Varanasi. Who can be more happy than the people of Kashi on Baba Vishwanath's courtyard getting decorated and getting a new and grand look. Free from the maze of narrow lanes, Baba's sun got extended in its real form till Gangadhar after centuries.

Devotees from all over the country and abroad flocked in, setting records in numbers and income. This made Banarasi's heart swell with joy but all the pomp and show was of no use to him. He found himself a stranger in Baba's courtyard and wasted standing in the queue. The assurance given by the officials about a separate gate for Kashi residents broke when he didn't know.

The smart card for Rs 3500 per year for the devotees has also lost its purpose in the pursuit of earning money. In such a situation, the local devotees are seen waiting in queue for four-five hours or they go to some other Shiva temple nearby cursing the temple administration. They come after remembering Baba and offering milk and water and express their devotion.

At the time of giving a new and grand look to the Dham, the assurance of a separate gate for the locals was given. For this purpose, in July last year, a large delegation of trustees and officers-employees visited the Mahakal temple in coordination with the Divisional Commissioner Kaushal Raj Sharma, the Chairman of the Temple Executive Committee.

Along with studying the facilities there, we also came to know about the Avantika gate made for the locals to go straight for darshan by just showing their Aadhar card. On the basis of its report, the arrangements were to be implemented here as well, but I don't know about Kashi gate, but on the lines of Mahakal temple, a paid system of Rs. 300 for VIP darshan was definitely made prosperous.

There are allegations of distributing smart cards worth Rs 3500 per year for regular visitors to the temple to outsiders. In this too, restrictions were put on festivals related to Nemi Baba. Nemis like Ajit Gupta, Pramod Singh, Radhe Yadav, Ajit Muni, Savita Mishra say that this is also just a means of earning money. Their demand is that the entire system is useless without the provision of a separate entry gate for Kashi residents. For this, only promises are being made for a long time.

Congress is raising demand 

 Congress and SP have been raising their voice for a long time regarding the daily problems faced by Kashi residents while visiting Vishwanath Dham. The administration had also realized this and had talked about arranging a separate gate for Kashi residents, but after the code of conduct came into effect, it was put on hold.

Congress's Metropolitan President Raghavendra Choubey said that after the new grand form of Shri Kashi Vishwanath Dham has come to light, it has become difficult for the residents of Kashi to have darshan. A gate system should be implemented for the residents of Kashi to have darshan in the temple.

For the past one year, Congressmen have been demanding to designate a gate for the convenience of Kashi residents. The administration had also assured that a separate gate would be used to facilitate the Kashi residents to have darshan. But under pressure from senior BJP leaders, this arrangement was not made by the administrative officials because the credit for this would go to the INDIAA alliance.

The city president warned and said that now the elections are over. It is wrong to play with the culture of Kashi and the faith of the people of Kashi. If a separate gate is not arranged for the people of Kashi by Monday, then the Congressmen will sit on a hunger strike against the government and administration at the gate of Vishwanath temple until the arrangement for easy darshan is made for the people of Kashi.