Uttarakhand: Several contenders vying for post of Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad president

HARIDWAR: Several candidates, all from Haridwar, are in the fray for the elections to the post of the president of Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad, the apex body of seers, after the seat fell vacant following the death of incumbent Narendra Giri last month.
Giri was president of ABAP when he was found hanging at Baghambari Mutt in Prayagraj (UP) on September 20.A suicide note purportedly handwritten by the mahant said that he was forced to take his own life as he was being “blackmailed” by his disciple, Anand Giri, and two others over a “morphed photo with a girl”.
Now seers of the 13 akharas of the country will meet at Prayagraj on October 25 to discuss the elections which are likely to be hotly-contested as seers from different akharas will stake their claim to the post.
These include Mansa Devi temple president and Niranjani Akhara secretary Swami Ravindra Puri, Nirvani Akhara chief Swami Ravindra Puri and Juna Akhara international patron and incumbent general secretary Hari Giri.
There were speculations that Mahant Rajendra Das, a representative of the Bairagi akharas, is also in the fray. Rajendra Das, however, told TOI that they have not been consulted or informed about the Prayagraj meeting. “This is despite the fact that an election will be invalid if any of the three sects of akharas do not participate in it,” he said.
Notably, the Bairagi Vaishnav Akharas — which include Nirmohi, Digambar and Nirvana Akharas — had announced their own parishad in Kumbh in Haridwar this year. The akharas were upset with Narendra Giri and had alleged that he was discriminating against them.
Rajendra Das said the role of the ABAP is to manage the Kumbh fair and the seers were showing “unnecessary haste” to fill the position. He further said that Bairagi akharas will take part in the election” if they are not neglected and if 26 bonafide representatives of the 13 akharas are allowed to vote in it”. “This did not happen when Narendra Giri was elected for the second term,” he said.
Other seers of the Bairagi akharas claimed that “there has been a tradition of the posts of president and general secretary being shared by Sanyasi and Bairagi akhara seers.” “As the outgoing president Narendra Giri was from Niranjani akhara, which is a Sanyasi akhara, the post this time should go to Rajendra Das, who belongs to a Bairagi akhara,” ABAP’s former spokesperson Baba Hathyogi said.
Ravindra Puri (Niranjani Akhara), however, said there was no such tradition. “Mahant Brij Kishore Puri of our akhara had been its president for over two decades followed by Mahant Shankar Bharati of our akhara, who also remained in the office for about 25 years. Mahant Govind Das of Bada Akhara Udasin had been general secretary with Shankar Bharati during his entire tenure,” Puri said.
Puri added that if an ABAP office-bearer dies before completing term, the post goes to the akhara to which he belonged for the remaining period of his tenure.