In a significant move ahead of assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh next year, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced that Ayodhya would now be included in the Delhi government’s ‘Mukhyamantri Teerth Yatra Yojana’ under which the government sponsors pilgrimages of senior citizens free of cost in Delhi.
The decision came a day after the chief minister visited Ayodhya and offered prayers to Ram Lalla at the Ram Janmabhoomi site. Earlier this year, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and AAP Rajya Sabha MP and UP in-charge Sanjay Singh had offered prayers to Lord Ram.
Addressing a digital press conference, Kejriwal said, “I am very happy to inform that the Delhi Cabinet has approved the proposal and Ayodhya has been included in the Mukhyamantri Teerth Yatra Yojana’. The chief minister further said that until now, Jagannath Puri, Ujjain, Shirdi, Amritsar, Dwarka, Tirupati, Rameshwaram, Haridwar, Mathura, Bodh Gaya were the religious places that had been included in the scheme.
Under the scheme, the entire cost of travel is borne by the Delhi government, which includes train fares, stay at AC hotels and local travel, expense of an attendant among other things.
The chief minister pointed out that so far, 35,000 people have already availed of the benefits under this scheme. “I would like be a Shravan Kumar for everyone and enable their pilgrimages to Ayodhya,” Kejriwal said.
The Mukhyamantri Teerth Yatra Yojana had been on pause for the past one-and-a-half years due to the coronavirus pandemic. The chief minister expressed hope that the programme will be resumed within the next one month.
The AAP is contesting on all 403 assembly constituencies in UP next year. The party has already announced that it will not enter into alliances with any other party. The Delhi Cabinet’s decision comes just ahead of Diwali this year.
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