Why new BJP govt in Haryana will take oath on October 17: The political message behind the date

The government’s welfare initiatives such as gas cylinders for Rs 500 to Haryana’s adoption of Madhya Pradesh’s Ladli Behna Yojana in the form of Lado Lakshmi Yojana struck a chord with women from Dalit and OBC backgrounds. “The BJP is one party that has always given due respect to the downtrodden, the poor, the backward classes, and Dalits. Unlike other political parties who showed off about reaching out to these categories, the BJP took several initiatives for them since coming to power in 2014,” a senior BJP leader said.

In the recent Assembly polls, the BJP won eight out of the 17 seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes (SCs), who comprise nearly 20% of the population, while the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) make up almost 30% of the state electorate. The BJP’s face for the polls was state Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini who is from an OBC community.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several other Union Ministers and CMs of BJP-ruled states will attend the swearing-in ceremony. After Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Saini’s predecessor as CM, first confirmed it while talking to the media in New Delhi, on Saturday officially announced the date.

This is not the first time the BJP has taken a step with Maharishi Valmiki in mind. In January, it named the Ayodhya International Airport after Maharishi Valmiki saying it will “disseminate a message of truth, morality and spirituality in society”.

The BJP’s outreach to various sants and religious icons and leaders began soon after came into power in 2014 as it began organising state-level events to honour their contributions to Haryana. In October 2015, Khattar announced that a university in Haryana would be named after Maharishi Valmiki. From 2016 onwards, the Valmiki Jayanti on October 17 has become a state-level event. In June 2021, the Khattar-led Cabinet changed the name of Kaithal University to Maharishi Valmiki Sanskrit University, Kaithal.

In January, coinciding with the Ayodhya temple consecration ceremony, Khattar announced that the Gohana intersection in Panipat would be named Shri Ram Chowk while the Railway Road intersection would be named Maharishi Valmiki Chowk.

Explaining the importance of Maharishi Valmiki to the BJP’s politics, Khattar had said during his CM tenure, “Antyodaya and social harmony is our government’s motto. Maharishi Valmiki’s vision of Ram Rajya is being upheld by the governments led by the BJP as we work towards development. Maharishi Valmiki’s teachings play an important role in making the country a world power. Valmiki ji had written texts such as Ramayana and Yogavashistha, which are gems in the field of literature, society and religion.”

Besides Valmiki Jayanti, the BJP government in Haryana also recognised the contributions of other saints too. In June 2022, Khattar announced that the official residence of the CM in Chandigarh would henceforth be known as “Sant Kabir Kutir”. The same year, the Khattar government started the Sant-Mahapurush Vichar Samman and Prasar Yojana under which the contributions of several religious icons started getting highlighted at state-level functions.