Protests intensify amid Banke Bihari temple trust row in UP's Vrindavan, Congress lends support to stir

Carrying placards and banners, the protesters, amid rains, staged a demonstration on Friday and slammed Mathura MP Hema Malini for what they alleged was not taking up the matter with the state government.

Lucknow: The ongoing protest against the proposed Banke Bihari Temple Corridor and Trust in Vrindavan intensified with hundreds of women, ‘sevayats’ (priests) and local traders taking to the streets chanting slogans against the state government and the local MP and BJP leader Hema Malini.

Carrying placards and banners, the protesters, amid rains, staged a demonstration on Friday and slammed Hema Malini for what they alleged was not taking up the matter with the state government.

The protesters demanded a written assurance from the government that the ancient and famous ‘kunj galis’ (narrow, winding lanes around the Banke Bihari Temple, which are said to be in existence since the times of Lord Shree Krishna) would not be demolished.

Former Mathura district BJP president Madhu Sharma, who also joined the protest, questioned the ‘silence’ of Hema Malini on the issue. She appealed to Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath to meet the protesters to understand their concerns.

‘’The Kunj galis belong to the times of Lord Krishna....Vrindavan is known the world over for them...we will never allow them to be demolished,’’ said one of the women protesters.

The local residents said that they were not against the Corridor but the Kunj Galis should not be touched. There were around 150 Kunj Galis in Vrindavan. ‘’Vrindavan will change completely and lose its ancient nature if they are demolished,’’ said Chail Bihari, a local priest.

UP Congress president Ajay Rai also lent support to the protest and said that the state government wanted to destroy the cultural identity of Vrindavan.

The state government has decided to construct the Banke Bihari Temple Corridor to ease the congestion around the Temple and ensure better facilities to the devotees, who throng the Temple in millions.

In the past several devotees lost their lives owing to suffocation while trying to reach the Temple for ‘darshan’. During the weekends the lanes are packed with the devotees and as a result the people have to face many problems.

The local priests and traders had also approached the Supreme Court against the Corridor but their petition was rejected. The Rs 500 crore project proposes construction of pathways to the Temple from three sides, parking, construction of shops and other facilities.

According to the sources, over 200 houses and 100 shops were likely to be demolished for the Corridor. The priests also fear that they would stand to lose if the Temple was taken over by a Trust.