New Delhi: Bulldozers razed a 300-year-old Shiva temple in Sarai Mohalla of Rajasthan's Alwar district on Friday, news agency ANI reported.


As videos of the temple demolition went viral on social media, the ruling Congress government in Rajasthan came under fire from the BJP.


A complaint has been filed with the Rajgarh Police Station in connection with the incident. According to reports, bulldozers were used to demolish the temple and cutters were used to remove idols.


The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Rajasthan launched a stinging attack on the Ashok Gehlot-led government over the incident.


"Shedding tears on Karauli and Jahangirpuri and hurting Hindus' faith -- this is what the secularism of Congress is all about," BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya tweeted while sharing a video.






BJP Rajasthan president Dr Satish Poonia said he had constituted a five-member committee to investigate the case.


"I have constituted a 5-member committee for the factual investigation of the Rajgarh (Alwar) temple case. This committee will go to the spot, prepare a factual report and submit the report to me," Dr Satish Poonia was quoted by ANI as saying.






On the other hand, Rajasthan's Congress President Govind Singh Dotasara said the removal of the temple's encroachment began during the previous BJP's government. He claimed that the Rajgarh municipality was being ruled by the BJP and the action was taken by the saffron party workers.






"In 2018, the BJP Mandal President wrote a letter to the district collector recommending the removal of this encroachment. As there is a BJP board in Rajgarh being headed by Satish Guharia, the resolution to remove this encroachment was passed in their board meeting. Thereafter, encroachment was removed. Temples are not tampered with in the Congress government, this has been the agenda of the BJP," Dotasara said at a press conference.


"Many temples were demolished during the BJP rule in Rajasthan under, during the tenure of former CM Vasundhara Raje. Recently, bulldozers were run in Delhi to erase buildings despite SC objections. Also many temples were brought down in Gujarat. It's the BJP and RSS which is playing politics on these issues," he further said.


Veteran Congress leader Jitendra Singh said, "It is unfortunate that the encroachment drive was ordered by the BJP Board and Chairman of the Nagar Palika Rajgarh to make the Gaurav Path also sanctioned by the last government without taking the local people into consideration."


Meanwhile, the local administration said that the action to remove the encroachment was taken as per the master plan, IANS reported.


(With inputs from agencies)