Thursday, 04 November 2021 | PNS | Dehradun
In an apparent attempt to counter the political mileage the ruling BJP is trying to obtain from the Kedarnath visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi the Uttarakhand Congress has decided that its leaders would offer prayers at Shiva temples in different parts of the state on November 5. During his visit Modi would unveil the statue of Adi Guru Shankaracharya and also inaugurate and lay the foundation of many projects in Kedarnath.
The PM’s visit and programme would be live streamed in all the Jyotirlingas and Shiva temples in all parts of the country. At the time when the PM would be in Kedarnath, the Congress leaders would offer prayers in 12 Shiva temples in every district of the state.
The former chief minister and head of the campaign committee of the Uttarakhand Congress party Harish Rawat would observe a fast on Deepawali (Thursday) to express his protest against the rising prices. Rawat said that Congress would offer prayers in Shiva temples with the hope that PM Modi would approve five major works for the welfare of Uttarakhand and allot a budget for them during his visit. He said that Congress workers view Kedarnathji and Jyotirlingas in their local Shiva temples so they would offer Jalabhishek and prayers in the temples.
Rawat added that he would march to Daksheswar temple in Haridwar from Kankhal chowk while singing songs. Rawat added that on Deepawali he would observe a fast for two hours in protest against the rising prices. He said that due to the steep hike in cooking gas, edible oil, diesel and petrol, the general public is not able to spend much on the festival of Deepawali.
It is pertinent to mention here that Harish Rawat had visited Kedarnath last week. On Tuesday Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi and Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Navjot Siddhu visited Kedarnath. These visits coupled with the visits of PM Modi and tours of CM Pushkar Singh Dhami, state BJP president Madan Kaushik and ministers are being viewed as an attempt by Congress and BJP to woo the Hindu votes in the upcoming assembly elections.
