Commoners, bigwigs in UP celebrate Diwali with traditional fervor

Commoners, political heavyweights and social bigwigs came together on Diwali, and celebrated the festival of lights, which marks the return of Lord Ram to Ayodhya after a 14-year exile, across Uttar Pradesh with traditional fervor and gaiety on Wednesday. As soon as the sun set, people retired to their homes after shopping and prayed before the idols of Lord Ganesh and Goddess Laxmi.

In Lucknow, the sky lit up with fire crackers and lights as people burst crackers, unmindful of the restrictions imposed by law. High-decibel crackers were also burst across the state though no untoward incident has been reported from anywhere, a police spokesman informed IANS.

State-owned buses were choc a'bloc with passengers as they ran to capacity due to the last minute rush on the festival. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was in Ayodhya during the festival where he met seers and paid obeisance to Lord Ram at the makeshift temple and to Lord Hanuman, the money god, at Hanumangarhi.

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav spent the festival with the Yadav clan at his native village Saifai in Etawah. Family patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav drove to his younger brother Shivpal Singh Yadav's house to bless him on Diwali, family sources informed. Several leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spent time in their native places or assembly constituencies.

Governor Ram Naik wished the people of the state on the festival of lights and so did the three-time UP Chief Minister and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati. In a message issued by her party, the Dalit leader specially greeted the army troopers who were away safeguarding the borders, far from their families on the festival.

--IANS

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