Jaipur, Apr 7 (PTI) BJP leader Gyan Dev Ahuja sprinkled Ganga water at a Ram temple in Rajasthan’s Alwar to “purify” it on Monday, a day after the Congress’ Tikaram Jully attended the consecration ceremony there. Former chief minister Ashok Gehlot termed Ahuja’s act an insult to a Dalit.
Ahuja, however, defended his action, saying Congress leaders have “no moral authority” to attend such ceremonies as the party’s leadership had questioned the existence of Lord Ram and “boycotted” the consecration ceremony in Ayodhya last year.
The consecration ceremony at the Ram Temple in a residential society of Alwar was held on Sunday on the occasion of Ram Navami and Leader of Opposition Tikaram Jully was in attendance.
On Monday, Ahuja said the consecration ceremony was a “good programme”, but there were some “discrepancies”. “I went there today and sprinkled Ganga water to purify the temple premises,” he told reporters in Alwar.
“The Congress’s former president Sonia Gandhi had got affidavits submitted in court, calling Lord Ram mythical. Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi boycotted the historic Ram temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya. So the party leaders have no moral authority to attend such programmes,” he said.
Criticising the BJP leader’s action, Gehlot took to X to say, “The incident where BJP leader Gyandev Ahuja sprinkled Ganga water after the Leader of Opposition Tikaram Jully visited the temple reflects the BJP’s narrow-mindedness towards Dalits. This is unacceptable in the 21st century and deserves strong condemnation.” He sought to know whether Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma and BJP state unit president Madan Rathore agreed with the behaviour of their senior leader. “Will the BJP take action against Ahuja for this offensive act?” Jully, a Dalit leader, is the Congress MLA from the Alwar (Rural) seat, while Ahuja is a former BJP legislator from Alwar’s Ramgarh segment. PTI SDA NSD NSD
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