Kedarnath assembly byelection results will be testimony to the allegations of step motherly treatment to Kedarnath, missing gold plating from the shrine sanctum sanctorum and performance of the Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami’s performance of two and half years.
As both the main political parties BJP and the Congress are claiming their victories in the Kedarnath bypoll, talks are rife in Kedar Valley that the Dhami government meted out step motherly treatment to the Garhwal region in general and Kedarnath temple area in particular. Electorates who subscribe to this view claimed that Dhami government deliberately tried to ignore tourism in Kedarnath area and took several intentional decisions to divert tourism from Garhwal to Kumaon. According to their allegations Dhami government tried to promote tourism in Kumaon under newly launched religious tourism scheme Manaskhand Mala to connect different temples in the Kumaon region, renowned Kainchi Dham Ashram, and other parts of the state. “Present Uttarakhand government has meted out step motherly treatment to Kedarnath. “This year pilgrims’ strength in Kedar Valley was much lower than previous year while Chardham Pilgrimage in Garhwal witnessed almost 10 lakh tourists less than that of last year. On the contrary, tourism in Kumaon rose sharply specially with persistent efforts by the state government. There is no harm in promoting tourism in Kumaon but it should not happen at the cost of our region” said Mohan Singh Rawat, 28, a resident of Agastmuni.
Issue of missing gold plating from Kedarnath temple also figured in the bypoll as a section of local purohits and pandas were up in the arms against Badri Kedar Temple Committee (BKTC) in this matter. Kedar Sabha Member Vinod Shukla claimed “BKTC has failed to come clean on 200 kilograms gold plating that has gone missing from the temple sanctum sanctorum. Even state government failed to address the issue despite the fact that Shankracharya too had raised the voice in the matter.
Bypoll result will also be a test for the chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami’s last ditch effort to announce series of road renovation works, contruction of approach roads and other developmental projects in the valley. Dhami government’s cabinet ministers and senior state BJP leaders remained stationed in the valley to resolve public issues in different parts of Rudraprayag District particularly Kedarnath constituency. “Pilgrimage that remained suspended for several days due persistent bad weather was resumed without wasting much time. Thousands of pilgrims were rescue safely from here. Apart from this Kedar Valley is beneficiary of the almost all major infrastructural developmental projects in the state. Dhami government has done good works for the development of this Constituency” state’s said Kunwar Singh, local farmer from Guptkashi.
Counting for Kedarnath by-election will be held on Saturday to decide the fate of BJP candidate Asha Nautiyal and the Congress nominee Manoj Rawat. Constituency registered around 58 percent polling, of total electorates size of nearly 91000, on November 20.