‘Free Ayodhya Darshan’, BJP’s Poll Promise

[Anta Assamey]

Freebies have become a mandatory feature during elections. No political party or politician is averse to freebies. Even committed political leaders cannot escape from falling into the ‘free trap’.

The range of freebies extended from subsidized LPG refills to free Scootys.

 

However, BJP senior leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah has gone further and brought Lord Ram in Ayodhya also into the freebies list, evoking trolling from the netizens.

It is a known fact that Ram temple is being constructed in Ayodhya Ramjanmabhoomi. The construction of the temple is yet to be completed. The preliminary construction might be completed by January next year but the temple might be opened for the general public at the least by November next year. But, Shah announced an assurance regarding it much ahead. He said that if the BJP was voted to power, they would provide free darshan of Lord Rama at the Ayodhya temple during his campaigning. Not stopping here, Shah even said that the BJP would foot one of the to and fro travel bills of all the Hindus in Madhya Pradesh coming to Ram temple. In other words, it means Shah said that the government would foot half of the travel bills of the devout.

This assurance seems to be too early as nothing is clear about how the darshan tickets would be planned in the Ram temple, which is yet to be completed. Moreover, sarva darshan (free darshan) is provided in all the temples across the country.

However, Shah tried to bring the Ayodhya Ram temple into the purview of elections and made some senseless statement which evoked criticism from the netizens.

Meanwhile, in view of the upcoming elections, the price of an LPG refill had suddenly dropped to Rs 500 from Rs 1000. Political parties and politicians are competing with each other in reducing the price further. In Madhya Pradesh, while the BJP has announced that it would give away the LPG refill at Rs 450, soon the Congress said it would give it at Rs 500. While the BJP restricted the refills to the poor, Congress extended it all those having an income below Rs 25,000.

Coming to free travel to women in state-run buses, both the national parties have equal footing in this area. With regard to social pensions, one party says it would increase it to Rs 2000, another says it would push it to Rs 3000 per month (both in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, only Rs 1500 is being given now).

Interestingly, Union Home minister Amit Shah announced that free Scootys would be given to girl students. This is a scheme announced in Chhattisgarh. While the BJP leaders said that it was not in their manifesto, Amit Shah said he forgot that it was Madhya Pradesh and tried to cover it up saying it was a slip of tongue.