By ARUN PRATAP SINGH
RUDRAPRAYAG, 6 Nov: On his second day of his three-day visit to Kedarnath, top Congress leader and former President of the party, Rahul Gandhi hosted a Bhandara (feast), today, for the devotees present at the Kedarnath shrine. He also visited the Shankaracharya Samadhi Sthal and had darshan of the statue of Adi Shankaracharya. After this he went to the temple premises where he interacted with the devotees. During the interaction, he also posed for photographs and selfies with the devotees present. Gandhi also hosted a Bhandara for the devotees present at the temple today. A significant number of devotees who were in Kedarnath stood in line and accepted the Prasad offered by Rahul Gandhi, who himself served food to them. Earlier in the morning, Rahul Gandhi had also served tea to the devotees. Enthusiasm was seen among the devotees for this activity. People o welcomed this initiative.
Many Congress leaders and workers also reached Kedarnath even though the three day temple visit by Rahul Gandhi has been described as a strictly personal one.
According to Ganesh Godiyal, a former Congress MLA and former President of Badri-Kedar Temple Committee, Rahul Gandhi is staying in an accommodation close to the temple premises “so that he can see the temple from his room”. Godiyal claims that Rahul Gandhi had requested accommodation close to the temple premises from where he could see the temple and, at his request, such accommodation has been provided.
Incidentally, like yesterday, even today a large number of devotees raised slogans of Modi-Modi in Rahul Gandhi’s presence. Some of the Congress workers present there became agitated and expressed their anguish, asking the devotees not to raise Modi slogans. They also argued with the devotees in this regard.
On the other hand, Congress leader and district Panchayat member Vinod Rana claimed that only a handful of people raised the slogans while others were pleased to meet and see Rahul Gandhi. Gandhi will stay in Kedarnath tomorrow also.
Expectedly, the Congress party has described this visit of Kedarnath by Gandhi as a personal one, but political connotations are still being derived from it.
Some independent political observers claim that Rahul Gandhi has recently been advised by some of his close advisors to adopt a soft Hindutva policy and this visit is part of this plan to project such an image. While the visit of Gandhi to Kedarnath has been described as personal, one could spot several local as well as senior Congress leaders in Kedarnath along with him. However, senior Congress leaders from Uttarakhand have been kept away from Kedarnath despite their desire to meet him.
