JAGTIAL: A day after calling upon the people not to give donations for Ram Mandir construction at Ayodhya, Korutla TRS MLA K Vidyasagar Rao beat a hasty retreat. He denied making any statement against the Ayodhya Ram Mandir and said that he was only trying to expose the BJP and its temple politics.
In an evident damage control exercise as his comments led to a clash between BJP and TRS workers and hurt the Hindus, Vidyasagar Rao, realising the mistake he has made, on Friday sought to extricate himself from the mess saying that he had never said Hindus in Telangana did not need a temple in Uttar Pradesh.
The MLA said that he had not made any statement that amounted to sacrilege but was merely trying to expose the BJP.
“The saffron party is trying to use the name of Ayodhya and Ram temple to derive political gain,” he said.
He said he was ready to tour Telangana and collect donations for the Ram Mandir Trust if invited, but he was against the BJP which, for petty political gains, had misquoted him and tried to portray him as anti-Hindu.
“I am a hardcore Hindu. I will visit the Ram Mandir site and donate money for its construction. It is appalling that the saffron party leaders are using the name of Hindu gods for political gain. I was only trying to expose this,” he said.
The smoulders continued to burn even after his clarification with citizens taking to social media and condemning his statement which they said was outright against Hinduism.
Even his close followers, who came to blows with the BJP cadre, have turned silent now after noticing the widespread backlash.
Continuing their protests, the saffron party activists burnt the legislator’s effigy in Karimnagar and in several other districts demanding an unconditional apology from the TRS leader. Meanwhile, police beefed up security at the legislator’s camp office in Metpalli.
Plaint against MLA
In the meantime, lawyer K Karuna Sagar has filed a complaint with the Saidabad police against Vidyasagar Rao for allegedly making derogatory remarks on the construction of Ram Mandir.
Saidabad police said that they would seek legal opinion and take action. The complainant alleged that the MLA had deliberately made derogatory comments.