Lucknow, Sep 5 (PTI) Ahead of the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, the BJP started its 'prabuddh sammelan' (meeting of intellectuals) in 18 cities on Sunday, with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath addressing a meeting in Varanasi.

Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya held one such meeting in Kanpur, while UP BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh addressed a gathering in Ayodhya.

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During his meeting in Ayodhya, Singh alleged that former prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1966 had ordered firing on saints who had gathered around Parliament, while the Samajwadi Party in 1990 had ordered firing on the devotees of Lord Ram in Ayodhya.

"These bullets were fired on India's culture and ideology of nationalism. The entire India reposes its faith in Lord Ram. Lord Ram resides in each and every bit of this place. After Independence, the Congress government had refused the existence of Lord Ram. The then Congress government did not accept Ram Setu. The terms like Hindu terror were coined," Singh claimed.

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State general secretary (organisation) Sunil Bansal addressed a meeting in state capital Lucknow.

Meanwhile, national general secretary of the BJP's Mahila Morcha Indu Bala Goswami highlighted the importance of women in strengthening the organisation.

"We have to take the organisation's message to the masses, and bring back the party to power in the state," she said here.

Goswami held detailed discussions with Morcha members on work done by the Centre and the state government for women.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)