Bhajanlal Sharma's hyped Ayodhya visit boosts BJP's Sanatan Dharma

The Rajasthan CM also attended the bhumipujan and shilanayas function of Saraswati Devi Shiv Kishan Dammini Bhavan.

Jaipur: Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma, who does temple runs on a daily basis, called upon the holy city of Ayodhya to pay obeisance to Ram Lalla, singing Ram bhajans, chanting Hanuman chalisa, and overtly reinforcing BJP’s strong political messaging of upholding the Sanatan Dharma ideology that projects Hinduism and Hindu identity as eternal, just before the Lok Sabha elections.

The Chief Minister was accompanied by his Cabinet colleagues including deputy CM Prem Chand Bairwa, central minister Kailash Choudhry and other legislators, BJP organisational officials and top bureaucrats including chief secretary Sudhanshu Pant.

However deputy chief minister Diya Kumari did not accompany him on this trip.

In the videos released by his media team, most ministers and leaders could be seen singing Mahatma Gandhi’s favourite bhajan Raghupati Raghav Rajaram till line Sitaram, Sitaram in the exclusive flight. Incidentally they stopped short of singing the next line Ishwar Allah tero naam, sabko sanmati de Bhagwan.

Overwhelmed with devotional fervour and his penchant for religious rituals, CM on his arrival said : “Ram is the central focus of our faith and religion. He is omnipresent and ensconced in every part of human beings. And Ram controls every occurrence in this world. And that is why Ram is a legend and such a great icon.”

Elaborating, CM added, “For 500 years, Ramlalla was living in a tent. On January 22, Ramlalla got his place in the grand and divine temple. Ayodhya is definitely not only India’s but also the world’s largest cultural centre. In the future, you will witness the effect of Ayodhya’s grandeur reaching the world…”

The CM also attended the bhumipujan and shilanayas function of Saraswati Devi Shiv Kishan Dammini Bhavan, which was organised by a religious organisation of Pushkar at Ayodhya’s Dashrath Kund. He was accompanied by Lok Sabha speaker and Kota MP Om Birla too.

CM was also part of his entire cabinet chanting Hanuman chalisa, sitting on the steps of the Ramlalla temple.

The CM also spoke about his participation in the Ram Mandir Andolan and shared his experiences then. While thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his religious and cultural reawakening, he emphasised on the rekindling of the Sanatan dharma culture through renovation and redevelopment of the Hindu temples. He also posed for pictures with labourers from Rajasthan, who are involved in the construction of the humongous and architecturally magnificent Ayodhya temple.

He also talked about the Rajasthan government sponsoring about 3000 senior citizen’s trips to Ayodhya and how direct flight, train and bus connectivity to Ayodhya has been put in place for devotees who wish to visit the divine city.

However, it seems that CM is unaware that Spicejet’s direct flight service to Ayodhya from state capital Jaipur, started in February, has been shelved for the time being for technical reasons. Local newspapers, however, have reported that the flight occupancy has remained lesser than 30 per cent which has made the airlines drop the flight. There are, however, a number of indirect flights to Ayodhya from Lucknow and Delhi.