Seers to field candidate against Modi from Kashi

Varanasi: The seers at the vanguard of the movement against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship Kashi Vishwanath Dham (corridor) project have decided to field a candidate against him from Varanasi parliamentary seat. The saints, who are members of the Ramrajya Parishad, hold Modi responsible for alleged demolition of temples to pave way for the corridor.
The outfit made the announcement on Sunday during the national convention of the Akhil Bharatiya Ramrajya Parishad Nyas organised by seers led by Swami Avimukteshwaranand, disciple of Shankaracharya of Jyotish and Sharda Dwarkapeeth Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati.

A 24-point ‘Hindu ghoshnapatra’ (manifesto) promising to restore ‘sanatani’ tradition in politics was released. Avimukteshwaranand said seers will announce the candidate’s name at the confluence of Ganga and Assi at Ravidas Ghat on Monday afternoon.

He said the parishad was formed by Dharma Samrat late Swami Karpatriji after independence to ensure ‘sanatan’ tradition in politics. “The parishad is now being forced to enter electoral politics and would also contest 2022 assembly and 2024 LS polls,” he said.

Avimukteshwaranand said it’s unfortunate that barring local leaders, no political parties, including BJP and Congress came forward to stop demolition of temples for the corridor project.

He also questioned Modi’s seriousness to revive Ganga, saying had the PM been sensitive, environmentalists like Swami Sanand would not have died after holding a fast-unto-death stir for over 100 days. On BJP’s decision to field Pragya Singh Thakur, an accused in the Malegaon blast case, from the Bhopal parliamentary seat, the seers said their sympathy was with her, but she can’t be termed as the face of Hindutva.