Teleserial row: Kedarnath doesn’t need publicity, says Upadhyay

DEHRADUN: State Congress president Kishore Upadhyay, who has a history of making statements that put the Harish Rawat government in an embarrassing position, said on Wednesday that Kedarnath was a famous shrine and did not require any publicity.
Upadhyay’s remarks come just two days after former Uttarakhand chief minister and BJP leader Vijay Bahuguna termed the payment of Rs 3.66 crore to Kher for the teleserial as 'wasteful' saying that the money should have instead been spent on the redevelopment of the shrine town.
Talking to TOI, Upadhyay said, “I believe that Kedarnath doesn’t need any publicity as the shrine is already very famous among devotees everywhere.”
He added, “I believe Kailesh Kher should not have charged such a hefty amount from the state government. Instead, he should have only taken travel expenditure and used his expertise as a service to God.”
Kher had released the CD of the serial in Kedarnath on Sunday at a glittering event attended by CM Harish Rawat . The teleserial is reported to be almost eleven-hour-long and has voiceovers and songs sung by a number of Bollywood celebrities including superstar Amitabh Bachchan, singers Shaan, Sonu Nigam, Suresh Wadkar, Shreya Ghoshal and Anup Jalota as well as contribution from actors like Anupam Kher and Hema Malini.