Repeal of Char Dham Devasthanam board: BJP propitiates the priests

When Trivendra Singh Rawat was removed as chief minister (CM) in March this year, he did not have the slightest idea why the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) brass pulled the rug from under his feet. Even after his removal, Rawat defended his decision to set up the contentious Char Dham Devasthanam Board in Uttarakhand, describing it as the biggest reform in the history of the state. But Rawat was proved politically wrong when CM Pushkar Singh Dhami scrapped the board on Tuesday, ahead of the Assembly elections due early next year. The Dhami government will give burial to the Char Dham Devasthanam Management Act, 2019, in the coming session of the Vidhan Sabha, beginning December 9 in Dehradun.

The Act was passed by the Vidhan Sabha to bring four shrines (Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, and Yamunotri, comprising Char Dham) and 49 other temples under the control of the government. This was along the lines of the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board in Jammu.

After the removal of Rawat, there was some procrastination on the part of the government to take a decision on the board in the face of the agitation by priests of the Char Dham shrines. On the other hand, ever since the decision on the board was taken, the entire Garhwal region had begun to see an undercurrent of animosity against the BJP. A section of the priests had even decided to contest the coming Assembly elections. The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) too had asked the state government to scrap the board. BJP leader Subramanian Swamy had opened a separate front to oppose the move. The state government found itself cornered.

A section of state BJP leaders, including Tourism Minister Satpal Maharaj, was also not happy. He, who initially had described the Char Dham Act as a milestone for the hill state, took to Twitter to express his views immediately after the announcement was made on the scrapping of the board.

“In the context of the Devasthanam Management Act as well as the present scenario and public sentiments and also keeping in view the opposition of the stakeholders and priests, we submitted our report to the CM (Dhami) on the basis of which the decision to scrap the board has been taken, which is a welcome step,” tweeted Maharaj.

Interestingly, the decision came immediately after Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to scrap the farm laws. Faced with stiff opposition by farmers, Transport Minister Yashpal Arya had quit the BJP last month to rejoin the Congress. This had given a big jolt to the ruling party.

The Congress, which is sensing victory in the elections, has slammed the BJP on the issue, saying the ruling party was frightened into taking the decision.

“We know the days of the BJP are over. Now, the party has decided to roll back all its decisions made against the spirit of Uttarakhandiat,” said Congress General Secretary and former CM Harish Rawat.

In this context, the Congress has adopted a strategy to make Uttarakhandiat (issues concern­ing Uttarakhand) a key poll plank where it has promised to restore all the rights of the priests.

However, political observers say the BJP is trying to salvage the situation.

“There was no problem with the board. The only problem was the stiff opposition by priests. There is still a lot of time for the BJP to save the situation,” said Yogesh Bhatt, a political observer.

The focus has shifted to yet another contentious provision under which the Rawat government had relaxed land laws to facilitate industrialisation in the hills. The Congress and other parties want this reversed because in their view “outsiders” are purchasing land in the hills, which may bring a demographic imbalance in the state.

Dhami has made it clear his government will discuss this matter and take a decision. This is the second time a major reform initiative, after the repealing of the Lok Ayukta Act by the previous Congress government, has been scuttled.