Just days after the grand opening of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday talked about the grand praan pratishthaa ceremony at the new Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22 and called it a matter of “immense pride and happiness”. “The Praan Pratishthaa of the Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22 was a matter of immense pride and happiness for everyone across the world,” Kejriwal said while addressing the Republic Day function at Chhatrasal Stadium.
The AAP convener further said that the Delhi Government had already adopted the 10 principles essential for ‘Ram Rajya’ and his government is trying to govern the city according to the “definition of Ram Rajya as given in the Ramayana”.
“Inspired by ‘Ram rajya’, our government gives good education and health for all. Lord Ram never discriminated on the lines of caste and religion, but society has been divided on the same lines,” Kejriwal said days after the consecration ceremony at Ram temple in Ayodhya. Lord Ram never discriminated on the lines of caste and religion, but society today has been “divided on those lines”, Kejriwal said.
In his Republic day address, the Delhi Chief Minister said it was important to “imbibe the principles that Lord Ram exemplified”. He said the Delhi government, with inspiration from ‘Ram rajya’, provides good education and health, pension for senior citizens and round-the-clock power supply and free water supply.
Kejriwal said that the Delhi government provides free rations to the poor and unemployed while establishing night shelters.”Following Lord Rama’s example, where both kings and commoners studied in gurukuls, Delhi ensures that children from all backgrounds receive the same education in government schools,” Kejriwal said.The Chief Minister, in his speech, highlighted how Delhi has improved government hospitals and opened neighbourhood clinics, providing free medication and medical treatment to all citizens.
“Running an administration with inspiration from ‘Ram rajya’ also includes providing 24/7 power supply. It also means respecting the elderly and we have been doing that by increasing their pension and arranging free pilgrimages for them. “It includes providing free water supply to poor and middle class people that we have been doing since we came to power,” he said.
The chief minister said that the Delhi government plans to sponsor the travel of devotees from Delhi to Ayodhya.
“We will try our best to sponsor the travel of devotees from Delhi to Ayodhya Ji. On the one hand, while we have to devote ourselves to Lord Ram, on the other hand, with utmost honesty we have to dedicate ourselves to the welfare of our nation. If we tread the path of Lord Ram, no one can stop India from becoming the world’s number 1 country,” the AAP convener said.
“We conduct ‘teerth-yatra’ to 12 pilgrimage sites for senior citizens free of cost. Till now, 83,000 people have taken on ‘teerth-yatra’. Many people have expressed their desire to visit Ayodhya ji. We will try to take as many people as possible to Ayodhya ji,” he added. His government increased the old-age pension from Rs 1000 to Rs 2500 per month. The Delhi government has created jobs through new schools and neighborhood clinics, and a job portal has provided employment to 10-12 lakh youth, said Kejriwal. Citing a recent survey, the AAP leader claimed Delhi has the lowest inflation rate in the country, at 2.95 per cent, compared to the national average of 6 per cent.
Kejriwal said that the Delhi government also focuses on safety of women in the national capital, adding that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) makes efforts on the issue even though the Delhi Police does not come under their control. The Delhi government has created jobs through new schools and neighborhood clinics, and a job portal has provided employment to 10-12 lakh youth, said Arvind Kejriwal.
The grand ceremony of pran pratishtha of Ram Lalla at Ayodhya was celebrated across the country, it also elicited mixed responses from the opposition alliance. The Congress, CPI(M) and TMC had slammed the BJP for “politicising” the event, other parties including AAP, SP and the NCP, had joined in celebrations across the country.
Making a veiled attack at the Centre, Kejriwal said that the aim of having a USD 5 trillion economy is good only when the financial benefit reaches all poor people in the country. “But the country will remain poor if 4 trillion out of that remain with one or two people,” he said.
“In the last 75 years, the rich have become richer and the poor have become poorer. Bringing down inflation is part of the concept of ‘Ram rajya’ followed by us. Delhi has minimum price rise as per central government reports. If people are suffering from price rise we cannot say it’s Ram Rajya,” he said.