Yogi govt's 'saffron' obsession spreads to Mathura

This is not the first time that 'saffron colour' has made news after Adityanath came to power in Uttar Pradesh.

With Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath set to visit Mathura to take part in Holi celebrations, several walls of the city were painted saffron. From cleanliness to giving the city a saffron hue, the Nagar Panchayat has not left a stone unturned to welcome the Chief Minister.

News agency ANI quoted a Mathura resident as saying that they are looking forward to Adityanath's visit.

"Every year we used to celebrate a colourful Holi. This year it is saffronised. We are happy that the Chief Minister is coming to the city to celebrate the festival with us," a local said.

This is not the first time that 'saffron colour' has made news after Adityanath came to power in Uttar Pradesh. In January, the Yogi-led government had drawn flak from the opposition for painting the Haj House in Lucknow saffron. Two days later, the Haj House was repainted and the original colour was restored.

The way the entire episode of Haj House being 'saffronised' was pretty hilarious. First, the Haj House was painted saffron which made headlines. Then UP Waqf and Haj Minister Mohsin Raza made a statement that there is nothing wrong with it as "saffron is an energetic and bright looking colour."

Two days later, the Haj House was repainted and the original colour was restored. The state government went into a damage control mode and blamed the contractor for it. Then, Mohsin Raza issued notice to Haj Committee Secretary RP Singh seeking clarification on the incident.

All in all, what it truly reflected was that everyone just tried to pass the buck. The real question, which is yet to be answered, is what led to the Haj House being painted in saffron in the first place.

Even the Lal Bahadur Shastri Bhawan, which houses the chief minister's office, was painted saffron after Adityanath assumed office last year. Reports say that the education department had distributed saffron-coloured school bags to primary schools students and the booklets that were distributed to mark 100 days and six months of the Adityanath government were saffron in colour as well.

OneIndia News