'Paryaya' celebrations at Udupi Sri Krishna temple to be held with restrictions:Minister Sunil Kumar
Udupi, Jan 10: The traditional 'Paryaya Pravesha' celebrations at the Sri Krishna Mutt in Udupi will be held as scheduled with restrictions in view of the COVID-19 threat, Karnataka Minister for Kannada and Culture V Sunil Kumar said on Monday.
Addressing reporters in Udupi, he said the Swamiji of Krishnapur mutt, who is to ascend the Paryaya seat this year, has also ordered restrictions on the celebrations in public interest. All the programmes scheduled for late night on January 17 will be completed by 9 pm, the minister said.
He said only a limited number of teams will be allowed in the Paryaya procession. Priority will be given to the religious team and a few cultural teams and a limited number of people will be allowed inside the Rajangana, where the programme is to be held.
All the devotees taking part in the Paryaya should have taken two doses of vaccine. Adequate arrangements will be made for the darshan of Lord Krishna.
A direct telecast of the programme has been arranged for devotees to witness the rituals at their homes, the minister said.
Paryaya is a religious ritual which takes place every alternate year at the Sri Krishna Mutt of Udupi when the pooja and administration of the mutt will be handed over for the next two years to the next seer of ashta (eight) mutts.
The Paryaya is distributed among the Swamijis of the Ashta mutts of Udupi by rotation. Each swamiji of every mutt gets the chance to perform puja at the Udupi Sri Krishna temple for a period of two years.
Krishnapur mutt seer Swami Vidyasagara Teertha will take over the administration of the Udupi Sri Krishna mutt from Admar mutt seer Ishapriya Teertha during the Paryaya this year.
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Mamata visits Bhabanipur EVM strong room, warns against counting irregularities
Kolkata (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee early Friday warned against any attempt to tamper with the counting process, hours after she visited an EVM strong room in Bhabanipur, alleging possible malpractice.
Banerjee, who emerged around 12:07 am after spending nearly four hours at the counting centre for her Bhabanipur constituency housed in Sakhawat Memorial School in south Kolkata, said only one person would be allowed inside the designated counting area.
"Either the candidate or one agent can stay upstairs. I have also suggested installation of a CCTV camera for the media," she told reporters.
Stressing the need for transparency, she said, "It is essential to maintain transparency. People’s votes must be protected. I rushed here after receiving complaints. The central forces initially did not allow me to enter."
Sounding a stern note ahead of the May 4 counting, she added, "If there is any plan to tamper with the counting process, it will not be tolerated."
On Thursday evening, Banerjee had reached the Bhabanipur Assembly segment counting centre, which houses the strong room for EVMs used in the April 29 polling, citing suspicion of tampering with the machines.
She entered the premises along with her election agent and remained inside for hours, even as Kolkata Mayor and TMC candidate from the Kolkata Port segment Firhad Hakim reached the spot but could not meet her.
"I reached here upon learning that the chief minister has arrived. But I couldn’t meet her since she was already inside the premises, exercising her right as a candidate to visit strong rooms. I wasn’t allowed there. I will not be able to confirm what exactly is transpiring inside," Hakim said.
The development coincided with protests by TMC candidates Kunal Ghosh and Shashi Panja outside the Khudiram Anushilan Kendra in north Kolkata, where they staged a sit-in alleging irregularities and possible tampering of EVMs stored in strong rooms, leading to face-offs between TMC and BJP supporters.
Earlier in a video message, Banerjee had urged party leaders, workers and polling agents to maintain a 24-hour vigil on EVM strong rooms, alleging that the BJP could attempt to tamper with the machines before counting begins.
Her remarks come amid heightened political tension in the state following a fiercely contested Assembly election, with parties closely monitoring arrangements and raising concerns over transparency.
