Arvind Kejriwal as ‘Shravan Kumar’, ‘Ram Rajya’: Why AAP deployed spiritual imagery in Delhi Budget  

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Ram, Ram Rajya and Ramayana. Delhi Finance Minister Atishi mentioned these three at least 40 times in 90 minutes while presenting the Delhi government's Rs 76,000 crore budget on Monday, and to counter the BJP's narrative of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. AAP) outlined its Hindutva pitch.

During his speech on the budget, Atishi said that the budget was "inspired" by Ram Rajya and Ramayana, and that AAP "has been working day and night for the last nine years to establish Ram Rajya" in Delhi. "Whenever Ayodhya is described, it is said that there is no city as beautiful and prosperous as Ayodhya in the entire world. Today, under the leadership of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, we are working hard to bring prosperity in Delhi too As it happened in Lord Ram's Ayodhya," Atishi said. He said that the government believes that poverty can be eliminated by providing good quality education to every child.

Claiming that hospitals and other infrastructure in Delhi were in a poor condition when AAP came to power, Atishi thanked former health minister Satyendar Jain, who was accused of corruption and is on interim bail, for his work by Lord Hanuman. Told equal to. “Just like Lord Hanuman brought Sanjeevani Booti in the hour of crisis, my elder brother (Jain) revolutionized the healthcare system of Delhi.

Last month, Kejriwal had visited the Ram temple in Ayodhya along with Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann and their families. Like other opposition parties, Kejriwal decided not to attend the temple consecration ceremony in January and the party instead launched a series of "Sundar Kand" and "Hanuman Chalisa" recitation programs ahead of the Ayodhya event.

AAP has often campaigned on its Hindutva issue. Ahead of the 2022 Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections, the party built a replica of the Ram Temple at the Tyagaraja Stadium. During the 2020 assembly election campaign, the party referred to Kejriwal as the "Shravan Kumar of Delhi", comparing him to a character from the Ramayana who took care of his aging parents. Ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Delhi government had launched the Teerth Yatra Scheme, offering free pilgrimage for senior citizens. So far, 87,000 senior citizens have availed the scheme to travel to pilgrimage places like Ayodhya, Mathura, Vrindavan and Rameshwaram.

A senior AAP leader said the party is hoping to take advantage of the "Ram wave" across India to attract Hindu voters. “The Ram wave is going on across the country with Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurating the Ram temple in Ayodhya… When it comes to elections, Hinduism and patriotism have always been the strength of the BJP and its vote bank is largely dependent on this But it depends… Following in his footsteps, AAP is trying to play on Hindu sentiments to garner votes ahead of the Lok Sabha elections… but the party is still far from influencing the sentiments of staunch Hindu voters ,” the AAP official said.

According to another AAP leader, if the party is to erase the BJP's lead in Delhi – it won all seven seats in both 2014 and 2019 – and open its account from the national capital, then reaching out to Hindu voters is key. is required.

Meanwhile, Delhi BJP called the Ram Rajya themed budget a "cheap publicity stunt". Calling it a "political strategy", Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said, "We all know that the 2024-25 budget is the last election budget of the Kejriwal government and they have tried to play to the gallery by calling it 'Ram'." The state budget, however, has nothing new for the people and in fact, it is silent on development projects.

Another BJP leader said AAP's "appeasement" of Hindu voters would not be enough to compete with the Ram temple. “The party is trying to appease Hindu voters, but it will also lose some of the votes it got in the Lok Sabha elections… because you cannot compare a Ram Rajya themed budget with the Ram temple, where lakhs of people flocked to visit Were." Ram Lalla's... If he plays on the scheme of Rs 1,000 for each woman, he will get votes because the benefits of this scheme

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