NEW DELHI: The Congress has launched a "Save Kashi" campaign against the demolition of various small temples and the discarding of around 250 statues of gods and goddesses around the well known Lord Shiva temple in Varanasi, PM Modi's constituency.
"This government talks of building temples but in practice, they are demolishing temples which have been around for decades," senior UP Congress leader Rajesh Mishra told this paper.
According to Mishra, a lot of smaller temples that existed in the bylanes around the Lord Vishwanath temple are now being razed and the statues therein being thrown away. He said that a large number of such smaller temples were functioning from rented houses and the occupants are now being forcibly evicted by the government to pave way for the Vishwanath corridor project spanning around 5 sq km area. These smaller temples also provided for the families that were entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining it.
"Around 250 statues of gods and goddesses have been dumped in the garbage. We are demanding that these statues should not be destroyed," said Mishra."Varanasi is known for its temples and if they are destroyed it destroys our cultural legacy," he said.
With the local Sadhus also miffed over the demolition drive, the Congress, especially the party's youth wing, plans to take the issue to the people and has been organising foot marches and staging dharnas over the past few days. The party is also planning to hold a big rally to spread its message in the coming weeks, the local leaders said.
"Several old temples have been demolished. They talk of building temples but are actually demolishing them," Youth Congress president Keshav Chand Yadav said, adding, "We will not let the Yogi government destroy our heritage.
"Congress insiders said given the support they are getting from the residents, party strategists sense a political opportunity behind the temple demolition controversy and feel that the issue must be protested to expose the BJP which does not shy from playing up the religion card ahead of any polls.