Mann ki Baat in Uttar Pradesh temples

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Mann ki Baat will now be heard in temples across the Uttar Pradesh.

The BJP, which is leaving no stone unturned for the 2017 UP Assembly elections, wants to keep its Hindu votes intact even as it uses the development plank to attract other sections of society.

The party has asked its workers to identify important temples in every district where a large number of people come together on specific days. The mobile phone numbers of the priests and temple committee members of these temples are also being compiled.

“We are going to ask the priests and temple committee members to either replay the PM’s Mann ki Baat programme or talk to the people about the government’s achievements on their own,” UP BJP spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak said.

The campaign is likely to begin from July when the Hindu month of “Saawan” commences because that is when devotees throng the Shiva temples.

“We are reaching out to all sections of society and people who come to temples or other religious places are also a part of society. We are merely trying to get our word across and make people aware of the welfare schemes being launched for them by the Prime Minister. We are not raising any contentious issues and are only trying to present out point of view,” Mr Pathak explained.

He said that priests, saints and seers were also a part of society and were equally affected by development, or lack of it.

“If the priests and seers have no problem, there is no reason for other to be troubled. We are not forcing our programme on any temple. We will be requesting he priests and if they agree we will go ahead,” he added.

Party sources said that the idea to involve temples in the campaign was a result of reports that the core Hindu vote of the BJP was getting “disillusioned”.

“People have started questioning us on the Ram temple issue because our leaders promised that construction would begin if the BJP got a majority on its own. We will be involving saints and seers in the campaign in order to placate the Hindu voters to an extent,” said a source.

BSP leader Swami Prasad Maurya, meanwhile, termed the BJP plan as a “direct misuse of religious places” and said that to use religion to get power was highly objectionable and should be condemned.

“Imagine the situation if every party started using religious places and leaders for political campaigns ” he asked. A SP minister, when asked, said that the government would keep a close watch on the BJP’s temple campaign and if any attempt was made to disturb communal harmony, action would be taken.