Claiming temples not closed, Gujarat rolls back decision prohibiting prasad distribution during Navratri

Gujarat government on Wednesday said that "it has not shut any temple in the state for darshan for lakhs of devotees" and an "appropriate arrangement' with social distancing has been put in place by the trustees in view of the coronavirus pandemic.

The statement comes amid the backdrop of a raging controversy between the governor and chief minister of Maharashtra on the issue of opening of temples as well as upcoming bypolls to eight assembly polls in the state.

Meanwhile, the state government also decided to roll back its decision prohibiting the distribution of prasad at temples during Navratri which was part of Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) announced barely five days back.

The government has cancelled all garba dances during the festival considered to be the biggest in the state. However, the government has allowed worshipping of goddess Durga during the nine days beginning October 17.

The organisers have been asked to follow the SOP which had banned touching the feet of idols or images of the goddess and the distribution of offerings after the poojas. On Wednesday, Minister of State for Home Pradipsinh Jadeja said that prasad wrapped in plastic can be distributed.

The Congress termed the decision as a political gimmick. "The BJP has no plans at all to tackle any situation. It is simply playing games with people's lives. The ruling party only aims at winning elections by playing with sentiments of both the Hindus and Muslims. The same thing they did during Lord Jagannath Yatra earlier this year," said Gujarat Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi.

He said that the government is only "passing the buck to the trustees of the management but they can't fool peope. Everyone knows that most of the major temples in the state is directly or indirectly run by government or its representatives such as district collectors."

As a matter of fact, the Gujarat high court had pulled up the Vijay Rupani-led BJP government for not taking a decision on the annual Lord Jagannath Rathyatra. The court had said that the government was only "appeasing" religious leaders instead of taking "bold and firm" decisions to cancel religious events in view of the coronavirus infection.