BJP leader Uma Bharti has stoked another controversy in Madhya Pradesh after she announced that she would renounce food till the Shiva temple on the premises of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) protected fort in Raisen district is unlocked.
Bharti, who reached the temple on Monday, announced her decision to give up solid food (anna tyag) after failing to offer holy water on the Shiva Linga inside the temple that is kept locked as per the ASI rules throughout the year except the Mahashivaratri. She offered the water through the locked gates of the temple.
The ex-chief minister said that she did not want to break the lock of the temple for a forcible entry, but would rather get it opened through the administration. Bharti said that she was extremely pained at not being able to offer the holy water and she would not be able to sleep or feel hungry unless she did so.
“I have handed over the holy water from Ganges to the district administration and have asked them to inform me when the locks are opened so that I can come with Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. We, sister and brother, could offer the holy water,” local media quoted Bharti as saying on the fort premises.
She also said that her decision to give up food was not to create pressure on the district administration or the ASI or CM Chouhan, but a step to give herself peace. Bharti also said that she would not make any personal efforts to get the temple unlocked as this was the work of administration and there was no controversy in this matter.
As per the ASI rules, religious activities are not permitted on protected monuments except on designated dates for specific monuments. Any change in the process will require change in the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act of 1957, a step possible only through an amendment in parliament, experts said.
Bharti had announced her intention of offering holy water on the Shiva Linga at the temple in Raisen fort through Twitter four days ago. The BJP leader said she was ashamed that she did not know that a Shiva temple remained locked on the Raisen fort premises and she came to know about it only through the statements of religious preacher Pradeep Mishra. Bharti said that she would offer holy water in this Shiva Temple as is the custom on the day after Ramnavami (to consecrate any Shiva Linga). She also said that she had asked her office to intimate her plan to the Raisen district administration.
During the past few weeks, Bharti had been at loggerheads with the BJP government in the state over liquor prohibition issue, even targeting CM Chouhan personally. She, however, called truce with Chouhan over Twitter on Saturday and attended the Ramnavami celebrations at Orchha with the CM on Sunday.
