By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun 27 Aug: BJP has levelled serious allegations against Congress over the construction in progress of a Badrinath temple in Mumbai. Speaking to the media persons at BJP State Headquarters during an informal interaction here today, Party’s General Secretary Aditya Kothari claimed that this temple in Mumbai is being constructed under the patronage and guidance of the Congress. Kothari claimed that the incident exposes the hypocrisy of the Congress. The Congress leaders indulge in politics over the construction of a Kedarnath temple in Delhi, but quietly ignore the fact that construction of an exact replica of the Badrinath temple is presently underway in Mumbai. Kothari reminded that the foundation stone for the temple in question had been laid in the time of Harish Rawat government in Uttarakhand.
Kothari also claimed that huge funds to the tune of several crores of rupees are being collected in the name of this temple being built in Mumbai. The BJP General Secretary also reminded htat the construction had begun when senior Congress leader and former PCC Chief Ganesh Godiyal was the Chairperson of Badri-Kedar Temple Committee. Kothari asked why the Congress leaders including Godiyal had not raised their voices against the Badrinath temple during their own tenure?
During his informal interaction with media persons, Kothari also accused the Congress of creating confusion and doing double-faced politics in the name of temples and Dhams. He claimed that both the policy and intention of the BJP government are clear. This is the reason that in view of the public sentiments on the proposed Kedar Nath Dham temple in Delhi, Chief Minister Dhami took immediate action there. The government banned the formation of an institution or trust in the name of not only Kedar Dham in the country but also all the holy Dhams of the state. Despite this, Congress leaders are not refraining from doing cheap politics on this issue notwithstanding the fact that the foundation stone of Badri Vishal temple was laid in Vasai, Mumbai on 1 February 2015 during the Congress government of Harish Rawat. At that time, Ganesh Godiyal, who is creating big noise over the issue of Kedar Dham temple in Delhi was Chairman of Shri Badri Kedar Temple Committee. Since then, Uttaranchal Mitra Mandal Vasai Trust of this under-construction temple has been collecting hundreds of crores of rupees from devotees in the name of the temple. He accused the Congress of patronising and guiding its construction. Otherwise, why do all the Congressmen including Godiyal not protest against the construction of this temple? The fact that Congressmen have not spoken a single word about this under-construction temple till date shows that the Congress is indulging in selective politics regarding the Kedarnath temple in view of the upcoming byelection in Kedarnath. Expressing regret on this, Kothari claimed that Congress has no qualms in tarnishing the image of God’s abode solely for immediate political gain.
