Cong blames govt for lack of effective plan
DEHRADUN: Politics has heated up over Char Dham yatra management in the state as the Congress on Monday lashed out at the BJP government for failing to come up with an effective way to facilitate the pilgrimage to the four Himalayan shrines.
So far, over five lakh pilgrims have visited Char Dham shrines after the yatra started on May 3.
Karan Mahara, Congress state president, said the Pushkar Singh Dhami government should immediately apologise to the people of the state for its failure in Char Dham yatra management.
“Before the start of the yatra, big claims were being made by the government, but within a fortnight, all the claims have vanished. This has not only embarrassed the people of Devbhoomi but also tarnished the image of the state. The failure of the state government was further evident when the Centre had to intervene and NDRF and ITBP personnel for yatra management. This has never happened before,” he said.
Congress state media in charge Rajiv Mahrishi said the death of dozens of devotees during yatra is a matter of great concern. “The government is yet to decide what it should do. The ministers of the government are themselves embroiled in the blame game.”
Congress spokesperson Garima Dasauni said there was a lot of confusion about the management of Char Dham yatra due to which pilgrims are suffering. “Now, they made registration mandatory and pilgrims without registration are being returned. They should have come up with an effective plan from the beginning. Once the pilgrims are here, why should they be made to suffer,” she said.
Dasauni alleged that there was no coordination in the state government and different cabinet ministers are saying different things on the yatra.
On Sunday, Uttarakhand government advised all those intending to come to Uttarakhand for the Char Dham yatra to ensure that they compulsorily have registration before proceeding for the yatra.
The state government stressed that pilgrims arriving for the Char Dham yatra without registration will not be allowed ahead of Rishikesh, the starting point of the yatra in the state.
Uttarakhand tourism secretary Dilip Jawalkar said every pilgrim should commence for the yatra only after getting the registration done to avoid inconvenience at latter stage. He said keeping in mind the carrying capacity of the Char Dhams, a certain limit has been set for the registration, according to which the software has been designed on the registration portal and no more registrations can be done on the dates beyond the prescribed limit
Manveer Chauhan, media in charge state BJP, said the Congress cannot digest the fact that the BJP government was managing the Char Dham yatra in a very good way. “They are trying their best to find something which they can criticise. When they can’t find anything, they level baseless allegations and try to confuse people. State government machinery, Dhami, cabinet ministers, health department, police, all are monitoring Char Dham arrangements,” he said.
Devendra Bhasin, state BJP vice president, said it was unfortunate that the Congress is trying to politicise the Char Dham yatra.
“The fact is that Congress has no issue on which it can attack the BJP government. So, they are trying these gimmicks to mislead people and create confusion. It is Congress which should apologise for playing negative politics over the yatra.”
Dasauni said the Congress was not playing any negative politics over Char Dham yatra as alleged by the BJP. “Our party president Karan Mahara visited all the Char Dham and came to Dehradun and held a press conference on May 9. He gave suggestions to the state government like there is a need to set up oxygen parlours on Char Dham routes. We are actually behaving as a responsible opposition while the BJP government is trying to hide its failures by accusing us of playing negative politics and criticising it,” she said.
SMA Kazmi, Dehradunbased political analyst, said the Congress under its new leadership is trying to establishing itself as a strong opposition.
“Congress state president Karan Mahara himself visited Char Dham shrines and took stock of the arrangements and pointed out lacunae in them. Whether the BJP agrees to it or not, huge pilgrim influx in higher reaches of Himalayas is always fraught with dangers given the unpredictive weather and elderly and ailing people dying due to health reason. The state government has to strike a balance and regulate yatra. Then it can manage it in a better way and ensure there is no loss of lives and no damage to fragile ecology of Himalayas,” he said.