Hours after PM Modi announced that there would be a lockdown on the midnight of March 25, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath shared a series of images where he is seen in a crowded temple in Ayodhya offering prayers to shift the idol of Lord Ram from a tin shed inside the said birthplace (Ram Janmabhoomi) to a temporary structure that is made from fibre.
Adityanath tweeted the images early Wednesday morning calling it the first day of ‘Navratri.
According to an NDTV report, the ceremony could have been shifted to a later later date, but Adityanah chose to continue with it.
Senior officials were also present at the event.
Adityanath's actions have made people question if he is above the law when it comes to the lockdown. Reports of Uttar Pradesh police allegedly assaulting people seen on the streets did the rounds on social media.
Earlier, Prime Minister Modi on Tuesday announced a nationwide lockdown from midnight for the next 21 days. "
From midnight, there will be a total lockdown in the entire country. It is like a curfew, tougher than the Janata Curfew," the Prime Minister said in his address to the nation.
He urged Indians to forget what stepping out feels like; otherwise, the entire country will go back 21 years, he warned. "There will be a total ban on venturing out of your homes," Modi said and announced an emergency financial package of Rs 15,000 crore for healthcare.
The announcement comes close on the heels of more than 500 country-wide coronavirus cases and ten deaths. Giving the rationale for the lockdown, he pointed out how most capable nations like the United States had become helpless despite having the best health services.
