New Delhi, Dec 30 Undeterred by the storm over the Mahila Samman Yojana, AAP leader and former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday announced yet another financial assistance scheme, this time for temple and gurdwara priests who will get Rs 18,000 a month.
The move invited criticism from the BJP and Congress which called it a desperate gimmick and a hollow promise of the ruling AAP ahead of Assembly elections which, they claimed, Kejriwal is set to lose.
Announcing the ‘Pujari Granthi Samman Yojana”, Kejriwal said that he will start registration for the scheme on Tuesday from the famous Hanuman Temple in Connaught Place by enlisting the beneficiary priests of the temple.
Kejriwal’s move to launch a new financial assistance scheme for priests comes close to the recent setback for his Mahila Samman Yojana for women and Sanjeevani health insurance scheme for the elderly.
The registration process for these two schemes, launched through AAP volunteers, was declared illegal by Delhi government departments which issued warnings against them in public notices.
Soon after Kejriwal’s announcement of the scheme for priests, Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva hit out at the AAP leader claiming that due to the fear of loss in Assembly elections, the former CM had started making daily populist announcements to stay in power.
The Delhi BJP President said that no matter how many announcements Kejriwal makes, city voters will not believe him.
He said after the deceptive Mahila Samman Scheme, Kejriwal has now announced the Pujari Granthi Samman Yojana.
He said whether it’s the women of Delhi, priests, or granthis, all are asking Kejriwal: “Is your Punjab government providing such allowances?”
The Delhi BJP chief said wherever Kejriwal goes in Delhi, people ask him questions regarding the failed development, the corruption in the construction of the “Sheesh Mahal” (CM residence) and the excise policy scam infamous for schemes like “one bottle free with a bottle of alcohol”.
They also demand answers about the 62 deaths this year due to water-logging and electrocution during the monsoon. In this situation, a helpless Kejriwal is now attempting to deceive the common people by becoming a “dream merchant” once again.
Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee President Devender Yadav also slammed Kejriwal’s desperate attempt to regain his lost ground by announcing various freebies to influence voters.
He said Kejriwal’s latest gimmick of promising a monthly salary of “Rs 18,000 for priests of temples and granthis of gurdwaras if Aam Aadmi Party comes back to power” is yet another of his hollow promises.
He said that if his past track record was any indication, Kejriwal had always backtracked on his promises, which will be borne out of the betrayal he had meted out to autorickshaw drivers after using them for his election campaign with lofty promises but ignored them completely after capturing power in Delhi.
Yadav said Kejriwal has been making promises to women, elderly, autorickshaw drivers, temple priests and granthis of gurdwaras though the Delhi Government departments issued public notices to clarify that the Rs 2,100 monthly freebie announced for women and health insurance for the elderly were not government schemes.
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