Lucknow: BJP MLA from Tanda Assembly seat Sanju Devi has “purified” a statue of Dr Ambedkar and given it a saffron shawl.
On Thursday, Ms Devi marched to an Ambedkar statue with her supporters in Thirua locality and bathed the statue with milk to “purify” it.
She applied a “tilak” on the statue and then wrapped it in a saffron shawl. A priest, who accompanied the MLA, recited mantras on the occasion.
Ms Devi, when asked on Friday, said that she was simply carrying forward the PM’s “Swachchh Bharat” campaign.
“We cleaned Dr Ambedkar’s statue and bathed it with milk. The saffron wraparound should not be linked to any particular ideology,” she explained.
The BSP, meanwhile, has strongly objected to the legislator’s actions.
Former BSP MLA Tribhuvan Dutt said that this was highly objectionable and aimed at playing with the sentiments of a particular community.
He warned that if the MLA did not apologise, the BSP would launch an agitation.
It may be recalled that earlier, an Ambedkar statue had been painted saffron in Badaun district but after a series of protests, the BJP leaders painted it back in its original colors.
