Former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat on Wednesday attempted to woo Brahmin voters in the state ahead of the assembly elections.
Rawat, the campaign chief of the Congress, was quoted by The Telegraph as saying “If voted to power, we (Congress government) will constitute a commission to study the social-economic condition of Brahmins and launch welfare schemes on the basis of the findings.”
Rawat also declared a Congress government would “install idols of Lord Parashuram at all religious centres of the state”, The Telegraph reported.
Brahmins constitute about 10 per cent of Uttarakhand's population.
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Uttarakhand is home to the major Hindu shrines of Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri. Rawat faulted the BJP government for stopping a pension scheme for priests of major temples, which was introduced by the Congress.
Welcoming the declarations, a Brahmin outfit in Uttarakhand pledged support to the Congress. Bhriguvanshi Pandit Ashutosh Pandey, president of the Rashtriya Brahmin Yuvajan Sabha, was quoted by The Telegraph as saying “We have decided to support the Congress in the Assembly elections because of their promise to set up a commission to study the socio-economic condition of Brahmins. If needed, we will organise processions to expose the BJP, which had won with the help of Brahmins but left them in the lurch.”
