Several Hindu Mahasangathans held protest march in wake of temples demolition in Rajgarh area of Alwar on April 22.
"We are holding this march to prevent the Rajasthan government from propagating appeasement politics. In our memorandum we have demanded strict action against involved officers, construction of the demolished temple...CM Gehlot should resign too," BJP MP Balak Nath told ANI.
Former Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab C Kataria told News18: "It has become Congress' mindset to insult Hindus religious sentiments. If this temple was coming in between road, the government could have taken some other way and should not have destroyed this temple. The protest is peaceful and will remain peaceful."
Two temples were demolished during an anti-encroachment drive in Alwar district's Rajgarh, triggering an exchange of barbs on April 22 between the Congress and BJP in Rajasthan. Rajgarh is a BJP-run municipality in Congress-ruled Rajasthan.
Alwar's BJP MP Balak Nath alleged that the idols at one of the temples too were damaged in the demolition early this week. Rajasthan Minister Shanti Dhariwal blamed the BJP and said the state government is examining the matter.
Two temples and some shops were demolished on Sunday and Monday with officials describing the action as part of an anti-encroachment drive to widen a road in the town. They said the demolition was approved by the Rajgarh Nagar Palika Board headed by the BJP and denied any damage to the idols or the sanctum sanctorum of the temples.
As the anti-encroachment drive triggered the row, Rajasthan BJP president Satish Poonia accused the Congress of being behind the demolition, while state Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra asserted that it was the decision of the city's municipality headed by the saffron party. BJP's Rajya Sabha member Kirodi Mal Meena reached Rajgarh on Friday and sat on a dharna before a police station there, protesting the demolition of the temple that the BJP claimed to be 300 years old.
But the BJP said the Congress will have to face its consequences. Poonia said in Udaipur that the videos on social media showed a bulldozer demolishing the 300-year-old Shiva temple.
It is in the public domain that all these actions were taken at the behest of the state government, he claimed without elaborating. The party has also formed a "fact-finding committee" headed by Sikar MP Swami Sumedhanand, he added.
They will give me a report in three days, he said.
