BJP’s ‘Chalo Ayodhya’ to AAP’s Tirath Yatra: pilgrimage politics in Punjab ahead of Lok Sabha polls

Former deputy CM Sukhbir Badal while flagging off bus under CM Tirath Yatra scheme in 2016. (File Photo)

The previous Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-BJP government, led by then CM late Parkash Singh Badal, implemented a similar scheme towards the end of its 10-year tenure in 2016-17, spending about Rs 187 crore on taking people from different communities on free pilgrimages across the country – from the temples in Varanasi and the gurdwaras in Maharashtra to the Ajmer Sharif in Rajasthan and the churches in Chennai. Akali stalwart Badal Senior had launched this scheme in the wake of unrelenting protests across Punjab over several incidents of alleged sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib in 2015.

In the 2017 Assembly polls, the SAD-BJP combine was trounced by the Congress.

Under its scheme now, the AAP government plans to send over 50,000 pilgrims to various religious sites – including Sri Patna Sahib, Mathura, Varanasi, Ajmer Sharif, Anandpur Sahib, Golden Temple, Damdama Sahib, Vaishno Devi, Salasar, Naina Devi, Mata Chintpurni, Khatu Shyam temple, among others – over the next three months.

While 13,000 pilgrims will set out by trains to different states, the rest will travel via buses, including those aged above 75, said CM Mann. The initial budgetary allocation for the scheme is Rs 40 crore, with the government paying for three-star accommodation, medical facilities and food of the pilgrims besides their travels.

“This scheme is in line with teachings and philosophy of Guru Nanak who had given the message of universal love and brotherhood,” CM Mann said. He added that the government has started this scheme as a large section of society was not able to visit various sacred places.

Kejriwal and Mann during the launch in Dhuri, Monday.

Meanwhile, the Opposition BJP has also announced its “Chalo Ayodhya” programme, inviting the people in Punjab to register for pilgrimage to the Ram Temple in Ayodhya in January 2024. The party will kick off the first leg of this programme from Ludhiana.

Gearing up to contest the upcoming Punjab civic body poll and the Lok Sabha elections scheduled for April-May 2024 – three years after the Akali Dal parted ways with it over the now-repealed farm laws – the BJP is attempting to reach out to the Hindu community in the state.

Rajesh Dhiman, BJP district president, Ludhiana, said: “We will be taking people to Ram Mandir from January 23-27. We have already received more than 400 calls in the past 3-4 days enquiring about the schedule. The formal registrations will start soon.”

The “Pran Pratishtha” (consecration) of Ram Lalla at the Ayodhya Temple will take place on January 22, which will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, among others.

Kejriwal and Mann during the launch in Dhuri, Monday.

Dhiman charged that the AAP government’s Tirath Yatra scheme was a “copy paste”, saying that “People also know that the first initiative to start such a scheme was taken by the SAD-BJP government. AAP has nothing original to offer. They can’t even copy properly and leave things midway.”

Criticising the AAP government, Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar said: “Education, health.. there are better things to take care of for a government than taking people on free pilgrimage. Every state has to decide its priorities…Punjab is already under heavy debt. Anyway this scheme never helped Akalis when they had also resorted to similar gimmicks.”

As regards his party’s “Chalo Ayodhya” programme, Jakhar said: “Taking people to Ayodhya is a party (BJP) initiative but not from the government funds. BJP is only a facilitator for those who want to visit Ram Mandir. We are asking people to register so that adequate arrangements are made in advance to avoid any hassle for people.”

Senior Congress leader and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Partap Singh Bajwa said there was nothing wrong with taking people on pilgrimage, but alleged that the motives of both the AAP and the BJP were “completely political”.

“All religious places are very pious but are these (AAP) ministers, MLAs and the CM following the basic tenets of these religious places? It is only for political benefits that such schemes are being launched, not for genuine welfare of the people. AAP is the clone of BJP. From their style of running the government to controlling the media, AAP and BJP are one. The whole idea is to extract political advantage from such schemes,” Bajwa alleged.

BJP launches “Chalo Ayodhya” in Ludhiana.

“Their motive is not to promote any communal harmony but to grab votes,” he charged, adding that “Akalis were reduced to 15 seats only (out of 117) in 2017 despite sending people on Tirath Yatra”.

Kejriwal has claimed that his government took the lead in launching the Tirath Yatra scheme a few years ago, which has ensured the pilgrimage of 80,000 people so far.

Hitting out at Delhi CM, SAD chief and ex-deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal said in a post on X: “Yet another lie of Arvind Kejriwal.. Fact: It was S. Parkash Singh Badal govt in Punjab that launched the scheme in 2016 and enabled lakhs of Punjabis (of all religions) to fulfill their dream of paying obeisance to their respective shrines – be it Harmandir Sahib, Nanded Sahib, Vaishno Devi, Chintpurni, Varanasi, Salasar, Ajmer Sharif and Chennai.”

In 2016, during the Badal regime, this scheme had drawn criticism also from the Punjab and Haryana High Court – in Modgill Fashion Exports vs State of Punjab case – when the court said that the government had not paid pending subsidies to industries but had funds to launch schemes like free Tirath Yatra. The court questioned the government how it could provide the budget of over Rs 180 crore for the scheme under planned expenditure at the fag end of the financial year while defaulting on its regular payments.