Rajasthan: After RSS, BJP MLAs red-flag demolition of temples, back protest

BJP MLA Narpat Singh Rajvi, son-in-law of the late Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, shot off a letter to Raje on Tuesday, telling her that such decisions would cost the party dearly.

Rajvi, who represents Jaipur’s Vidyadhar Nagar constituency, was one of the nine legislators summoned by the RSS to its headquarters recently.

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“There is a lot of anger in Jaipur, especially in the Walled City…public representatives need to be consulted before such big decisions. But consulting elected leaders is no longer a part of the governance process,” Rajvi said.

Rajvi said high-handedness of officials, who had kept the Chief Minister in the dark over the move, had led to the matter getting out of hand.

“Without letting anyone know…officials came and removed the temples in the dark…using the same JCB machines that pick up garbage all over the city. What do you expect when you play with public sentiments in this way,” he told The Indian Express.

“I realised that I have to speak out openly on this issue. There are more MLAs supporting this cause, some of them are ministers in the government…so they will obviously not come out in the open,” he said.

Rajvi claimed all BJP MLAs – at least from the constituencies in Jaipur – were in support of the issue and would back the RSS call.

“This sort of a thing…this demolition of temples…could happen during Aurangzeb’s time, but can these officials do it in these democratic times? The people will never let them do it,” he said.

Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, who is yet to break her silence on the issue, met district officials — including District Collector Krishna Kunal, Jaipur Development Commissioner Shikhar Agarwal and Additional Chief Secretary (Urban Development) Ashok Jain — in the evening to hear out their explanation.

The state BJP president, Ashok Parnami, and national joint general secretary (organization) V Satish, who is in town on a damage control mission, were also present during the meeting, held at the secretariat.

The demolition of temples across Jaipur has been done under the state government’s drive against unauthorised religious structures, in line with the Supreme Court orders dating back to 2013.

Over the last one year, 73 structures were razed or relocated by the Jaipur Development Authority, out of which 65 were temples while the rest were shrines.