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BJP unveils “Ram Darshan” action plan for Ayodhya
The BJP’s “Ram Darshan Yatra” will run parallel to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.
BJP unveils “Ram Darshan” action plan for Ayodhya
The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) top brass met in Ayodhya on Wednesday to finalise the post-January 22 “pilgrim plan” as part of which the party will facilitate visits by devotees from across the country to the temple town and take care of their food and lodging.
The mega outreach campaign will see the party coordinating visits of up to two crore (20 million) pilgrims till March, a move aimed at ensuring that the temple inauguration issue resonates among the masses till the April-May Lok Sabha polls.
The BJP’s “Ram Darshan Yatra” will run parallel to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra that is set to start from January 14 till March 20, which perhaps was also factored in the discussions that the top brass held in two phases in Ayodhya.
The party has also set up a committee to oversee the post-January 22 arrangements and decided to have pointpersons who will coordinate the visits in each Lok Sabha constituency.
BJP leaders have named various leaders to head about 20 tasks related to logistics, pilgrim management and hospitality.
“Bees dayativon ke pramukh banaye gaye hain (twenty heads to look after as many tasks have been named),” a party leader said. These heads would be assisted by a team of cadres.
“Ayodhya is very much ready to greet pilgrims who will be coming for darshan of Ram Lalla,” deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak said after the meeting.
“From taking care of their facilities, including making available warm water to making their stay a memorable one, all our discussions centered around making all kinds of facilities for pilgrims,” he added.
During his Ayodhya visit on Tuesday, chief minister Yogi Adityanath had listed in detail his government’s “pilgrim management” plan for which he had ordered expanding the “tent city”, making Ayodhya dust free and without polythene. He also ordered officials to ensure that no pilgrim faced any problem.
A day after the chief minister’s visit, many of his senior ministers, including agriculture minister Surya Pratap Shahi, tourism minister Jaivir Singh, urban development minister AK Sharma, along with Brajesh Pathak, arrived in Ayodhya to finalise the nitty gritty of “pilgrim management.” From the BJP, the key leaders who attended the meeting to share their perspectives were national general secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh, national general secretaries Sunil Bansal, Vinod Tawde, UP BJP chief Bhupendra Chaudhary, state general secretary (organisation) Dharampal Singh, besides Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust member Anil Mishra among others.
To take a feel of the much-revamped Ayodhya that has come up ahead of the January 22 temple inauguration, senior BJP leaders like BL Santhosh and ministers walked till the Lata Mangeshkar crossing where a 40-ft Veena (musical instrument) was installed as a tribute to legendary singer on her 93rd birth anniversary in September 2022. A group photograph was taken there.
“To ensure seamless coordination, all BJP functionaries from the state will camp in Ayodhya. Almost daily, we would get about 8,000 to 10,000 people, from each Lok Sabha constituency and the numbers would gradually go up to 30,000 people or even more per day,” a BJP leader privy to the details of the meeting said.
“You will recall that during the elections to five states (in late 2023), our top leaders, including Union home minister Amit Shahji and chief minister Yogi Adityanathji, were repeatedly telling the masses that if the BJP wins, arrangements would be made for the masses to visit Ayodhya. Now that Ram temple is set to become a reality, the party plans to provide an enriching experience to the masses,” a BJP leader said.
A senior leader said that the discussions mostly featured planning for pilgrim travel and said cadres will coordinate with railways and transport department for smooth travel.
“There is a possibility of special trains being run for Ram Darshan visits. Various states will also arrange for bus visits. All efforts will be made to make the visits of pilgrim a memorable one and so from the moment the pilgrims arrive by trains or buses, the cadres will plan for their food, lodging, temple visits,” a BJP leader said.
