Grand gates, flower showers, financial assistance, and power subsidies. The Rekha Gupta-led BJP government in Delhi has ramped up efforts to make things smooth for devotees undertaking the Kanwar Yatra, known as kanwariyas, and outdo the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led government.
“The government is fully prepared. As soon as we get the final list, the first instalment will be disbursed with a click of a button,” the CM said on Saturday after a review meeting with the Kanwar Seva Committee.
While the CM said the government was also constructing grand welcome gates at the borders of Delhi to greet the kanwariyas, her government has already promised large-scale facilities for them. According to officials, the government has also made all preparations to welcome devotees with flower showers, set up medical tents, made provisions for clean drinking water, and set up barricades along the routes that the kanwariyas will take.
In indications that the BJP government is going the extra mile, it has also promised Rs 10 lakh through direct benefit transfer to registered groups that will organise stays for the devotees and announced free electricity for Kanwar committees for up to 1,200 units.
Moreover, district magistrates and district development committees have been pressed into service to oversee the arrangements, while Cabinet ministers, MLAs, and leaders will personally welcome kanwariyas by showering them with flowers upon their entry into the city.
Gupta’s team is also seemingly taking a leaf out of her “favourite CM” Yogi Adityanath’s book. The imagery of showering petals on kanawariyas, Cabinet ministers hitting the ground, and heightened religious optics are some of the aspects that the Delhi government has tried to inculcate from neighbouring Uttar Pradesh.
The previous AAP government also had ensured arrangements in kanwar camps such as round-the-clock deployment of medical teams and electricity and water supply. Last year, the Delhi government also directed local dispensaries to remain attached to the camps and deputed district administrations to oversee arrangements.
In her bid to outdo the AAP, Gupta has also held multiple meetings with the Kanwar Seva Committee. On Saturday, she targeted the previous AAP governments and claimed institutions had to wait for months for even basic facilities such as tents, while payments to them were delayed for several years.
“The previous (AAP) government only committed corruption in the name of providing facilities for kanwariyas… They spent crores of rupees and issued tenders to only a couple of people, but in reality, people on the ground did not receive any service,” she said.
In response, the AAP accused the BJP of “injecting dirty politics into the sacred tradition”. “For the past 10-11 years, the AAP government systematically facilitated this tradition and supported kanwariyas, irrespective of their political affiliations. The same people managed the camps for 10 years, but now the BJP is playing dirty politics on the issue,” said Delhi AAP convenor Saurabh Bhardwaj.
Gupta said that 374 applications had been received for setting up kanwar camps, most of which had been approved. “The rest will also be cleared soon. The increased number of applications reflects the people’s trust in our administration,” she said, adding that sanitation teams had been deployed round-the-clock to ensure cleanliness.
According to Delhi government officials, more than 250 kanwar camps are likely to be set up across the city as against the 185 set up by the AAP government last year. On the other hand, the BJP is finding it difficult to implement what it has demanded year after year while in the Opposition: for instance, the closure of meat shops during the month of Sawan. While there is a lot of public positioning on the issue, no official notification has been issued yet.
“There is no order, but public sentiment needs to be respected,” Delhi Education Minister Ashish Sood said last week. Echoing his views a day later was Art and Culture Minister Kapil Mishra who declared that all meat shops — legal and illegal — located within 500 meters of routes that kanwariyas take would be shut down.
Though Mishra claimed to be coordinating with the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to implement the shutdown, he was left red-faced after the civic body backed out, citing no legal provision in the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act to enforce the ban, though MCD Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh backed the minister’s demand.
Claiming that things “were going smoothly as of now”, a senior BJP leader said the government would act in the coming days if there was a need to close meat shops. “Every year, meat shop owners voluntarily close their shops during the yatra as a mark of respect to the devotees. The district committee officials and police are monitoring the situation and requesting the shopowners to either cover or shut the shops,” the leader added.