Spirituality seems to have taken centre stage in Jammu & Kashmir ahead of the Lok Sabha elections with the BJP busy facilitating the travel of Ram devotees to Ayodhya and former chief ministers Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti recently performing ‘Umrah’ in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

In the last week of January, National Conference leaders Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar Abdullah flew to the holy city of Mecca to perform ‘Umrah’. Following them, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti too proceeded for ‘Umrah’.

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‘Umrah’ denotes a holy pilgrimage to Mecca, which can be undertaken at any time during the Islamic calendar, unlike ‘Hajj’, which is performed during the month of ‘Dhul Hijjah’.

Omar posted his photos with his father Farooq Abdullah at the holy mosque on X while Mehbooba shared a video on X where she is seen feeding pigeons in Mecca.

On his return, Omar said that during ‘Umrah’, he prayed for respite from the prolonged dry spell affecting the people of Jammu & Kashmir.

The BJP these days is engaged in sending people from J&K for the holy ‘darshan’ of ‘Ram Lalla’ at the recently inaugurated temple in Ayodhya. It is being said that the party was trying to draw electoral leverage on the issue.

BJP general secretary (organisation) Ashok Koul and party vice president Yudhvir Sethi, who is also the convener of the Ram Darshan Ayodhya committee, on Tuesday flagged off the first ‘Astha’ train to Ayodhya from the Jammu railway station.

More than 1,300 pilgrims embarked on the spiritual journey that holds immense significance in the hearts of millions across the nation.

On the occasion, former mayor Rajinder Sharma and Prateek Shrivastava, DTM, Jammu Region, Northern Railways, were also present.

Sethi said that the BJP will facilitate the pilgrimage of Ram devotees from Jammu & Kashmir to Ayodhya. The Northern Railways is running special ‘Aastha’ trains which will be operated from Katra, Udhampur and Jammu railway stations to facilitate their journey.

He informed that the special ‘Astha’ trains are scheduled to run on February 13, 16, 20, and 27, as well as on March 1 and 5, providing devotees with convenient travel options to visit the holy city of Ayodhya.

Sethi said that the district offices of the BJP across the Union Territory will extend all possible support to devotees by assisting them in train ticket booking, arranging accommodation, providing local convenience, and facilitating their ‘darshan’ at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.