Special budget for religious tourism, free pilgrimage for elders: Congress' religious push in Himachal manifesto

The Congress on Saturday went all out to make a religious pitch in its election manifesto in Himachal Pradesh, rolling out ambitious promises ranging from a free once-in-four-years pilgrimage for all elderly to a dedicated budget for the promotion of religious tourism in every assembly constituency.

The party's manifesto released at Rajiv Bhawan in Shimla here includes a stand-alone segment titled - "Devsthan and Tirth Yatras" (Temples and Pilgrimages).

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The loftiest promise in this section is a pledge of free pilgrimage to any shrine of choice for all elderly in the state, with the Congress promising to foot the bill for such a trip every four years.

It includes a provision for attendants to accompany the elderly on such trips.

AICC in-charge of Himachal Rajeev Shukla also announced a "Dev Bhumi Vikas Nishi", a fund that entails dedicating budgeting for each assembly constituency to promote religious tourism.

The slew of promises under the religion segment by the Congress comes close on the heels of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's inauguration of the grand Mahakal temple complex in Ujjain, his personal visit to oversee development works in Kedarnath and Badrinath and his Diwali eve presence at the Ram temple Ayodhya.

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Top BJP leaders including Amit Shah and J P Nadda are also raising the issue in their poll meetings asking people whether the Congress has ever bothered to renovate temples in the country, which the BJP has done under Prime Minister Modi.

The Congress, which has made promises probably for the first time in any election manifesto, has further promised to double the annual contribution to state-supported temples.

Emoluments to temple priests will also be raised to twice from what they are getting now.

The manifesto also states that tourism circuits will be developed to strengthen religious tourism and the special budget for the restoration and modernisation of temples in the state would be set up.