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Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said Vishwa Hindu Parishad is a cultural organisation and is free to pursue its own agenda.
Referring to VHP's ongoing Sant Chetavani Yatra from Ayodhya to New Delhi, Singh, who filed his nomination from Haidergarh assembly constituency, said: "The VHP is free to pursue its own agenda."
On resentment expressed by VHP leaders over 'excessive' security at Ayodhya, the chief minister said principal secretary (home) Naresh Dayal and state police chief R K Pandit who had gone there would submit a report to government on their return.
Singh, however, said tight security was necessitated in view of threat perception, but asserted the administration would ensure that devotees did not face any difficulty there.
Addressing a public meeting, Singh took strong exception to public hoardings put up by Samajwadi Party alleging the state was 'burning' under BJP rule.
He said Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party had done very little for development of the state during their regimes.
The chief minister said his government had taken the state on the path to progress and implemented policies for socio-economic emancipation of people.
He said a galaxy of top BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Home Minister L K Advani, would campaign for party candidates for assembly poll.
Meanwhile, Indian Union Muslim League leader E Ahmed on Tuesday expressed apprehension that the Sant Chetavani Yatra kicked off by the VHP from Ayodhya would create communal tension and wanted it to be stopped by the authorities.
The League leader appealed to all democratically minded sections, especially members of the minority community, to exercise utmost restraint in the face of 'provocative efforts of the sangh parivar through this type of yatras'.
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