(Clockwise from top-left): Shri Kedarnath, Shri Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri. An organisation of Chardham priests on Thursday announced it will field candidates on 15 seats in the upcoming Uttarakhand assembly polls.
The Chardham Teerth-Purohit Hak Hakookdhari Mahapanchayat Samiti made the announcement at a press conference after holding its general body meeting in Rishikesh.
'We will field our candidates on 15 assembly seats but they will strategically influence the outcome of many other seats,' its president Krishna Kant Kotiyal said.
The Samiti will also launch an awareness campaign to build public opinion against the Devasthanam Board, he said.
'We will tell people how BJP put an end to a 2500 year old tradition to constitute the board infringing upon our rights,' he said.
The Samiti said it will also ‘gherao’ the state assembly during its forthcoming session to be held in Gairsain on the issue, he said.
The priests of Char Dham in Uttarakhand - Shri Kedarnath, Shri Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri - have been opposing the Devasthanam Board Act, enacted during Trivendra Singh Rawat's tenure as CM.
Under the law, 51 temples associated with the four shrines are governed by the Devasthanam Board, formed through a legislation two years ago.
Earlier this month, former state CM Trivendra Singh Rawat faced protests from priests in Kedarnath, who showed him black flags and raised slogans against him.
(With inputs from PTI)
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