Varanasi, 02 March

(HS): Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, regarding

Jyotishpeethadhiswar Swami Avimukteshwarananda's 'Go Pratishtha Dharmayuddha'

movement, said that he has full right to protest and there is no restriction on

his arrival in Lucknow.

Speaking to

reporters during his visit to Varanasi on Monday, the Deputy Chief Minister

said, He is Shankaracharya, a saint. Wherever Shankaracharya goes, we

will welcome him. I, too, as a devotee of Lord Ram, will welcome him.

Responding to Shankaracharya's statement that Uttar Pradesh has the highest

incidence of cow slaughter, Deputy Chief Minister Maurya said that, let alone

cow slaughter; no one can even touch Mother Cow. No killer has the guts.

He warned that the government will not spare anyone who attempts to harm Mother

Cow.

Describing himself

as a cow devotee, Maurya said that he has previously led numerous movements for

cow protection. Cow smugglers and such elements know how we will deal

with them. Countering Akhilesh Yadav's reaction to the case filed against

Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwarananda, the Deputy Chief Minister called him

a hypocrite. He alleged that during the Samajwadi Party regime, Ram

devotees were suppressed and cow smugglers were protected. Keshav Maurya

expressed strong confidence in the future of the BJP. Responding to a question,

he said that the Bharatiya Janata Party government will remain in power until

2047. No opposition alliance will be able to shake it.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi