BJP, Congress In Blame Game After 300-Yr-Old Temple Razed In Alwar: Here's All You Need To Know

In Rajasthan's Alwar, the municipality bulldozed three temples and 86 shops on Friday. During this encroachment drive, a 300-year-old temple has also been demolished. It is alleged that the idols of other deities, including Lord Shiva and Hanuman, installed in the temple have been vandalized.

Since the incident happened, there has been a lot of anger among Hindu organizations. The temple administration has also lodged a complaint against the SDM, MLA and Municipality of the area.

Now, the political tussle has started between Congress and the Bhartiya Janata Party. However, the question arises of what exactly happened in Rajasthan.

Encroachment Drive

On April 17, an ancient Shiva temple in Rajgarh town of Alwar district was demolished on the grounds of illegal encroachment. It is said that the road had to be widened; however, some part of the temple was built on a roadside drain.

A municipality team reached with a bulldozer and started breaking the roof of the temple. The temple administration and the local people started protesting and were removed from the spot by the police, reported NDTV.

After this, a complaint was lodged on behalf of the temple administration against Congress MLA Johrilal Meena, SDM Keshav Kumar Meena and Municipality Chairman Satish Duharia. However, no case has been registered against any of them so far.

It is to be noted that the work of making the Gaurav Path had started in the previous Vasundhara government for the development project. However, the project was halted due to encroachment.

Alwar Collector's Statement On Demolition

According to the report in the Times Of India, the Alwar collector clarified that the demolition of temples in Rajgarh was part of an anti-encroachment campaign launched after the Rajgarh Municipality issued a unanimous resolution on September 8 last year.

He stated that encroachers were given advance notice. He further clarified that a private temple was recently built illegally over a drain, and the encroachers took the idols before the drive. A tiny portion of an antique temple was also demolished due to road congestion.

BJP Allege Gehlot Govt For "Vote Bank" Politics

Rajasthan BJP state president Satish Poonia alleged that the intention of the Gehlot government in the state is not clear. Poonia said that the government should have saved the temple by finding a way out.

According to him, the Congress government wanted to please its vote bank by doing appeasement politics, which is why the 300-year-old temple was demolished.

BJP leader Amit Malviya while condemning the demolition, said that the Congress had "hurt the faith of Hindus."

राजस्थान के अलवर में विकास के नाम पर तोड़ा गया 300 साल पुराना शिव मंदिर…

करौली और जहांगीरपुरी पर आसूँ बहाना और हिंदुओं की आस्था को ठेस पहुँचना - यही है कांग्रेस का सेक्युलरिज़म। pic.twitter.com/2cUcSH6Ox2

— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) April 22, 2022

Congress Accuses BJP

Rajasthan minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas said that BJP is lying. He said that the chairman of Rajgarh Urban Bodies Board is from BJP. He has brought down the temples and houses for road widening by bringing a proposal to the board. At his behest, the temple was demolished. At the same time, our MLA kept on protesting.

Shanti Dhariwal, Rajasthan Urban Development and Housing Department Minister, said, "This was their (municipal council's) decision. The state government had nothing to do with it. They never asked the government for any direction, and they never got any direction from us."

According to the report of Aaj Tak, Rajgarh Municipality Board is administered by BJP, and BJP's Satish Duharia is the chairman of the board. On this board, 34 members are from BJP, and one member is from Congress. A resolution to remove illegal encroachments was passed unanimously in the meeting.

BJP has constituted a five-member team to investigate the matter and will submit its report to the state president Satish Poonia.

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