BJP slams ‘pujari’ promise, AAP registers beneficiaries
On Tuesday, the party brass including Kejriwal, Atishi and former deputy CM Manish Sisodia, interacted with priests and granthis at several temples and gurdwaras
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday attacked the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and accused its chief Arvind Kejriwal of “appeasement” ahead of the Delhi assembly elections, even as senior AAP leaders fanned out to temples and gurdwaras across the city to register priests for the “Pujari, Granthi Samman Yojana”.
The Capital’s ruling party, which has promised to pay Hindu and Sikh priests ₹18,000 a month under the scheme if voted back to power, also hit back the BJP, asking it to implement a similar scheme in the 20 states it rules.
The BJP’s New Delhi MP Bansuri Swaraj told reporters that Kejriwal was “relying on election gimmicks and deceit to engage with the public”, calling him a “chunaavi Hindu” (election-time Hindu).
“Kejriwal is making electoral promises for priests, but the imams haven’t been paid for the last 17 months. When these imams protested outside his residence, instead of resolving their issues, he deployed Punjab Police’s batons for intimidation,” she alleged. Swaraj was referring to protests by imams of the Delhi Waqf Board over an alleged delay in the release of their salaries.
The former chief minister, on his part, said the BJP disrespected priests and granthis.
“The BJP has been abusing me since yesterday (Monday)… Will the country benefit from abusing me? You have governments in 20 states. You have been in power in Gujarat for 30 years. Why haven’t you respected the priests and granthis there till now?” Kejriwal said.
The back-and-forth between the two parties — it also sparked a poster war on social media platforms on Tuesday — escalated an ongoing conflict over a slew of sops the AAP has announced in the run-up to the elections, which are likely to take place in February. The party has announced a monthly allowance for women and free health care in all hospitals for senior citizens. The BJP has criticised these schemes as irresponsible and not implementable. The AAP, in turn, has accused the BJP, the Centre and the Delhi lieutenant governor (LG) of holding back government programmes.
On Tuesday, the party brass including Kejriwal, chief minister Atishi and former deputy CM Manish Sisodia, interacted with priests and granthis at several temples and gurdwaras to enrol people for the scheme.
Kejriwal visited the Marghat Wale Baba Hanuman temple near the Kashmere Gate ISBT, Atishi visited Gurudwara Sant Sujan Singh Maharaj in Karol Bagh, and Sisodia went to the Jangpura Shiv Temple in Kilokri.
The AAP’s national convener was initially due to kick off the registration drive from the Hanuman Mandir, but opted to launch it from Kashmere Gate instead after a group of priests protested outside temple in Connaught Place.
The priests said Kejriwal “should clarify why no financial support was provided under the government schemes in the last 10 years”.
Atishi, meanwhile, offered prayers at Sant Sujan Singh Maharaj Gurudwara in central Delhi and said “When the priests and granthis are with us in every happiness and sorrow of life, then as a government it is our responsibility to take care of them.”
BJP MP Swaraj accused the AAP of reneging on similar sops it made ahead of the 2022 Punjab elections.
“The AAP had promised Mahila Sanman Yojna-like schemes in Punjab, but the sisters of Punjab have not gotten anything in these years… They announced Sanjivani Yojna, after which government officials released a notification that there is no such yojna existing,” she said.
She also said the party was ignoring clerics of other religions.
BJP MP from South Delhi Ramvir Singh Bidhuri called the AAP’s announcement “a betrayal”.
“Kejriwal should say how many temples and gurdwaras there are in Delhi and what the total amount estimated to be spent on this scheme is,” he said.
On December 12, Kejriwal announced that the Delhi cabinet approved a scheme to provide monthly financial assistance of ₹1,000 to poor women in the national capital, adding that the payout was slated to be raised to ₹2,100 after the 2025 assembly elections.
Then on December 18, Kejriwal said the Sanjivani Yojana – which will cover free treatment at both government and private hospitals across the city with no upper limits on the costs – will be launched if the AAP comes back to power.
However, controversy engulfed the proposals days later as the women & child development and health departments issued public notices warning people against the registration drives underway for two schemes promising allowances for women and free health care for seniors.
In Kilokri, Sisodia said: “The priests from 21 temples of Jangpura today got together in Shiv Temple of Kilokri and chanted the Hanuman Chalisa to pray that Kejriwal returns to power.”
However, BJP MP Praveen Khandelwal hit back.
“Arvind Kejriwal can make any announcement because he doesn’t have to fulfil them. My question is, has Arvind Kejriwal made any projections on the total revenue of Delhi and how much of it will be spent on development? If he is distributing freebies, how will he fund development in Delhi? Kejriwal knows this, which is why his announcements never come true.”
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