State to spend ₹25 crore on govt scheme publicity during Ashadhi Wari
MUMBAI: As the bugle for the upcoming local body elections is sounded — dates for which are yet to be officially announced — the Maharashtra government is set to spend over ₹21 crore on publicity for various schemes during the 21-day Ashadhi Wari pilgrimage from June 18 to July 8.
The Wari, a 700-year-old annual pilgrimage of the Warkari sect, sees over 2.5 million devotees (Warkaris) walking nearly 240 km from Alandi and Dehu to the temple town of Pandharpur. The yatra culminates on Ashadhi Ekadashi, which falls on July 6 this year.
This year, the state's publicity blitz during the Wari is pegged at ₹25.17 crore — a figure that notably exceeds the ₹12.82 crore allocated for essential sanitation services such as portable toilets for pilgrims. Tenders have been floated across departments to promote government initiatives during the yatra.
The campaigns will use Chitraraths (decorated floats), street plays, mobile LED vans, exhibitions, and social media drives to communicate various schemes to the Warkaris. In contrast, the sanitation plan involves daily deployment of over 1,800 portable toilets to cater to the massive footfall. The toilet facilities alone cost: Dehu to Pandharpur route: ₹7.83 crore and Alandi to Pandharpur route: ₹4.99 crore.
Vitthal Patil, president of the Warkari Sahitya Parishad, welcomed the state's efforts but raised a pointed concern, 'The facilities have been improving every year, which is commendable. However, while the government uses the Wari for heavy publicity, the real question is whether these schemes truly reach the people.'
Brijesh Singh, director general, information and public relations, said, 'The information and education campaign is being implemented to reach out a natural assembly of lakhs of citizens from rural area. We take the opportunity to interact to the people, especially farmers on their issues and take the schemes meant for them to them in their own language. This has been happening for years and has nothing to do with the ensuing elections.'
Break-up of the publicity budget:
Employment guarantee scheme department: ₹9.39 crore
Health department: ₹2 crore
Disaster management cell: 3.48 crore
Transport department: ₹21.93 lakh
Special assistance department: ₹43.96 lakh
Information and Public Relations (DGIPR): ₹5.36 crore for the 'Sanwad Wari' campaign
Other departments: Undisclosed amounts
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
21 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
State to spend ₹25 crore on govt scheme publicity during Ashadhi Wari
MUMBAI: As the bugle for the upcoming local body elections is sounded — dates for which are yet to be officially announced — the Maharashtra government is set to spend over ₹21 crore on publicity for various schemes during the 21-day Ashadhi Wari pilgrimage from June 18 to July 8. The Wari, a 700-year-old annual pilgrimage of the Warkari sect, sees over 2.5 million devotees (Warkaris) walking nearly 240 km from Alandi and Dehu to the temple town of Pandharpur. The yatra culminates on Ashadhi Ekadashi, which falls on July 6 this year. This year, the state's publicity blitz during the Wari is pegged at ₹25.17 crore — a figure that notably exceeds the ₹12.82 crore allocated for essential sanitation services such as portable toilets for pilgrims. Tenders have been floated across departments to promote government initiatives during the yatra. The campaigns will use Chitraraths (decorated floats), street plays, mobile LED vans, exhibitions, and social media drives to communicate various schemes to the Warkaris. In contrast, the sanitation plan involves daily deployment of over 1,800 portable toilets to cater to the massive footfall. The toilet facilities alone cost: Dehu to