Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on May 3 visited his native village Panchur in the Pauri district for the first time to meet his mother and other relatives after becoming the Chief Minister.
Tucked behind thickly-forested hills in the Pauri district, the village is barely visible from a distance on normal days, but it shimmered in soft light on the occasion of his visit.
After visiting his village, Mr. Adityanath also tweeted a picture in which he is seen touching his mother’s feet and taking her blessings.
Mr. Adityanath had not been able to attend even the funeral of his father Anand Bisth on April 21, 2020 in Haridwar, following his death in AIIMS, New Delhi a day earlier amid the country-wide Covid outbreak.
"I had the ardent wish to get a glimpse of my father at the final moment. However, following a sense of duty towards the state's 23 crore people during the COVID-19 pandemic, I could not do so," the Chief Minister had said, ruing his inability to attend his father’s funeral.
"Adityanath, in fact, visited his village for the first time in several years to attend any family function there,” an official said.
Though Mr. Adityanath has been coming to Uttarakhand to attend political programmes and address public meetings, it is for the first time that he has visited his ancestral village.
He will spend the night in his village and attend the hair tonsure ceremony of his nephew on Wednesday.
Surrounded by his relatives and acquaintances from neighbouring villages soon after arrival, Mr. Adityanath first spoke to the younger members of his family and distributed chocolates to them.
The Chief Minister earlier became emotional while unveiling a statue of his spiritual guru Mahant Avaidyanath at Mahayogi Guru Goarkahnath Government College, Bidhyani, Yamkeshwar.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami unveil the statue of guru Mahant Avaidyanath, at Mahayogi Guru Goarkahnath Government College, in Yamkeshwar. | Photo Credit: PTI
In his address at the function, he said he felt proud while unveiling the statue of his spiritual guru at the place where he was born but could not visit it after 1940.
Mr. Adityanath also honoured his school teachers by offering them each a shawl at the function and remembered those who were no more.
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