Days after the Uttar Pradesh administration started cracking down on the Hindu Mahasabha’s controversial plans to build a Godse temple here and install statues of Nathuram Godse across the State, the Hindutva outfit has approached the State’s Urban Development Minister Azam Khan to give permission for the proposal.
The outfit had last month announced the temple would be built on January 30, the day Gandhiji was shot dead by him.
Alleging that the State BJP chief Lakshmikant Vajpayee, who is also an MLA from Meerut, had “waged” a campaign against the outfit, the Hindutva group has requested Mr. Khan to “rescue” it from “harassment and witch hunting” by the State BJP leadership.
The appeal to Mr. Khan comes days after the State police recommended that the Hindu Mahasabha’s Meerut office be sealed for “encroaching” on the land of a temple trust. It also comes as a surprise because the right-wing groups have been criticising the Minister for being “anti-Hindu.”
Senior functionary of the outfit, Pandit Ashok Kumar Sharma, told The Hindu that he had written the letter to the Minister seeking permission. He also expressed the hope that Mr. Khan would accept his request.
“Mr. Vajpayee doesn’t want his own past association with the Hindu Mahasabha to come out in public and that is why he has got the Meerut police to harass us on a daily basis,” he said.
The group has bought a piece of land in Sidhhauli Para village in Sitapur district to build the Godse temple.
