AYODHYA: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav unleashed his Ayodhya card by vowing to waive municipal taxes charged from temples to usher in real Ram Rajya if he storms to power in 2022 assembly elections.
He made this announcement while meeting a delegation of Ayodhya seers at party headquarters in Lucknow on Saturday. All temples would be exempt from house and water taxes and the temple town will celebrate Deepavali 365 days a year, he told seers, who raised the issue of high taxes clamped by Ayodhya municipal corporation. Talking to TOI, SP corporator Mahendra Shukla who led the seers’ delegation to Lucknow, said, “The government is charging tax from temples, ashrams and other religious places. We demand the government immediately waive these taxes.”
Addressing seers, Akhilesh said, “Ayodhya will celebrate Deepavali throughout the year after SP comes to power. Ayodhya will get the status of a heritage city and all religious places there will be exempt from tax. Ayodhya is city of ‘vasudhaiv kutumbakam’ as it accommodates all religions. Our two corporators Haji Asad Ahmad and Mahendra Shukla are from the area that houses Ramjanmabhoomi and this exemplifies a secular Ayodhya.”
Hamid Jafar, general secretary of Ayodhya SP said, “This is Akhilesh’s powerful counter to the state government's decision to bring a law to regulate religious places.”