Rudraprayag: The Tirth Purohits (pilgrimage priests) of Uttarakhand have decided to stage a protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Uttarakhand. PM Modi is scheduled to visit Kedarnath on November 5. Staging protest against PM, the priests have decided to demand the dissolution of the Devasthanam Board.
Demanding not to broadcast PM Modi live from Kedarnath Dham Tirth Purohits said that the politicians are making the Dham a political hub. They said, "the Dham is being turned into a political centre, while the demands of Teerth Purohits to dissolve the Devasthanam Board has not been considered. So the priests are preparing to oppose the PM's visit."
Purohits Santosh Trivedi and Sumant Tiwari said, "the Tirth Purohits want PM Modi to announce the dissolution of the Devasthanam Board during his visit here. If the demand will not be fulfilled then we will oppose him. PM should visit the Dham but it should not be live telecasted and the Kedarnath Dham should not be made a political centre."
Earlier state Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had sought time till October 30 and now the time frame is over. Following which, the priests have started the movement and had opposed the visit of former Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, BJP State President Madan Kaushik and Health Minister to Kedarnath Dham.
It is speculated that during his visit to the state, PM Modi will begin the election campaign for Uttarakhand Assembly polls which is scheduled to be held in 2022.
