Eager to take on the BJP in its own game, the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi took to soft Hindutva on Monday as it gave the title of “Ram Rajya ka Budget” to its Delhi Budget 2024-25. This was also the first Budget presented by Atishi, who had taken over as finance minister last year following the arrest of then minister Manish Sisodia in the excise policy case. Presenting the 10th Budget of the Kejriwal government, Atishi made several references to “Ram Rajya” while her party promoted it on social media as #KejriwalKaRam Rajya. In her speech, she said, “All the MLAs present in the House are inspired by Lord Ram, that is why we have taken a ‘sankalp’ (pledge) to fulfil the dream of ‘Ram Rajya’ in Delhi.” She picked the religious line while referring to the “Farishtey Dilli Ke” scheme when she said, “saving someone’s life is also ‘Ram Rajya’,” and declared while 22,000 lives have been saved by encouraging people to help road accident victims, the Delhi government would also bear the cost of expenses of the victims.
Incidentally, the Arvind Kejriwal government has over the past few months, taken to organising religious events at a large scale to nullify any support the BJP could in view of the consecration ceremony at Ram Temple in Ayodhya. In fact, on the day of the ceremony on January 22, AAP organised Sundarkand paths, shobha yatras (rallies), aartis and bhandaras in all the 70 Assembly segments of Delhi.
Delhi Budget key points of focus
Earlier, it organised Sundarkand paths (recitals) and Hanuman puja (prayer) in all the assembly segments and declared it would become a monthly feature. Its actions prompted AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi to question if any of the religious practices were related to good governance.
Meanwhile, the Delhi Budget, with a total outlay of `76,000 crore, has emphasised on the four areas of women empowerment, education, health, roads and infrastructure. Under the Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojana, Atishi announced the payment of `1,000 per month to every adult woman. She termed this “the greatest step” in the direction of women empowerment. For the education sector, the government has allocated `16,396 crore, for health sectors `8,685 crore and an equal amount for roads and infrastructure.
