A day after creating a political row in Telangana by asking the people not to give donations for the Ram temple in Ayodhya, Korutla MLA Vidyasagar Rao made a quick U-turn claiming that he was misquoted by the BJP. The legislator said that he himself will donate money for the construction of the temple in Ayodhya.
“I am a hardcore Hindu. I will visit the Ram temple 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,” Vidyasagar was quoted as saying by The New Indian Express.
Further, in an attempt to seemingly salvage the situation, the MLA said that the comments he made were personal and the TRS had nothing to do with it. The MLA also asked the BJP not to politicise gods and religious sentiments. In Telangana, the BJP and its allied organisations are conducting a massive door-to-door fundraising campaign towards the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
On Thursday, speaking at a government programme, the MLA had said that the BJP is doing political drama in the state by seeking donations for the construction of Ram Mandir. “They started begging from the people while going to every household. Why should people from the state give money for the temple, which is coming up in Uttar Pradesh? Are we not capable of constructing Ram temples in our villages? We too are true devotees of lord Sri Rama.”
These remarks resulted in violence as TRS and BJP workers clashed in Metpally, shoving police barricades on each other. Police had to resort to lathicharge to disperse the agitating protesters.
Further, the BJP had also called for a state-wide protest.
In Metpally, BJP cadres blocked the highway and burnt an effigy of the MLA alleging that he had hurt the sentiment of Hindus.
Meanwhile, a Hyderabad-based lawyer, Karuna Sagar, has filed a complaint with the Saidabad police alleging that the remarks made by the MLA were derogatory and sought legal redress.