Paying tributes to former chief minister Kalyan Singh on his second death anniversary, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said Babuji (as Kalyan Singh was known) dedicated his life to the more important task of serving Lord Ram than to sticking to the chair of chief minister.

Speaking on the occasion, which was also attended by Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah as the chief guest, Chief Minister Yogi said that the construction of a grand Ram temple at Lord Ram’s birth place in Ayodhya was the result of the campaign that went on from 1990 to 1992 and continued thereafter.

The chief minister said that in January 2024, after a wait of 500 years, Lord Ram would finally grace his majestic temple, “bestowing blessings upon us”.

“At that moment, the soul of Kalyan Singh will find peace and contentment. He will shower blessings on us because the task for which he left his chief ministership is finally being accomplished,” Yogi Adityanath said.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that whenever Kalyan Singh got an opportunity to express his views on Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya’s ‘Ekaatm Manavaad’, he clearly said that food to the stomach, love to the mind, thoughts to the brain and rituals to the soul was ‘Ekaatm Manavaad’.

The chief minister added: “Today we are commemorating the death anniversary of Kalyan Singh as Hindu Gaurav Divas. We all know that in 1991 when the Bharatiya Janata Party administration was established under Kalyan Singh’s leadership, a climate of safety and sound governance was established in the state. Today is a day of beautiful coincidence because it is both Naag Panchami, a holy festival, and World Entrepreneurship Day.”

On World Entrepreneurship Day, the chief minister thanked and congratulated crores of entrepreneurs of India for demonstrating increased zeal for ‘Make in India’ across the globe.

He specially mentioned that in 1991, Kalyan Singh had formed ‘Tala Nagari’ to give a new identity to the entrepreneurs of Aligarh.

Chief Minister Yogi said that when the BJP government was formed in the state in 2017, work was started on One District One Product scheme to promote traditional enterprises and give a new identity to the micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector.

He further said that Aligarh was getting global recognition because of ODOP. “This work was accomplished because when the power of the double-engine government moves forward with the blessings of the general public, then every wish is fulfilled. A grand temple is being built in Ayodhya, while Kashi Vishwanath, the development of Braj teerth and all the big projects of development which were never even thought of, are being seen taking concrete shape today,” he said.

The chief minister said the biggest cancer institute of UP had been renamed as Kalyan Singh Cancer Super Specialty Hospital. Apart from this, the medical college under construction in Bulandshahr, which was once the workplace of Kalyan Singh, had also been named after Kalyan Singh, he added.

On this occasion, Union Minister Piyush Goyal, Deputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak, BJP state president Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary, former chief minister of Rajasthan, Vasundhara Raje Scindia, Etah MP and Kalyan Singh’s son Rajveer Singh ‘Raju Bhaiya’ along with other ministers, MPs, MLAs and people’s representatives from the centre and the state were present.