Yogi Adityanath arrived in Varanasi yesterday and will return to Lucknow this evening.
Just before Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath reached the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's public relations office in Ravindra Puri in Varanasi, which is the PM's Lok Sabha constituency, it began to pour. The downpour was symbolic in more ways than one.
Since PM Modi became the representative in the Lok Sabha for this religious city in eastern UP, heavy rains have prevented his visit to the city twice. Mr Adityanath was lucky as he had arrived in Varanasi the previous night when it sizzled at 43 degrees.
During his first visit as UP Chief Minister, he addressed party workers at a school in Varanasi's cantonment area, where almost half of the 5,000 odd seats remained unoccupied.
If this miffed the chief minister, he did not show it. He instead heaped praises on PM Modi and the BJP government which turned three yesterday.
"By the end of October, we will ensure piped gas supply in Varanasi, this will be our gift to the people Varanasi. All of this is of course happening with the blessings of the prime minister. His thoughts towards the country deserve our applause," said the chief minister in his speech.
He met people who were given a chance to air their grievances before the chief minister. Among those who could not meet him were a group of safai karamcharis or sanitary staff employed by the municipal corporation.
Swacch Bharat Abhiyaan has been one of PM Modi's pet projects and has got a special push in Varanasi where the PM himself cleaned the famous Ganga ghats. Varanasi also ranked 32 in the nationwide cleanliness survey, Swachch Survekshan-2017, by the urban development ministry.
But 35-year-old Ravindra Kumar, a safai karamchari, for over a decade, told the chief minister that he earns Rs 4,600 rupees per month which is not enough to take care of his family of five.
"You see these uniforms. They are because of PM Modi. He has done well. But our pay raise has to come from Yogi Adityanath. And we hope his officers will listen. We have been asked to submit our memorandum to local officials, if they don't listen I will not vote in the next election," he said.
The UP chief minister also offered prayers at the famous Kaal Bhairav and Kashi Viswanath temples. There will be a Swacch Ganga seminar and a review meeting of law and order in the area this evening before he returns to Lucknow.