Baba Balak Nath temple trust reconstituted

The Himachal Pradesh Government has reconstituted the Baba Balak Nath temple trust at Deotsidh in Hamirpur district by adding 13 non-officials and 19 special invitees to it.

Most of the new members are affiliated to the Congress in the Barsar Assembly segment of the district where the ancient temple is located.

However, the name of local BJP MLA Inder Dutt Lakhanpal did not figure in the list.

The state government dissolved the old trust after Lakhanpal, along with five other Congress legislators, switched sides to the BJP in March this year after cross-voting for BJP nominee Harsh Mahajan in the Rajya Sabha polls held in February.

Lakhanpal later successfully contested the Assembly bypoll in Barsar on a BJP ticket.

There are a number of official members in the trust, including the Barsar SDM as its chairman, under the provisions of the Himachal Pradesh Hindu Public Religious Institution and Charitable Endowments Act, 1984.

Mahant Rajinder Giri has been named as one of the 19 members among the special invitees, according to a notification issued by the chief commissioner (temple) cum secretary, language, art and culture, Himachal Pradesh government.

Congress leaders Subhash Chand Dhatwalia, who unsuccessfully contested the Barsar Assembly bypoll against Lakhanpal, and Arvinder Kaur Dogra, wife of former MLA Manjeet Singh Dogra, are among the official members, the notification said.

The decision to rejig the trust came at a time when the temple is facing many problems, especially due to the alleged mismanagement on the part of the temple staff.

Also, the ''prasad'' sold at the Baba Balak Nath temple trust outlet at Deotsidh was found unfit for consumption, an issue the state government would try to resolve with the reconstitution of the trust.

Meanwhile, while the Congress leaders welcomed the reconstitution of the temple trust, their BJP counterparts dubbed it as a move to promote the activities of a bunch of Congress loyalists.