Harish Rawat, the Congress’s election campaign chief in Uttarakhand, has said a commission will be formed to study the economic and social condition of Brahmins should the party come to power in the state in March.

“If voted to power, we will constitute a commission to study the social-economic condition of Brahmins and launch welfare schemes on the basis of the findings,” the former chief minister told reporters in Dehradun on Wednesday.

Uttarakhand, home to the shrines of Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri, votes on February 14.

Rawat said the Congress government had in the past started a pension scheme for teerth purohits (priests of important temples) but the BJP dispensation discontinued it. The priests used to receive Rs 500 per month.

“We will also install idols of Lord Parashuram at all religious centres of the state,” the Congress veteran said. Lord Parashuram is a Brahmin god.

Appreciating the decision, Bhriguvanshi Pandit Ashutosh Pandey, president of the Rashtriya Brahmin Yuvajan Sabha, said: “We have decided to support the Congress in the Assembly elections because of their promise to set up a commission to study the socio-economic condition of Brahmins. If needed, we will organise processions to expose the BJP, which had won with the help of Brahmins but left them in the lurch.” Brahmins make up about 10 per cent of the state’s population.

The BJP government tried to snatch the rights of the teerth purohits by forming the Uttarakhand Char Dham Devasthanam Board, he said. “Although it was withdrawn under people’s pressure, the BJP’s intention became clear.”

The board, formed two years ago to curtail the rights of the management committees of the Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri temples, was dissolved two months ago.