Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis offered prayers at the Kedarnath shrine in Uttarakhand on Wednesday along with wife Amruta, a day before the Assembly election result in Maharashtra is to be announced. Fadnavis is seeking a second term.

Fadnavis posted a set of photos from his Kedarnath visit on Twitter and wrote, “Took darshan and blessings at Kedarnath temple, this morning. Har Har Mahadev!”

The Assembly election in Maharashtra for 288 seats took place on October 21 and the counting of votes is scheduled for Thursday, October 24. Rudraprayag District Magistrate Mangesh Ghildiyal confirmed Fadnavis’s visit to the temple but said it was a personal visit about which the district administration had no prior information.

However, Badrinath-Kedarnath temple committee sources said the Maharashtra Chief Minister performed puja at the Himalayan shrine and spent about an hour in its premises talking to ‘teerth purohits’ (priests).

The Himalayan shrine, dedicated to Lord Shiva, is located at 11,755 feet above the sea level.

This year, the portals of the Kedarnath temple in the Garhwal Himalayan range of Uttarakhand’s Rudraprayag district were opened to pilgrims on May 9 after a six-month-long winter break.

The Assembly election in Maharashtra for 288 seats took place on October 21 and the counting of votes is scheduled for Thursday, October 24.