HLP chief to move HC over takeover of Raghunathji temple

Shimla

, Jul 28() Following the

Himachal Pradesh

government's decision to take over the famous

Raghunathji

temple in

Kullu

, Maheshwar Singh, the descendant of the ruling family and the temple's chief caretaker has opposed the move and announced that he will file a petition in the high court. However, his younger brother

Karan Singh

, who is a minister in the

Virbhadra Singh Cabinet

, has supported the decision. The notification by the government has given one week to Maheshwar Singh, to hand over the records of the temple located in

Sultanpur

palace to the government. Maheshwar Singh is also the president of Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP) and a former state BJP leader. However, Karan Singh said, "There would be no obstruction in worship and other religious activities and Maheshwar Singh would continue to be the Chharibardar (chief

Kardar

) of the presiding deity but the management, security and accounts would be handled by the government." While Maheshwar has claimed that the temple is a property of the family and cannot be taken over by the government,

Dhoot Singh

and Om Prakash, a former president of

Kardar Sangh

have taken an opposite stand on the issue. Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh also maintained that the Raghunathji temple is not private but public property and takeover notice has been issued on the "demand of the people". Only the management of the trust would be under the government. The trust and religious activities would not affected, he said. The takeover would ensure security to the temple, as a theft in December 2014 had rocked the state and the idols of Raghunathji and other deities were recovered almost after a month, the Chief Minister added. Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner of

Kullu Hans Raj Chauhan

, who is also commissioner of temples, has nominated an 18-member board of trustees with 10 official and eight non-official members for the temple. The sub-divisional magistrate of Kullu would be the chairman while the non-official trustees would include Maheshwar Singh, his son

Devinder Singh

, his brother Karan Singh, president of

Kardar Sangh Dhoot Singh

and former minister

Satya Prakash Thakur

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