TRS MLA’s Comments Against Donations to Ram Temple in Ayodhya Triggers Protest by BJP in Telangana

Amid the fund-raising drive for the Ram temple in Ayodhya, a ruling TRS MLA in Telangana has said there was no need to give donations for it and shrines can be built in local villages itself, with the remarks triggering a protest by the BJP. Addressing a meeting at Jagtial near Karimnagar on Thursday, the MLA, K Vidyasagar Rao, attacked BJP leaders and urged the people not to make donations if somebody approached them.

As a video of his speech went viral, the BJP in the state staged protests at Karimnagar and other places on Friday against the ruling party and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. Asking if people travelled to Uttar Pradesh to visit the temple, Vidyasagar Rao said Ram temples can be built and worship performed in the villages and that there was no need to give donations to somebody else.

“They have started something new… give money for construction of Ram temple… This is a new facade….We are devotees. They don’t have devotion. We are the true devotees.We are giving money. But, there is no need. Whoever comes, we have to say, we will build Ram temple in our own village,” the MLA said.

State BJP president and MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar asked BJP activists to peacefully conduct protests across the state on Friday against TRS president and Chief Minister Rao “not not clarifying and apologising” to the Telangana people over Vidyasagar Rao’s comments. The comments were capable of creating regional differences and taking people away from God, he claimed.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has said it is planning to reach out to 13 crore families across 5.25 lakh villages in the country to collect funds for the construction of a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya.