AAP MLA to request grand Hanuman temple in Ayodhya
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Tomorrow, I am going to formally write to the Trust...i intend to give a formal request that the trust should build a beautiful and grand Hanuman statue within the same premises of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
SAURABH BHARADWAJ,
MLA, Greater Kailash
NEW DELHI: Greater Kailash MLA and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj on Thursday said he would make a formal request to the Ram Janmabhoomi Trust to build a “grand statue” of Lord Hanuman in Ayodhya.
Bharadwaj’s comment came barely two days after he announced that he would organise a monthly recitation of the Ramayana’s Sundar Kand across neighbourhoods in his constituency to get the blessings of Lord Hanuman.
On Thursday, Bharadwaj said he was looking forward to meeting members of the Ram Janmabhoomi Trust. “Tomorrow I am going to formally write to the Trust, seeking an appointment with them. I want to congratulate and thank them. In the meeting, I intend to give a formal request that the trust should build a beautiful and grand Hanuman statue within the same premises of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. Crores of people across the country are demanding that a Hanuman statue be built at the Ram temple site,” he said.
Explaining the logic behind his demand, the AAP leader said, “Hanuman is very dear to Lord
Ram. A devotee never worships Ram alone. S/he worships ‘Ram Darbar’ which means even Lakshman, Sita and Hanuman are worshipped together. Whenever Lord Ram was in trouble, it was Hanuman who came to his rescue. So, Ram is incomplete without Hanuman.”
When asked if this was a deviation from AAP’S development plank, using which it fought the February 8 Assembly elections, Bharadwaj said, “It all goes on simultaneously. The AAP government and even I, as an MLA, have worked tirelessly in for the people of Delhi. We have got their works done. What is wrong if amid all the work I spare just one hour a day to do Sundar Kand?”
On Tuesday (February 18),
Bharadwaj held the first Sundar Kand at a Hanuman temple in south Delhi’s Chirag Dilli neighbourhood, which falls under the Greater Kailash assembly segment. Sundar Kand is a chapter from the Ramayana, which depicts Hanuman’s journey to Lanka, the kingdom of Ravana.
Bharadwaj said several RWAS have offered to sponsor the programmes and events are “booked” till December.
Following suit, AAP’S former Ghonda MLA Shri Dutt Sharma said an ‘Aam Aadmi Bajrang Dal’ committee will be established to organise ‘Sundar Kand’ recitations. “I have been holding the Sunder Kand prayers for the past few years but with this committee, we aim to do it at a larger scale,” Sharma said.
During the assembly election campaign, when some BJP leaders called Kejriwal a “terrorist” and accused AAP of “sponsoring” the protest against the amended citizenship law at Shaheen Bagh, Kejriwal had hit back, calling them “pseudo-hindus”. Kejriwal also sang verses of Hanuman Chalisa in several public events.
On February 11, when AAP won the polls, Kejriwal visited the Hanuman temple in Connaught Place and Bharadwaj organised a rally with a person dressed like Hanuman in his constituency.