No other state like Uttar Pradesh: President

Lucknow, Sep 14 (IANS) President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday said there was no state in India like Uttar Pradesh -- the land which both Lord Rama and Lord Krishna chose to be born in and where many places symbolised communal harmony.

Many places in the state like Agra, Ayodhya, Varanasi, Sarnath and Fatehpur Sikri were living examples of communal harmony between the Hindus and the Muslims, he said.

"Lord Buddha had great attachment with Uttar Pradesh. It is a miracle of this land that events like the Kumbh Mela are held here successfully over the years not by the government but public faith," Kovind said while speaking at a felicitation function at the Indira Gandhi Pratishthan here.

The President was felicitated by the Legislative Council Chairman Ramesh Yadav, Deputy Chief Ministers Dinesh Sharma and Keshav Prasad Maurya and state BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey.

Kovind said he was honoured to belong to Uttar Pradesh and promised to visit it as often as he could.

He mourned the death of 22 persons in a boat tragedy in Baghpat earlier in the day.

Earlier in the evening, Kovind arrived here on a two-day state visit and was received at the Chowdhary Charan Singh Airport by Governor Ram Naik, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and several Ministers.

On his maiden visit after becoming the President, Kovind drove to the Ambedkar Mahasabha complex opposite the Vidhan Sabha and paid floral tributes to an urn holding the ashes of Bhimrao Ambedkar, the father of the Indian Constitution. He also planted a sapling at the complex.

He was scheduled to attend a dinner at the Chief Minister's official residence in the evening.

Kovind would visit Kanpur, his home district, on Friday before leaving for the national capital late in the day.