Pandharpur route: ₹7.83 crore and Alandi to Pandharpur route: ₹4.99 crore. Vitthal Patil, president of the Warkari Sahitya Parishad, welcomed the state's efforts but raised a pointed concern, 'The facilities have been improving every year, which is commendable. However, while the government uses the Wari for heavy publicity, the real question is whether these schemes truly reach the people.' Brijesh Singh, director general, information and public relations, said, 'The information and education campaign is being implemented to reach out a natural assembly of lakhs of citizens from rural area. We take the opportunity to interact to the people, especially farmers on their issues and take the schemes meant for them to them in their own language. This has been happening for years and has nothing to do with the ensuing elections.' Break-up of the publicity budget: Employment guarantee scheme department: ₹9.39 crore Health department: ₹2 crore Disaster management cell: 3.48 crore Transport department: ₹21.93 lakh Special assistance department: ₹43.96 lakh Information and Public Relations (DGIPR): ₹5.36 crore for the 'Sanwad Wari' campaign Other departments: Undisclosed amounts
Time of India
2 days ago
- Time of India
Sant Tukaram Maharaj palkhi begins wari from Dehu to Pandharpur
1 2 3 Pune: Chants of 'Gyanba Tukaram' and 'Vithal Vithal' reverberated as the annual palkhi procession of Sant Tukaram Maharaj commenced its journey from Dehu to Pandharpur on Wednesday. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis performed the traditional puja and aarti at the Dehu temple, marking the start of Ashadhi wari. Thousands of warkaris (devotees) from across Maharashtra congregated in the temple town of Dehu to join the wari in the past two. Several dindis (groups of devotees) will walk with Sant Tukaram Maharaj's 'paduka' (wooden slippers) kept in the palkhi (palanquin) towards Pandharpur, completing the nearly 240-km-long route on July 5, a day before Ashadhi Ekadashi on July 6. On the first day, the procession halted at Inamdar Saheb Wada near the Sant Tukaram Maharaj Temple in Dehu. It is scheduled to proceed towards Akurdi on Thursday. The palkhi procession will enter Pune city on Friday and halt at Nivdung Vithoba Temple in Nana Peth before proceeding towards Pandharpur on Sunday. "I feel honoured to have the opportunity to attend this ceremony. Wari holds immense significance, drawing warkaris from all corners of Maharashtra every year," Fadnavis said after performing the puja. He mentioned that the warkari community safeguarded our culture and upheld the values of Bhagwat Dharma for many centuries, even in the face of numerous attacks. Several other politicians, including deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, Union minister of state Murlidhar Mohol, Hasan Mushrif, and others, also took blessings from the palkhi in Dehu. Officials from the Dehu Sansthan Trust said a large number of warkaris are expected to join the procession this year due to the early arrival of monsoon. Jalinder Maharaj More, president of the Dehu Sansthan, said the atmosphere in Dehu was steeped in devotion since early morning. As per tradition, the kakad aarti was performed at 4am, followed by other rituals, including the mahapuja at 5am. The Sansthan trustees later performed a puja at the Shila Temple and subsequently conducted the Narayan Maharaj puja. Mahesh Shinde, a warkari from Parbhani, said, "I have been attending the annual wari for many years. It is a tradition passed down by my forefathers, and we proudly carry it forward. There is a unique sense of peace and fulfilment that comes from being part of this spiritual journey."
Hindustan Times
3 days ago
- Hindustan Times
Keeping up with UP: Can BJP penetrate the impregnable fortress of Mukhtar Ansari?
