Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday paid tributes to former Prime Minister and Bharat Ratna Chaudhary Charan Singh on his death anniversary, describing him as a “messiah of farmers” and a “great son of Bharat Mata”.Chief minister Yogi Adityanath paying floral tributes to Chaudhary Charan Singh on the Vidhan Bhavan premises. (Sourced)The chief minister offered floral tributes at the statue of Chaudhary Charan Singh on the Vidhan Bhavan premises here.Addressing the gathering, Adityanath said Chaudhary Charan Singh, who was born on December 23, 1902, in Uttar Pradesh, remained actively associated with the country’s freedom movement and played a key role in bringing reforms in the agriculture and revenue sectors.“Chaudhary Sahib used to say that the path to the country’s development passes through villages, farms and barns,” the chief minister said, adding that the former PM believed farmers should remain at the centre of the government’s development agenda and policies.Adityanath said the Uttar Pradesh government was running several programmes related to farmers’ welfare to keep alive the ideals and memories of Chaudhary Charan Singh. He also referred to the construction of the Chaudhary Charan Singh Seed Park in Lucknow.The chief minister said Chaudhary Charan Singh made significant contributions not only to politics but also to society and nation-building, for which he was honoured with the Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian award.Cabinet minister Swatantra Dev Singh, minister of state KP Malik, Lucknow mayor Sushma Kharkwal, Rajya Sabha MP Brajlal, MLAs Neeraj Bora and Amresh Kumar, and several members of the UP Legislative Council were present on the occasion.Chaudhary Charan Singh passed away on May 29, 1987.