The All India Akhara Parishad, the biggest umbrella organisation of sadhus, and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, a key religious arm of the RSS, have developed differences over the call for an overarching outfit for control and upkeep of temples across the country.

While the AIAP wants a Sanatan Board, the VHP feels there is no need for such a body and that the traditional system of individual temples having their own committees should continue.

Ravindra Puri, the president of the AIAP, told reporters at the Mahakumbh on Friday, referring to its proposed meeting at the Mela on January 27: “We will organise a Mahakumbh of Sanatan at the Mela where some big decisions will be taken. Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi and (Uttar Pradesh) chief minister Yogi Adityanath are Hindu devotees, we want a Sanatan Board from them in gurudakshina.”

“We are still in the process of chalking out a detailed plan for the January 27 meeting where the demand for a Sanatan Board will be raised, but we hope the government is also making preparations to fulfill our wish,” Puri added.

VHP president Alok Kumar, however, said: “Members of the Akhara Parishad had spoken to us about their demand for a Sanatan Board and sought our support. But our view on this issue is different from theirs. We don’t want a Sanatan Board. Rather, we want the government to abolish the Muslim waqf boards too. There is no need to have such boards.”

“Let's see how things shape up, but we don’t agree with the Akhara Parishad. We believe that there is no need for waqf boards or a Sanatan Board,” Kumar added.

The AIAP wants the Sanatan Board to manage the affairs of all temples and their properties across the country. But Kumar said: “We don’t want the government or its organisations to manage the temples. The management of the Hindu shrines should remain in the hands of the people who manage them locally.”

Adityanath, also the mahant of the Gorakhnath temple, is known to work in close coordination with the VHP. Most leaders of the AIAP are said to be his close friends, too. The most powerful akharas of the country are based in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

Many believe the idea of a Sanatan Board could have been floated by Adityanath. “We need to wait and see whether it is a serious demand or has been raised only to woo Hindu voters,” said a political observer who didn’t want to be identified.