The ouster of Uttarakhand Chief Minister (CM) Trivendra Singh Rawat has brought cheers to the priests of Chardham shrines who celebrated it by bursting crackers.

In November 2019, the Uttarakhand government decided to set up a Charm Dham shrine board to manage over 50 temples located in the state.

The priest community and other Hindu groups have opposed this move. A petition has also been filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy in Nainital High Court, challenging the Uttarakhand government's decision to take over the state's temples.

Amid this stand off between priests and the state government, the priests have welcomed the resignation of CM Trivendra Singh Rawat, reports The Times of India.

“The CM played with the religious feelings of the teerth purohits as he tried to take over the management of temples. His exit is divine retribution. He would have lost his post soon after he had announced the Devasthanam Board, but he was saved due to the Covid situation,” alleged Suresh Semwal, convener of CharDham Teerth purohit Mahasabha.

“We have been serving temples since generations and centuries. If anybody tries to take away the Lord’s assets and money, they will be punished,” added Semwal.

“He had announced mere Rs 1, 000 for us even after knowing that our children slept hungry during the lockdown. The yatra didn’t work well last year and most of the priests were living in a hand to mouth situation,” said Shiv Prakash, head priest of Gangotri temple.