sunday launched a statewide cleanliness drive, which will continue till January 22, the day of the consecration ceremony at the Ayodhya Ram temple. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath took part in the campaign in Ayodhya, while other ministers and public representatives joined the drive elsewhere. As part of the campaign, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya cleaned the Balkeshwar Hanuman Temple in Nirala Nagar in Lucknow. Maurya swept the floor, picked up garbage and put it in a cart. He appealed to people to participate in this cleanliness campaign. Another deputy chief minister, Brajesh Pathak, participated in the cleanliness drive at Dakshinmukhi Hanuman Temple in Lucknow. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders also joined the campaign in different parts of the state.In Mirzapur, a cleanliness campaign was started from Maa Vindhyavasini Devi Dham and Ashtabhuja Temple, in which MLA Ratnakar Mishra along with District Magistrate Priyanka Niranjan participated. Cleanliness drives were also conducted at 209 other temples and places of worship in the district, in which common people participated enthusiastically. Niranjan said that in order to spread the moral, social and humanitarian values of Lord Shri Ram among people, bhajan kirtan and cultural programmes will be organised in major temples of the district from January 14 to January 22. In Gorakhpur, a cleanliness campaign was also organised at Gorakhnath Temple Complex to make ‘Khichdi Fair’ a zero-waste event.
