Ram, Krishna circuits in UP to woo Hindu voters?

The Tourism Ministry headed by Dr Mahesh Sharma has kicked off Ramayana and Krishna tourism circuits in Uttar Pradesh as part of its Swadesh Darshan programme, with an apparent eye on the upcoming assembly elections in February.

The places selected for development in the two circuits fall in the Hindu-dominated belts where promotion of pilgrimage tourism will help the BJP to ride on the religious sentiments.

The two projects were cleared back in July to avert charge of influencing the elections but the issue came in focus after Sharma visited Ayodhya early this week to inspect the proposed site for setting up a "Ramayana Museum." It has triggered an outcry by the hardline Hindu groups and some BJP leaders to push for the Ram Mandir at the site where the Babri Masjid was demolished in 1992.

The "Ramayana Museum" is part of the Ramayana Circuit for which the Tourism Ministry has sanctioned Rs 225 crore; including Rs 151 crore exclusively for Ayodhya alone while other places to be developed as tourist spots in Uttar Pradesh are Shringhverpur, Nandigram and Chitrakoot.

In case of the Krishna circuit, a dozen destinations spread across five states have been identified for development at a cost of Rs 195 crore, five of them in Uttar Pradesh. They are Mathura-Vrindavan, Barsana, Gokul, Nandgaon and Govardhan.

Dr Sharma says both the tourist circuits are to be developed on the principle of the high tourist value and should not be linked with the elections. He said the idea is to develop infrastructure facilities around the selected destinations that are visited by the large number of devotees.