Rajasthan: 300-year-old temple ‘partially’ razed in Alwar district; Congress, BJP in slugfest | Jaipur News
The video of the demolition went viral on social media, triggering a slugfest between the ruling party and opposition BJP. The Congress said that the Rajgarh municipality, which carried out the demolition, is being ruled by the BJP and the action was based on a unanimous resolution by the municipality. The district administration, too, said the action to remove the encroachment was taken as per the master plan.
In a clarification, the Alwar collector said the demolition of temples at Rajgarh was part of the anti-encroachment drive taken up after a unanimous resolution passed by the Rajgarh municipality on September 8 last year.
He said all encroachers were given prior notice. He clarified that one temple, a private one, was illegally constructed recently over a drain and the idols were removed by the encroachers themselves before the drive. A small part of an old temple was also demolished as it was causing traffic problems.
The sanctum sanctorum of the temple is intact, he said. The idols that had to be removed from the old temple will be relocated, he said.
BJP state president Satish Poonia, however, questioned how a “300-year-old” temple can be an encroachment. He has sent a fact-finding team to the spot which will submit its report in three days.
At a press conference, Congress state president Govind Singh Dotasara lashed out at the BJP accusing it of playing politics on the issue.
“In 2018, the BJP mandal president wrote a letter to the district collector recommending the removal of this encroachment. There is a BJP board in Rajgarh municipality, headed by Satish Guharia. The resolution to remove this encroachment was passed by the municipal board. It was only after that the encroachment was removed. The Congress government does not tamper with temples. This has been the agenda of BJP,” he said.
“Many temples were demolished during the BJP rule in Rajasthan during the tenure of former CM Vasundhara Raje. Recently, bulldozers were run in Delhi to erase buildings despite SC objections. Also, many temples were brought down in Gujarat. It’s the BJP and RSS which are playing politics on these issues,” he said.
Former minister and Congress leader Jitendra Singh said, “It is unfortunate that the encroachment drive was ordered by the BJP board and the chairman of the Rajgarh nagar palika to make way for Gaurav Path, which was also sanctioned by the last government without taking the local people into consideration.”
