Rajasthan: Razing of 300-year-old Alwar temple sparks political row, BJP-Congress trade charges

A major political row has been sparked in Rajasthan after a 300-year-old temple was demolished in the Alwar district, along with several shops as part of an anti-encroachment drive, which was being carried out to widen the road.

The demolition of the temple in Rajasthan has left the ruling Congress in the state in a row with the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), leaving the two oppositions embroiled in a blame game over the incident.

While deflecting blame, Rajasthan BJP president Satish Poonia accused the Congress of being behind the demolition, and state Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra asserted that it was the decision of the city's municipality headed by the saffron party.

BJP further targeted the Rajasthan government, which is led by the Congress party, condemning the demolitions and saying that the party will face the consequences of this action.

Claiming one of the demolished temples to be 300-year-old, Poonia said in Udaipur that the videos on social media showed a bulldozer demolishing the ancient Shiv temple. “It is in the public domain that all these actions were taken at the behest of the state government,” he said, as per PTI reports.

Meanwhile, the Ashok Gehlot-led Rajasthan government is saying that it was the decision of the BJP, as the party had promised a road called the "Gaurav Path" when Vasundhara Raje was CM, at the spot where the demolitions took place.

Rajasthan PCC chief Dotasra hit out at the BJP and said, “It is the habit of the BJP and RSS to commit wrong and spread communal frenzy. One temple was private and idols were removed and the second temple was partially demolished but its sanctum sanctorum is safe.”

Meanwhile, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) has also hit out at Congress regarding the Alwar temple demolition, saying that the people of the state will take out its final journey for “insulting” the god in such a manner.

VHP put out a video message after the demolitions, in which outfit leader Vinod Bansal could be heard saying, “The day rioters attacked at Hanuman Jayanti procession in Jahangirpuri in Delhi, the very next day the Congress government demolished a 300-year-old temple in Rajasthan.”

The Congress-led Rajasthan government and BJP municipal body in the state are both probing the matter.

(With PTI inputs)

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