There's a legend about two gangster-turned-politicians of eastern UP. It goes like this: Mukhtar Ansari's deadly rivalry with Brijesh Singh dates back to his college days. He was fond of cricket and once had a tussle with Singh's family during a game. Mukhtar's friend was killed, triggering an unending rivalry in the region. The region may be on the boil again if the Mau assembly by-polls are held. I heard the story about the cricket rivalry in 2007, when Mukhtar, his MP brother Afzal Ansari and two other family members were in jail in connection with the Krishnanand Rai murder case. Rai was a close aide of Brijesh Singh and the enmity had led to gang wars and spread to the political arena. Mukhtar Ansari, who mostly remained in jail since 2005, died in prison in March 2024. He had 65 criminal cases lodged against him, including 14 cases of murder. On the other hand, Brijesh Singh was released from jail after 13 years in prison in August, 2022. Mukhtar Ansari belonged to an illustrious family but entered the world of crime at the age of 15. His grandfather Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari was a freedom fighter who is said to have worked closely with Mahatma Gandhi. A row of photographs in Ansari's house in Yusufpur, Mohammadabad, bear testimony to the illustrious legacy. Now with the conviction of Ansari's son Abbas in a 2022 hate speech case and the subsequent disqualification of his membership of the UP assembly, there is intense speculation in the state's political circles about the BJP strategising its first ever win from the Muslim-dominated constituency. Abbas had won the seat in 2022 on the ticket of the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), then an ally of the Samajwadi Party (SP) and now a partner of the ruling BJP. Abbas has filed an appeal against the verdict of the MP/MLA court. His uncle Afzal Ansari, an SP MP, is hopeful. 'Yes, the seat has been declared vacant but we are hopeful of justice from the courts as Abbas had said nothing to disturb the communal amity in the area. Along with the appeal, an application has also been filed,' Afzal Ansari said. Since the first election in Mau in 1957 and until 1996, when Mukhtar won the seat for the first time on the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) ticket, nominees from almost all political parties, including the Congress, Communist Party of India (CPI), BSP and Janata Party, have represented the constituency in the assembly except for the BJP though the party's fore-runner, the Bharatiya Jan Sangh, had won the seat in 1967. Mukhtar won five consecutive elections until 2017 but, in 2022, Mayawati refused to give him the party ticket. His son Abbas Ansari had then won the seat on the SBSP ticket and stands disqualified today though he is hoping for a reprieve from the courts. Discussions have already started in the public domain about the future of the Ansari family and what will happen if Brijesh Singh's nominee enters the fray. Of the 14 MLAs elected from the Muslim- dominated seat, nine were Muslims. However, the BJP leadership does not fear the community's rejection as the party bagged four Muslim- dominated seats in recent by-polls – Kundarki in Moradabad, Rampur Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha seats, the stronghold of Azam Khan, and Azamgarh, the seat once held by Mulayam Singh Yadav. For each win, they adopted a different strategy. Asked if the party had started strategising for the Mau seat, BJP's Muslim Morcha president Kunwar Basit Ali said, 'We are also waiting for the court verdict, but the party works round the clock and they always have viable plans.' Mau is known for its saree industry. Some traders hold Mukhtar responsible for Mau's sufferings and many have closed their shops. There are over 50,000 power looms and 80,000 weavers in the area. In 2007, when Mukhtar was alive, they had said that Mukhtar's 'boys' spread rumours and fanned fear every election by claiming that if he loses, Muslims will face a tough time. What now? How BJP won Muslim-dominated seats The BJP had won the Muslim-dominated Kundarki seat after 31 years in November 2024. The BJP's Hindu candidate Ramveer Upadhaya wore a skull cap and had started befriending Muslims much before the elections. He defeated SP nominee Mohammad Rizwan by a huge margin of over 1.28 lakh votes amid allegations of bogus voting. The Muslim vote was divided as upper caste Muslims, mainly Jat, Gujar, Pathan, Syed and Tyagi, mostly businessmen, bought peace for themselves. Similarly, the BJP wrested the prime Azamgarh Lok Sabha seat from the Samajwadi Party (SP) in the 2022 by-poll. Again, they fielded a Hindu candidate Dinesh Lal Yadav 'Nirahua' who got 3.12 lakh votes, defeating the SP candidate Dharmendra Yadav by about 8000 votes. Playing spoilsport here was the BSP whose Muslim candidate Shah Alam had polled 2.66 lakh votes. The division of votes helped the BJP. In the June 2022 by-poll, the BJP had also won the Rampur Lok Sabha seat followed by their strategic win in the Rampur assembly seats in December 2022 by-poll. One of the assembly seats of Suar was won by its ally Apna Dal (Sonelal). The BJP had never hoisted its flag on the seat since 1952.
