A day after the Aam Aadmi Party accused him of “disrespecting” Hindu culture by installing Shivling-like fountains in the national capital, Lieutenant-Governor V.K. Saxena on Friday said the fountains installed at Yakshini Chowk in Delhi Cantonment are mere art pieces. “They are not Shivlings. They are art pieces. There is God in every particle of this country,” Mr. Saxena told reporters.
“People worship trees and tie rakhis around them. You can see everything the way you want to. We have installed these Yakshini statues and you can call them goddesses,” he said after unveiling sculptures of Yakshinis on Ulan Batar Road.
AAP leaders, meanwhile, said the party has filed a police complaint against Mr. Saxena. “In the guise of beautification, the BJP has hurt the sentiments of Hindus. Instead of apologising, the L-G has made fun of Hindus,” AAP MLA Durgesh Pathak said.
Amid the war of words between the BJP and AAP over funding of the beautification projects in Delhi for the G-20 Summit — to be held on September 9 and 10 — a new row erupted after some BJP supporters on social media blamed AAP for insulting the Shivling by using it for decorative purposes. According to them, the fountains were installed by the Delhi government’s Public Works Department.
Who installed them
However, AAP’s Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh had on Thursday posted on X (formerly Twitter) a screenshot from the L-G’s timeline in which Mr. Saxena could be seen inspecting the fountains. Mr. Singh said the BJP should apologise to people and action should be taken against the L-G.
Claiming that the area under the New Delhi Municipal Council comes under the Central government, Mr. Pathak said the BJP’s official account on X had congratulated the Prime Minister for installing the Shivlings.
A video posted by the national BJP’s X handle also showed the fountains, among many other projects, as part of the city’s beautification. “Delhi’s beautification is being done under PM Narendra Modi’s leadership,” the post read.
However, a senior Raj Niwas official claimed that the fountains and other items at Yakshini Chowk were purchased and installed by the PWD. “The L-G has been supervising the beautification of the city. This intersection falls under the Cantonment Board but the PWD has undertaken this project. There is no way the PWD Minister [Atishi] was not aware of this beforehand,” he told The Hindu. “Now, they are creating unnecessary fuss,” he added.
