Uttarakhand Election: Under the banner of Char Dham Teerth Purohit Haq Hakukdhari Mahapanchayat Sanstha,
the Teerth Purohits of Uttarakhand have directly opened a big front against the government. Before the assembly elections in the state, the government is completely surrounded on a big issue.
The priests are announcing the Aakrosh Rally and the black day, while on the other hand the pressure on the Pushkar Singh Dhami government to withdraw the law has been built up due to many reasons. Now the big question is whether the Uttarakhand government will come on the backfoot? So when and how?
Dehradun. Intensifying their movement against the Devasthanam Board, the pilgrimage priests of Uttarakhand have started a series of gherao by the government. The priests of Char Dham on Tuesday staged a sit-in protest at the official residence of Uttarakhand Agriculture Minister Subodh Uniyal and protested by imposing ‘Shirshasan’.
Reiterating their long-standing demand to dissolve the Devasthanam Board Act, created during the Trivendra Singh Rawat government in 2019, terming it a violation of the jurisdiction of the priests, the protesting priests said that if the government did not agree, the protest would become more violent. While Uniyal said that the matter would be resolved by November 30.
On Tuesday, the priests associated with Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri dhams protested at the residence of state government minister Subodh Uniyal, when Uniyal came to meet the angry priests.
According to the news of PTI, Uniyal asked the protesters to wait till November 30, after which a big decision will be taken. Earlier, the priests had talked about intensifying the protests against the Pushkar Singh Dhami government, just before the end of the pilgrimage to the four Dhams. In this sequence, this protest was brought to the capital Dehradun.
Will the government take back the law?
In view of the performance of the pilgrimage priests and the upcoming assembly elections, the question has become big whether the Dhami government will withdraw this act of its own previous BJP government. In fact, big situations are being created regarding the return of this Act, which should be understood at a glance.
1. Uniyal told the priests that after November 30, the government would take a big decision. Its direct meaning is understood that the government has made up its mind to dissolve the board, accepting the demand.
2. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recently withdrawn the controversial agricultural laws, against which the farmers staged an 11-month-long protest. Purohit has also been registering protests since the time the Act was enacted in 2019 and has been holding a quiet dharna for the past several months. On the lines of PM Modi, there seems to be pressure on CM Dhami to return the Act.
3. The committee to consider the matter has submitted its interim report. The upcoming winter session of the Vidhan Sabha is going to be held in Gairsain. In view of the elections, the state government can give a big gift on this occasion.
4. Since the direct influence of the tirth purohits is believed to be in at least 3 assembly seats and broadly about 9 seats, the government cannot annoy them at the time of elections.
5. Former CM Tirath Singh Rawat had talked about taking out the temples from the control of the board, but he could not complete his term, so there is pressure on Dhami.
November 27 will be a ‘black day’ The
pilgrimage priests, who have already warned of instigating the protest, have said that this act was made on 27 November 2019 and celebrating this day as a ‘black day’, the priest community will be on the next 27 November. Will take out ‘Aakrosh Rally’. It is worth mentioning that Trivendra Singh Rawat, who reached Kedarnath in the last days of Char Dham Yatra, was driven out of the temple by the priests. On the other hand, Congress leaders from Kedarnath to Dehradun have supported the demands of the priests and announced that this board will be dissolved as soon as the Congress government is formed.
