BJP calls Kejriwal’s Pujari Granthi Samman Yojana ‘political stunt’

New Delhi, Dec 30 (PTI) BJP on Monday called AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal’s ‘Pujari Granthi Samman Yojana’ a “political stunt” and claimed that no one would get even a single rupee since the latter does not have any data with him.

Delhi BJP chief Veerendra Sachdeva said that Kejriwal is now a “defeated and desperate” leader who is making populist announcements daily to stay in power.

While talking to mediapersons, former Delhi MP Parvesh Verma claimed that Kejriwal is remembering ‘ishwar’ and ‘waheguru’ due to the fear of loss. But he did not remember them for the last 10 years, Verma alleged, adding he only used to remember ‘maulvis’ of the mosque, and used to see only one religion and one vote bank.

For the last 10 years, he used to pay salaries to ‘maulvis’ and their assistants every month with the tax money of the people of Delhi, Verma said. Till date, he has given around Rs 100 crore to clerics of mosques and their associates, he claimed.

Since elections are about to be announced, they have remembered priests of temples and gurudwaras, Verma said.

“I want to request the priests that it is the money earned from liquor and do not touch it. This is only an election stunt. You won’t get even a single rupee because Kejriwal does not have any data about how many temples there are in Delhi, who the priests are and what their names are,” Verma claimed.

If they were concerned, they would have conducted the survey earlier, he said.

Since the elections have not been announced, he can give the money tomorrow itself and no one is stopping them, Verma said.

Taking to social media post on X, Verma wrote, “I have been saying for years that temple priests and granthis of all gurudwaras should be given salaries. But for the last 10 years, @ArvindKejriwal has been paying salaries to the maulvis and their associates of all the mosques in Delhi. Now as elections come he is remembering priests and granthis. This is called a thug.”

Kejriwal on Monday said that if re-elected, his party would launch a Pujari Granthi Samman Yojana to give a monthly allowance of Rs 18,000 to Hindu temple priests and granthis of gurdwaras.

“Pujaris and granthis are an important part of our society, but they are often a neglected section. For the first time in the country, we are introducing a scheme to support them, under which they will receive a monthly allowance of Rs 18,000,” Kejriwal said, adding, registration for the scheme will start tomorrow.

Sachdeva said no matter how many announcements Kejriwal makes, the people of Delhi will not believe him. After the “deceptive” Mahila Samman Scheme, Kejriwal has now announced the Pujari Granthi Samman Yojana, he said.

“The Delhi BJP’s Pujari Prakosht has been demanding salary allowances for priests for a long time. We have organised several protests and put pressure on Kejriwal’s government to provide wages to priests and granthis. After more than two years of ongoing pressure from the Delhi BJP and its Pujari Prakosht, Kejriwal had to announce the Pujari Granthi Samman Yojana,” he claimed.