BHOPAL: The ruling BJP and the opposition Congress were engaged in a war of words over the re-launch of the Mukya Mantri Teerth Darshan Yojana in Madhya Pradesh. CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan had on Friday chaired a meeting where it was decided the scheme would be re-launched on the April 19. During the first journey, trains will leave with 974 elderly pilgrims from seven districts for Kashi.
On Monday, BJP MLA Rameshwar Sharma put up hoardings in Bhopal, praising the re-launch of the government’s flagship pilgrimage scheme. Without naming Congress, the hoarding mentioned that those who got the scheme closed were also welcome to travel to Kashi for the inaugural leg of the scheme.
Medical education minister Vishvas Sarang also accused the erstwhile Kamal Nath government of dumping the scheme during its 15-month stint in power. ‘‘Under the Yojana, the Madhya Pradesh government is playing the role of Shravan Kumar for all the elderly people above 60 who were deprived of pilgrimage due to financial constraints,’’ the minister said.
Soon, Congress spokesperson Narendra Saluja tweeted that during the Kamal Nath government’s rule, more trains were run under the pilgrimage scheme than that in the five years of the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government. Saluja also posted several photos to bolster his claim.
“During the Kamal Nath government, many new pilgrimages were added to the list of existing pilgrimages under the scheme. The new pilgrimage included the shrines of Sikhs and the Ajmer Sharif,” he said. The Congress spokesperson accused the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government of dumping the scheme during the Covid pandemic.