Close X
Wednesday, November 6, 2024
ADVT 
India

With Elections In Mind, Shiromani Akali Dal Becomes Religious

Darpan News Desk IANS, 29 May, 2016 12:08 PM
  • With Elections In Mind, Shiromani Akali Dal Becomes Religious
Having been in power for nearly 10 years at a stretch may have given a lot of political and administrative experience to Punjab's ruling Shiromani Akali Dal, but the outfit seems to be becoming 'religious minded' as the state's assembly polls draw closer.
 
The party's government in the state is already in the middle of a major exercise to offer religious junkets to nearly 125,000 people.
 
The 'Mukh Mantri Tirath Yatra Scheme' (Chief Minister's Pilgrimage scheme) for providing free pilgrimage to various sacred places across India will cost the Punjab exchequer nearly Rs.190 crore.
 
The scheme, being implemented with political and religious fanfare, was approved by the Punjab cabinet in November 2015.
 
 
People are being taken on special trains and buses for pilgrimage to locations like Nanded Sahib (Maharashtra), Varanasi, Katra (Mata Vaishno Devi) and Ajmer Sharif.
 
"Under the scheme, 1,050 people from each of Punjab's 117 assembly constituencies are being offered this facility of free travel to these pilgrimage centres. Food and lodging needs are also being taken care of," a senior officer in Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal's office told IANS.
 
Last month, Punjab deputy chief minister and Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal, in a clear move to appease radical and religious leaders, offered prayers at the 'Bluestar' memorial inside the Golden Temple complex. The Akali Dal, its leadership and the Punjab government had, so far, kept itself away from the controversial memorial built by radicals to commemorate "martyrs" in the Army's 'Operation Bluestar' in 1984.
 
Separatist leaders Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale who was killed in the army operation and others are listed as "martyrs" at the memorial.
 
 
While All-India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF) president Karnail Singh Peermohammed welcomed the move, radical Sikh organisation Dal Khalsa saw a political motive behind it.
 
"This appears to be an attempt to woo Sikh hardliners ahead of the 2017 assembly polls. Sukhbir Badal wants to prove his Panthic credentials," Dal Khalsa leader Kanwarpal Singh said.
 
The opposition Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) -- which is posing a serious challenge to the Akali-BJP alliance and the Congress, ahead of the assembly polls - are accusing the Akali Dal of using religion, especially the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), for its political interests.
 
"The Akali Dal has been exposed in the way it has used religion to hide its wrong deeds like corruption, vested interests in Sikh bodies like SGPC, goondagardi," AAP leader Sanjay Singh told IANS.
 
The Akali Dal has full control over the SGPC, the mini-parliament of Sikh religion which manages Sikh shrines, including the Golden Temple complex. The SGPC has an annual budget of Rs.1,200 crore.
 
 
The Badal government faced testing times last year in August-September when a series of incidents of desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib led to protests and violence in different parts of Punjab.
 
The Akali Dal leadership blamed it on anti-Panthic (anti-Sikh community) forces and religious prayers were started across the state to defuse the situation.

MORE India ARTICLES

Sports And Theatre Worlds Unite To Pay Tribute To Tenor Michael Burgess

Sports And Theatre Worlds Unite To Pay Tribute To Tenor Michael Burgess
The musical theatre star — who spellbound audiences as Jean Valjean in "Les Miserables" and became well-known to hockey fans for his stirring renditions of "O Canada" — died Monday after a lengthy battle with cancer.

Sports And Theatre Worlds Unite To Pay Tribute To Tenor Michael Burgess

Modi's Visit To Silicon Valley: Beyond The Hype Were Clear Goals

Modi's Visit To Silicon Valley: Beyond The Hype Were Clear Goals
All prime ministerial visits are calibrated for a specific goal, be it economic, diplomatic, political or cultural. That is true of all Indian prime ministers but it is especially true of Narendra Modi.

Modi's Visit To Silicon Valley: Beyond The Hype Were Clear Goals

International Trips By Indians To Rise By 45 Percent In 2015: Study

International Trips By Indians To Rise By 45 Percent In 2015: Study
The average number of international trips by Indians is set to increase by 45 percent in 2015, according to a study by travel site TripAdvisor.

International Trips By Indians To Rise By 45 Percent In 2015: Study

No Evidence Against Manmohan Singh In Coal Case: CBI

No Evidence Against Manmohan Singh In Coal Case: CBI
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday told a special court that there is no prima facie evidence against former prime minister Manmohan Singh in coal block allocation case allegedly involving Jindal group firms.

No Evidence Against Manmohan Singh In Coal Case: CBI

Indian Billionaire Shivinder Singh Quits Fortis To Do 'Seva' At Radha Soami Satsang Beas

Indian Billionaire Shivinder Singh Quits Fortis To Do 'Seva' At Radha Soami Satsang Beas
I am fortunate to have been accepted. I will move to Dera, Beas post transitioning my executive responsibilities at Fortis

Indian Billionaire Shivinder Singh Quits Fortis To Do 'Seva' At Radha Soami Satsang Beas

The Tragedy Of Farmers In Once Prosperous Punjab

The Tragedy Of Farmers In Once Prosperous Punjab
For too long, Punjab has been high on political slogans, false and un-kept promises, often outpacing reality. Once a 'prosperous' state, Punjab today is a 'problem' state

The Tragedy Of Farmers In Once Prosperous Punjab