Ambedkar statue ‘purified’ after Giriraj Singh garlands it

Patna: Some CPI and RJD workers Saturday poured Ganga water on the statue of B.R. Ambedkar which was earlier garlanded by BJP leader and Union Minister Giriraj Singh.

While giving reasons behind the incident, left leaders accused Mr Singh of being “a follower of Nathuram Godse and spreading hatred through his speeches.”

Sources said that before addressing a public meeting in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) Friday, Mr Singh visited a park in Begusarai’s Ballia block and garlanded the statue of B.R. Ambedkar.

The day after on Saturday, CPI leaders accompanied by a few RJD workers who had been demonstrating against the CAA, NPR and NRC poured Ganga water on the statue and chanted “Jai Bhim” slogans.

A video of the incident was later released on social media which created a flutter in political circles here.

“We decided to purify the statue of B.R. Ambedkar because Mr Singh’s presence polluted the atmosphere. He has been spreading hatred through his speeches and statements,” left leaders said.

Mr Singh had contested against former JNUSU president and CPI leader Kanhaiya Kumar and won in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Reports suggest that a section in political circles has been miffed over his recent remark where he said that “Deoband is the Gangotri of terrorism.” With the state Assembly elections slated to be held later this year, political temperatures are running high since the CAA came into force. The state has been witnessing massive anti-CAA protests in several districts including Patna, Begusarai and Gaya.

The state has witnessed more than one shutdown, besides a flurry of local, round-the-clock vigils with sizeable participation of women reminding people of the Shaheen Bagh protests in Delhi.  

Kanhaiya Kumar has also been leading a state-wide Jan Gan Man Yatra and addressing a series of public meetings against the contentious CAA, NPR and NRC.

While Mr Singh was not available for comment as he had reportedly left for New Delhi, the BJP state unit reacted strongly against the statue cleansing incident Saturday.

BJP spokesperson Nikhil Anand told this newspaper, “Union minister Mr Singh has all the rights to pay tribute by garlanding the statue of Baba Saheb Ambedkar but the act of purification of the statue by the communist and RJD is very shameful and condemnable. They must know that B.R. Ambedkar belongs to every Indian and it is not the Congress but our Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has developed the ‘Pancha Tirath’ places in memory of the father of the Indian constitution.”