Chief Minister (CM) of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath will not inaugurate the Jayanagar-Janakpur-Kurtha train service during his visit of Janakpur in December, the government has clarified.
Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali told Setopati that Adityanath will be in Janakpur only for a cultural visit and will not inaugurate the train service.
Prime Minister (PM) KP Sharma Oli invited his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to visit Janakpur on Vivaha Panchami in mid-December around six weeks back.
A wedding procession of lord Ram arrives in Janakpur from Ayodhya, India on the day of Vivaha Panchami every year to mark the wedding of Lord Ram and Goddess Sita in Janakpur in Treta epoch, as per the Hindu mythology.
PM Oli had invited Modi to arrive in such wedding procession on Vivaha Panchami that falls on December 12 this year.
“We had invited him for a cultural visit. We had scheduled to inaugurate the Jayanagar-Janakpur-Kurtha train service during his visit if possible,” Minister Gyawali told Setopati. “But he replied recently that he cannot visit due to his busy schedule.”
Modi has said that CM Yogi Adityanath will represent him for the program.
The main opposition party Nepali Congress (NC) has already opposed the reported inauguration of the train service by CM Adityanath who frequently speaks for reinstatement of monarchy and Hindu state in Nepal.
“We will welcome whoever comes from there. But his visit will just be a cultural one,” Minister Gyawali pointed. “He will return back after the cultural visit. He will not inaugurate train service.”
Province 2 government and Janakpur Sub-metropolitan City, meanwhile, has intensified preparations for the visit of Adityanath.
Modi had also visited Janakpur in May.
Modi, meanwhile, has invited PM Oli to visit India during the Ardha Kumbha Mela in January, 2019. “PM Modi has invited PM Oli for a cultural visit. We have yet to take any decision on that,” Minister Gyawali said.
PM Oli had last visited India in April.
