Board members after casting their votes on the Kamakhya temple premises on Wednesday. Picture by UB Photos

Nov. 16: After two decades, Kamakhya temple today held elections for the post of the head priest — a man who the people are hoping will free the shrine from the panda nuisance.

Kabindra Prasad Sarma emerged the winner of the day, overtaking his closest contestant, Jadunath Sarma, by five votes, the district administration confirmed.

While Kabindra Prasad will be the bordoloi (head priest), Jadunath Sarma will be the xorudoloi (assistant priest).

The election was held by the members of the Kamakhya Temple Trust Board, run by the Bordeori Samaj — a cluster of families which had run the temple for over a hundred years.

Comprising the Buras, the Dekas, the Hutas and the Bidhipathak, the Bordeori Samaj had been the traditional caretakers of the temple till the Kamakhya Debutter Board came into power in 1998.

While the Bordeori Samaj had alleged that the Debutter Board had manipulated its way to power, the board said they stepped in because the Samaj was running the temple in an “undemocratic” manner.

With this election, the administration of the temple will once again go back to the Bordeori Samaj, through Kamakhya Temple Trust Board.

The bordoloi and xorudoloi were the chieftains who were elected by the male members of the Samaj.

“The responsibility of the bordoloi and the xorudoloi is to make sure that the devotees get the best of our service. Besides performing the pujas, they also have to ensure that the administration of the temple runs smoothly,” said Utpal Sarma, the third contestant in today’s election.

But the devotees expect a little more — that they will not be bothered by pestering pandas when they queue up to offer puja.

People complain that pandas demand high fees to take them to temple and guide them through the rituals.

“But we have never demanded anything from devotees,” said Bibhuti Sarma, a priest and member of Bordeori Samaj.

Whether the change of guard will bring any change or not remains to be seen.

“It is a great change. With the dolois being elected, now every official from panibhari to duari will be looked after by the executive body headed by the dolois and duties will be performed accordingly,” said Bhupati Sarma, a member of the Bordeori Samaj.

The temple was tense when the election began around 9am.

By 4pm, 359 voters (male members of the Bordeori Samaj) had cast their votes.

The entire process was conducted under the district administration’s supervision, following a Gauhati High Court judgment on October 25 to conduct the election for the head priest within three months.

“We have seen to it that everything was done according to court’s order,” said Kamrup (metro) deputy commissioner Ashutosh Agnihotri.

The election was, however, not without controversies, as the Kamakhya Debutter Board alleged that the administration and the contestants were disobeying court orders and taking matters into their hands in an “undemocratic” way.

“The judgment of the high court on October 25 has been challenged before the Supreme Court and an interim order was passed on November 11 according to which the Kamakhya Debutter Board should have remained operative till November 21. Why do they need special protection to carry out an election if they have no fear? Why did the administration need to conduct the election in such a hurry? Things are being carried out in an undemocratic way,” said Nabakanta Sarma, the secretary of Kamakhya Debutter Board.

“Whatever the Kamakhya Debutter Board is alleging is totally baseless. We are following the high court order where nothing has been stated for not conducting an election,” said a district administration official.