Murli Manohar Joshi & Swami Avimukteshwaranad Saraswati discuss Ganga issue

VARANASI: Chairman of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and senior BJP leader and MP from Varanasi Murli Manohar Joshi called on Swami Avimukteshwaranad Saraswati, the convener of Ganga Seva Abhiyanam, at Sri Vidya Math, Kedar Ghat on the 135th day of the "Save Ganga" movement on Monday.
They held a closed-door meeting for nearly an hour to discuss various issues related to the Ganga.It was Joshi's first visit to Sri Vidya Math that is associated with the Shankaracharya of Jyotish Peeth and Sharda Dwarka Peeth Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati.
Though Joshi maintained distance from media after the meeting, Avimukteswaranand said that during the course of interaction, Joshi told him that he (Joshi) would meet the Prime Minister on the issue of the Ganga.
Speaking about the uninterrupted and clean flow of the Ganga, Joshi said that there was a need for a big and integrated approach to tackle the task, said Avimukteshwaranand.
He added that Joshi also highlighted that the issue of the Ganga should be above politics. He said that Joshi showed his respect to the Ganga movement.
It is interesting to note that Joshi, during his visit to the city in April, had said that nothing fruitful would come out of the movement for Ganga operated from Kashi. It may be mentioned here that former state president of BJP Surya Pratap Shahi along with local BJP MLAs and workers had gone to Kedar Ghat, the main venue of the Ganga movement, and extended their all support and sat on a token fast.
The fast was joined by the local MLAs, including Shyamdeo Roy Chaudhury, Jyotsna Srivastava, Ravindra Jaiswal, mayor Kaushlendra Singh, city president Ram Gopal Mohale and other BJP leaders. Later, another senior leader Kalraj Mishra had also gone to Kedar Ghat in support of the movement. But not a single BJP leader attended the Ganga Mukti Mahasammelan organised by Ganga Seva Abhiyanam at Beniabag on May 21.
On the other hand, the Shankaracharya of Puri Swami Nischalanand Saraswati went to Shiv Prasad Gupta Hospital to meet the fasting Ganga warriors, including Sadhvi Purnamba, Sadhvi Shardamba, Ganga Premi Bhikshu and Brahmachari Krishna Priyanand.
On Sunday, Avimukteshwaranand met the Puri Shankaracharya at Dakshinamurti math in Asi area and apprised him of the activities and future programme of Ganga Seva Abhiyanam.
In his appeal Puri Shankaracharya said that the Prime Minister should scrap the existing and proposed projects that pose threat to the existence of the Ganga.