Exactly a month ago, the entire city of Ayodhya, including the banks of Saryu, was cleared of garbage and encroachment and decked up as Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, along with other BJP leaders, was to worship Lord Ram for Diwali and light 1.8 lakh earthen lamps to attempt a world record of sorts.

The occasion kickstarted an ambitious project – the Ramayana circuit – worth Rs 133 crore, sponsored by the central government. The circuit will include a state-of-the-art digital museum depicting the story of Ram, an urban haat and a Korean temple, all along the Saryu riverfront.

The CM has also promised a 100-metre-tall Ram statue and several facilities for devotees in Ayodhya. All is set to be in place by early 2019, when the next parliamentary elections will be held in the country, in which Uttar Pradesh is expected to play a crucial role, as always.

Locals say Ayodhya had never witnessed such a grand Diwali celebration and showering of projects, not even during the previous regime of the BJP in the state and at the Centre.

Such initiatives look more profound when spearheaded by a monk-cum-chief minister, who doesn’t mince words while talking about Hindutva and proudly displays his obsession for saffron colour and cows.

Ayodhya has become the Yogi’s favourite destination since he assumed office in the state in March. He has visited the temple town four times so far, the latest on Tuesday when he launched BJP’s campaign for the upcoming civic polls. No other CM had visited the temple town – where the Babri Masjid was razed down in 1992 – in the past 15 years. Ayodhya is also the centre of the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute.

While Yogi and his party BJP are doing their best to highlight the temple issue for political gains in UP and elsewhere, their supporters have extended a helping hand.

Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar suddenly became a “mediator” in the 500-year-old dispute early this week, at the behest of the Shia Central Waqf Board.

Shankar flew down to Lucknow on Wednesday to meet the CM ahead of his meeting with stakeholders in Ayodhya on November 16.

The waqf board, which claims to be the original owner of the Babri Masjid site, in August proposed a mosque at some distance from the claimed Ram Janmabhoomi – a move which favours the BJP’s stand.

A law professor at Lucknow University says: “As the matter is pending before the Supreme Court, no construction can be done at the Ram Janmabhoomi site. With such initiatives, the BJP just seeks to hide its inability to keep its old promise.”

Meanwhile, the undeterred CM has gone a step ahead to announce another grand project at another religious place. He plans to hold a grand Holi celebration at Lord Krishna’s janmabhoomi in Mathura in March next year.

Yogi Adityanath, who is the chief priest of Gorakhnath Peeth, has also promised a cowshed in every district. Vrindavan and Barsana have been declared as “pilgrimage sites”, where meat, eggs and alcohol will be banned.

His own office, the secretariat building, government website, telephone directory, public buses, and school bags for primary schools have adopted the saffron colour, associated with Hindutva, and led to strong opposition from various quarters.

Political overtones of the frenetic activities in UP are clear. Elections for urban civic bodies and mayor posts are slated to be held at the end of November. The results of the polls will not only set the tone for the next Lok Sabha elections, but will also be a referendum on the Yogi government’s performance.

Ironically, the state has a huge developmental backlog. It has the highest infant mortality rate and the second highest mother mortality rate in the country. Law and order is still worrisome, so is public health and the education system.

Although the UP BJP has come out with a “sankalp patra” listing out promises of all-round-development, cleanliness, toilets and free wifi for cities, the narrative is centred around Hindutva, temple and cows, say political pundits.

Observers also see links between the narrative in UP and the recent Assembly polls in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. Yogi is the BJP’s star campaigner in both states.

The developments have alerted the political rivals of the BJP. The Samajwadi Party and Congress have accused the CM of flaring up the Ayodhya issue to hide his poor performance on law and order and development – two major poll planks of the BJP – a charge which the Yogi and BJP have denied and called the oppositions’ frustration.

As the Lok Sabha elections are just one-and-a-half-year away, the temple and other emotional issues are expected to gain more prominence in UP, which has 80 of 548 parliamentary seats.