New Delhi: After Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal promised a monthly allowance of Rs 18,000 for Hindu temple priests and Sikh gurdwara granthis if his party was re-elected in the upcoming Delhi Assembly polls, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) questioned why it was not done in the last 10 years.
“Why are you making the announcements now? You were in power for the last ten years but haven’t paid anything to pujaris or granthis. You spent thousands of crores on waqfs… When someone can damage their own vote bank, then what will they do to those who do not consider vote banks?” remarked BJP’s national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla.
Another BJP leader Parvesh Sahib Singh took to X and posted: “I have been saying for years that temple priests and granthis of all gurudwaras should be given salaries. But for the last 10 years, Arvind Kejriwal 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 glands. This is called a thug.”
Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva said salary for priests has been one of their long-standing demands. “We had pressurised the AAP government. We held numerous protests over this. In 2022, we had filed a petition in the High Court for the welfare of priests in Delhi. When the court asked for a response the Delhi government only asked for the next date. Why didn’t you do this in the last 12 years? Why now?”
Announcing the scheme earlier in the day, Kejriwal said: “Pujaris and granthis are an integral part of our society. They’ve selflessly served the community for generations, often at the expense of their own families. This scheme is our way of honouring their contributions.”
