Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath has decided to help fund the weddings of impoverished girls from minority communities and also hold mass weddings for them, state Minorities Affairs Minister Mohsin Raza told PTI on Thursday. This comes a day after members of the Hindu Yuva Vahini, a Right-wing group founded by Adityanath, barged into a couple’s home in Meerut and handed them over to the police for indulging in “immoral activities”.
Under the scheme, the government will give Rs 20,000 to each woman, apart from sponsoring the wedding itself, Raza said. Since Muslims are the largest minority community in the state of Uttar Pradesh, women from the community are expected to be the biggest beneficiaries. Raza also added that the idea had come from the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister himself and that it would be included in the state’s 100 days programme, the news agency said.
Adityanath had earlier reiterated his commitment for the formation of a Hindu Rashtra. “If that rashtra [nation], or raasta [path], helps improve people’s way of life, then we should not hesitate in adopting it,” he had said during his first televised interview as chief minister to Doordarshan. Adityanath had also cited the Supreme Court to defend his statement. The chief minister had pointed out that the apex court had also acknowledged Hindutva was a way of life.
The 44-year-old Gorakhpur MP has been the mahant of Gorakhnath temple since 1994. He contested and won the 1998 Lok Sabha election from Gorakhpur at the age of 26. Since then, he has continuously won from the seat, all the way upto the 2014 election.
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