Sukhbir Badal, other Punjab Akali Dal leaders pay obeisance at Salasar temples in Rajasthan
The visit by Akali leaders ahead of the 2022 assembly elections being seen as an attempt to reach out to Hindu community in Punjab
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal and other party leaders from Punjab on Tuesday paid obeisance at the Salasar Balaji Dham and the Mata Anjani temple in Churu district of Rajasthan.
Sukhbir travelled to the shrine in a bus along with others and was honoured by the shrine trust.
Later, he announced that if voted to power, the SAD-BSP alliance will re-start the ‘Mukh Mantri Teerath Yatra’ scheme launched by the previous government headed by Parkash Singh Badal.
“The SAD respects all religions and therefore our party president decided to accompany leaders from Malwa to Salasar shrine that is visited by people in large numbers. During our government’s tenure, the shrine was covered under the Mukh Mantri Teerath Yatra scheme,” said party spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema.
The scheme was stopped after the Congress took over in 2017, he added.
Under the scheme, our government used to help people to take pilgrimage to Mata Vaishno Devi, Mata Chintpurni, Ajmer Sharif, Hazoor Sahib and other places of worship, he added.
The Akali leaders accompanying Sukhbir included Sikander Singh Maluka, Anil Joshi, NK Sharma, Sarup Chand Singla, Prem Arora, Parkash Chand Garg, Jeet Mohinder Sidhu, Kanwarjit Singh Rozy Barkandi, Hans Raj Josan, Mantar Singh Brar, Tirath Singh Mahla, Barjinder Singh Makhan Brar and Dilraj Singh Bhundar.
The visit by SAD leaders ahead of the 2022 assembly elections is being seen as an attempt to reach out to the Hindu community that forms nearly 40% of Punjab’s population.