Rajasthan: Political tussle erupts over demolition of Salasar Balaji temple's entry gate

After the demolition of the entry gate to the Salasar temple in Rajasthan, a major political battle has erupted between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress. Rajasthan Assembly Speaker CP Joshi on Monday, March 21, did not allow Deputy Leader of Opposition Rajendra Rathore to raise the issue of the gate's demolition, saying it was a subject pertaining to the Central government. 

“The idol of Lord Ram was installed there. The way it was brought down, it is unfortunate. Your sentiments will be conveyed to the Government of India. This subject will not be discussed in the House,” the Speaker asserted.

Earlier, the Rajasthan Congress Seva Dal hit back at the BJP claiming that the gate was demolished by the National Highways Authority of India. Citing that the road in question was a National Highway, it asserted that the Rajasthan Government had nothing to do with the incident. However, BJP's IT Cell Head Amit Malviya pointed out that the Salasar-Sujangarh is a state highway. He stated, "At present, the Public Works Department is carrying out the work of expanding the 2-lane Salasar-Sujangarh road to 4 lanes". In his Tweet, the BJP leader also shared the exact coordinates of the entry gate. 

Union Minister Gajendra Shekhawat also came down heavily on the Ashok Gehlot-led state government. He said, "The Congress, which described Lord Shri Ram as imaginary, seeing its existence in danger, started pretending to go to the temple, but did not hide the reality. While demolishing the entrance at Sujangarh, it was not taken into account that Ram Darbar was built there. Who will accept this method as a true Hindu?"

Meanwhile, the state government ordered the reconstruction of the Salasar temple gate on Monday. Speaking to the media, PWD Assistant Engineer Babulal Verma explained that the gate was demolished for road widening purposes. He added that the gate is being constructed once again keeping religious sentiments in mind. Meanwhile, Rajasthan Minister Pratap Khachariyawas promised that action will be taken against the PWD officials and the contractor responsible for the negligence which caused the desecration of the idols of Lord Ram. 

Entry gate to Salasar temple demolished in Rajasthan

The entry gate of the Salasar Balaji temple was earlier demolished in Rajasthan. Former Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje and several BJP leaders like Satish Poonia, Shehzad Poonawalla slammed the Ashok Gehlot-led government over the incident. Shehzad Poonawalla tweeted, "See video of demolition done in the middle of the night by Talibani Auranzebi Congress Bulldozer is used against mafia’s illegal properties in Ram Rajya of UP but in Rome Raj, it is used to destroy places of worship & religious importance of Hindus Where is Janeudhari Rahul?"

On the other hand, ex-CM Raje said, "Demolishing Ram Darbar and entry gate to Salasar Balaji in the name of development is unfortunate and condemnable. Is this the only development of Congress government?"