Yogi government organized a two-day 'Rangotsav' on the occasion of Holi in Mathura and Barsana.

Defending the state-sponsored celebrations of Holi and Diwali in the state, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath bizarrely remarked that, "We will celebrate Deepotsav in Ayodhya, Holi in Barsana, Dev Deepawali in Kashi, Ramayana Mela in Chitrakoot and Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj. I will participate in all the celebrations as protection and promotion of all these festivals is my government's responsibility. I've never stopped anyone from celebrating Eid or Christmas in the last 11 months, so."

As a private individual of the Hindu community, he is free to celebrate all festivals but as chief minister, he epitomises 'state' in terms of Article 12 of the Constitution and therefore, any state-sponsored festival will dent the secular fabric of the Constitution. This is perhaps the most unsettling feature of the present time, the way the ruling right-wing party is espousing Hindutva and romanticises it for electoral gain without calculating the damage done to syncretic India.

The Yogi government organized a two-day 'Rangotsav' on the occasion of Holi in Mathura and Barsana, the



birthplaces of Lord Krishna and Radha respectively. Profound security arrangements were made where the city was divided into 20 zones, each controlled by an additional superintendent, and 40 sectors, each supervised by a deputy superintendent, to ensure the safety of people and dignitaries for two days.

Approximately 80 officers, including four IPS, were deputed, five companies of PAC, one company of flood PAC and one unit of ATS had been requisitioned by the district police for two days for the celebrations. The entire expenditure was burdened on the state exchequer.

In a similar state-sponsored event last year, the government of Uttar Pradesh had organised 'Deepotsav' on the occasion of Diwali and granted Rs 165 crore towards this celebration. Considering the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the government has already allocated Rs 1,500 crore for organising the Ardh Kumbh Mela at Prayag, Allahabad (in 2019) and has made various special budgetary allocation in the name of religious circuits in the state. Yogi has also sworn to construct a 100-metre tall idol of Lord Ram on the banks of river Saryu.