Buzz over UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath's visit to Hyderabad's Bhagyalakshmi temple

HYDERABAD: BJP expects to generate a buzz around the upcoming national executive meeting in Hyderabad by inviting saffron mascot and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath to the Bhagyalakshmi temple adjacent to the south-eastern minar of the iconic Charminar.
The area straddles the political turf of AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi, who has consistently opposed any move to reconstruct the temple.
“The Telangana unit of BJP had sent a request to Yogi to visit the temple on July 2 and we got his nod on Tuesday,” top sources in the party told TOI.
The BJP national executive meeting, which will be held at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre in the city’s tech hub on July 2 and 3, will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a galaxy of senior party leaders and CMs of BJP-ruled states.
And BJP’s state unit is seeking to derive maximum political mileage from Yogi’s visit to the Bhagyalakshmi temple, which has become a rallying point for the state BJP.
The state unit’s invite to Yogi was more than cordial as he had extensively campaigned for the party during the 2020 Hyderabad municipal elections, which saw the saffron party winning an unprecedented 47 seats and nearly bagging the Mayor’s post.
BJP state president Bandi Sanjay, who had successfully piloted the party’s poll campaign, has turned the political spotlight on the Bhagyalakshmi temple by launching many of the party's programmes, including a walkathon from the shrine.
During the high-voltage civic poll campaign less than two years ago, Union home minister Amit Shah had visited the temple and offered prayers. Yogi, however, didn’t visit the temple then, but had given a clarion call to rename Hyderabad as Bhagyanagar.
T Raja Singh, Goshamahal MLA and BJP floor leader in the state assembly, said, as per the tentative schedule of the Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, he will visit the temple to offer prayers, but will not address a public meeting. “His visit will be a morale booster for the party cadre in Old City,” he added.
With ruling TRS and BJP daggers drawn, both have countered each other at every opportunity. And after its victory-run in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) polls, BJP is considering Telangana as a second gateway to southern India after Karnataka.