New Delhi: Amid the ongoing row over the demolition of a 300-year-old Shiva temple during an anti-encroachment drive in Alwar, a delegation led by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Swami Sumedhanand Saraswati visited the spot to take stock of the situation and demanded an apology from Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and the district administration.
Saraswati demanded that FIR should be registered against the officials responsible for the demolition drive.
“Those who have legal documents but their homes have been destroyed should be given compensation and a place,” ANI reported Saraswati as saying.
The BJP MP further said that his party MLAs will give a memorandum to Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra to take action against the concerned officials
“The CM and district administration should apologise and temples should be reconstructed and idols to be installed back with full respect,” he said.
This came a day after BJP MP Kirodi Lal Meena compared Gehlot to Mughal ruler Aurangzeb over the demolition in Alwar district.
“Gehlot government ruthlessly demolished an old temple just like Aurangzeb did, it’s a total injustice,” he said.
Taking potshots at the Congress, Meena alleged that the grand old party has a mentality of appeasement and has been doing that since the beginning, ANI reported.
Alwar District Collector Nakate Shivprasad Madan had earlier said that the proposal to demolition the illegal structure was passed by the board of the Rajgarh municipal council and the action was taken according to the decision of the local administration.
“In the meeting of the board headed by the chairman, a proposal to remove encroachment was passed. The Executive Officer issued notices and then the action of demolition was done,” he said.