"Mathura's Turn Now For Revival," Says: UP CM

Ahead of polls, Mathura becomes a crucial city for BJP

Mathura: Ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election polls, Union Home Minister Amit Shah offered prayers at Shri Banke Bihari Mandir in Vrindavan as part of his campaign in Mathura. The visit has BJP's efforts to project Mathura as one of the three symbolic Hindutva bastions after Ayodhya and Varanasi- at the centre of which is the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple, Lord Krishna's birthplace.

Taking notes from the UP Govt, Mathura is known to be very crucial for the upcoming election polls. Recently, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya had said that after the temples in Ayodhya and Kashi it was Mathura's turn now for revival.

Earlier, reports said that Yogi Adityanath could consider contesting from Mathura, a city he has visited 18 times during his tenure as Chief Minister, instead of Gorakhpur.

In an official report of the NDTV, during a visit, they found that the construction work of the grand entry gates on the path towards the main shrine was going on in full swing. While for some the temple makeover does hold emotional value others seek to focus on Mathura's development as well.

The temple complex houses the Shahi Idgah Masjid which was built during the reign of Mughal ruler Aurangzeb.

Similar to the Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi case, a civil suit in a Mathura court seeks the removal of the mosque. Muslims, who constitute 15-17% of the population of Mathura and are the major workforce involved in making dresses and headgears used to decorate and worship Lord Krishna, say it is the lack of development that has turned them away from BJP.

As of now, through an interview conducted by NDTV, the residents showed their disappointment regarding the UP Govt. and developing the cities.

BJP's candidate from Mathura is sitting MLA and state Power Minister Shrikant Sharma who won in 2017 with a margin of over 1.4 lakh votes.

"Development is always first. We are committed to development wholeheartedly. But we also have ideological devotion. The government is of those of the 'Sanatan Dharma'. So the 'Sanatan Dharma' temple is being renovated. All other parties turned away their faces from the temple. We did not," Mr. Sharma told NDTV.