Kedarnath gold plating row: Congress stages protests; seeks probe by HC judge
A controversy erupted when a video surfaced online recently in which a senior priest of the Kedarnath temple is heard claiming that there was a multi-crore scam in the gold plating of the shrine’s inner walls
Congress leaders and workers on Thursday staged a protest demanding an independent inquiry into the matter by a sitting high court judge amid the controversy over gold plating in Kedarnath shrine.
However, the Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) has denied such allegations, terming them “baseless” and as a part of a conspiracy to malign the image of BKTC and the state government.
Some priests associated with Kedarnath Dham had alleged financial irregularities in gold decoration carried out inside the sanctum sanctorum of Kedarnath Temple last year after a video of the gold-plated area having worn off in a certain area at the sanctum sanctorum of the temple had gone going viral on social media.
The protesters were led by Dehradun Mahanagar Congress president Jaswinder Singh Gogi.
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“The idea of putting a gold layer in the sanctum sanctorum of Kedarnath Dham, was propagated to score political points by BJP, but the move backfired after the temple priests from the shrine raised the issue and revealed that instead of authentic gold plating work, copper was used, and the area was gold polished”, said Gogi.
State Congress president Karan Mahra said, “BKTC was now hiding its illegitimate act by taking cover of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and it should clarify whether any testing for the gold was done by any expert body before it was laid at the sanctum sanctorum.”
In wake of the Kedarnath gold plating controversy, Satpal Maharaj tourism minister has announced an investigation into the matter, but Congress has demanded an investigation under the supervision of a sitting judge of the high court.
“The government, through its contradictory versions on the matter, has lost its credibility hence we demand an independent investigation by a sitting high court judge”, said Gogi.
Meanwhile, BJP has come out in support of BKTC and denied all the allegations, terming them as a conspiracy against the government.
Suresh Joshi, BJP state spokesperson lashed out at the Congress for false allegations.
“The same donor had gold plated the pillars of the Badrinath temple in 2005 and had donated gold during the Congress regime but the party had no objection back then. The BKTC, following all the guidelines, has conducted the work under the supervision of a jeweler and the officials from the archaeological department of India so there is no question of any irregularities”, he said
“The whole work of gold plating at Kedarnath has cost ₹14 crore but the Congress is falsely claiming that the work amounted to over a thousand crores which shows that Congress, in order to tarnish the image of BJP, was hurting the sentiments of devotees and maligning the stature of the holy shrines as it has been unable to digest the loss in Lok Sabha election in 2014”, he added.
Meanwhile, Mahant Ravindra Puri, president of Akhil Bharatiya Akhada Parishad (ABAP), the apex religious body of 13 recognised monastic Hindu orders (Akhadas), has also come out in support of BKTC.
“To doubt the work done by a devotee from Maharashtra at sanctum sanctorum in Kedarnath for political gains is condemnable and unnecessary and as the work has been done in a transparent manner to raise such issues is wrong. All political parties should refrain from such allegations especially when the Kedarnath yatra is going on in full swing.”
