PATNA: A temple in Bihar was washed with 'Ganga jal' soon after the visit of Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar on Wednesday.
The video has gone viral on social media.
The incident happened when Kanhaiya Kumar visited Bangaon village in Saharsa district during his ongoing ‘Palayan Roko, Rajgar Do’ (stop migration, give jobs) yatra late on Wednesday.
Kanhaiya Kumar along with party leaders also visited the Bhagwati Sthan temple at the village.
According to residents, Kanhaiya Kumar, a member of the dominant Upper caste Bhumihar community, addressed a gathering at the temple. Later the Congress leader met some people before leaving for his next destination.
Kanhaiya was earlier welcomed by some individuals who honoured him with a traditional turban and a garland.
After the Congress leader left the village, some people washed the temple.
In the video which went viral, some people can be seen washing the temple with buckets of water. On Friday, some youths visited the temple ground again and washed it with ‘ganga jal’ (holy water).
The temple ground was cleaned and washed with holy water allegedly on the directive of Amit Choudhary, a ward councillor’s representative from Nagar Panchayat, Bangaon.
The individuals recalled Kanhaiya’s outburst against the nation during his stint as president of Students’ Union of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi before joining the Congress. “We have not forgotten the sedition charges against him. His sin has not ended yet,” they said.
Kanhaiya had given controversial statement against the country on the JNU campus. “How can we forgive him?” asked one of the individuals engaged in cleaning the temple premises after Kanhiaya’s visit.
The incident sparked off a verbal duel between Congress and BJP. While the controversy accused political opponents of promoting ‘untouchability’, BJP claimed that the incident was manifestation of people’s rejection of Kanhaiya Kumar’s politics.
Kanhiaya has, however, maintained a silence over the incident. Efforts to contact Kanhaiya for his comments proved futile.
BJP spokesperson Asith Nath Tiwari, on the other hand, suggested that the veracity of the video and as well as identities of those who washed the temple, should be verified before jumping to any conclusions.
Residents claimed that the temple welcomed people from all castes and there was no discrimination at all. “How it happened is not known to us,” a local resident Sanjay Kumar said, adding that the district administration should investigate the matter.
He claimed that it could be the handiwork of some miscreants. “It’s an attempt to tarnish the image of our village in which people from all caste reside,” Kumar, a small-time shopkeeper, said.
The Congress leaders launched ‘Palayan Roko, Naukri Do’ padyatra from Bihar’s West Champaran district on March 16.