The Hyderabad-based All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has strongly opposed the construction of a memorial dedicated to late BJP leader Gopinath Munde in Aurangabad district.
The memorial is proposed on a two-acre stretch of prime government land belonging to the government milk scheme project on the Kranti Chowk-Jalna Road in Aurangabad.
‘Munde a tall leader’
While commenting that Mr. Munde was no doubt a tall leader from Maharashtra and his death was tragic, MIM legislator Imtiaz Jaleel said the Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP government in the State should erect the memorial on private land and not waste government land that ought to be used for the public weal.
“The BJP government should not waste public land worth hundreds of crores of rupees for memorials to political leaders. Instead, if they really wish to honour Mr. Munde, then they [the BJP leaders and their followers] ought to contribute money to buy private land for the memorial,” Mr. Jaleel said.
‘Why not a hospital?’
The MIM leader further said that if the BJP really wanted to pay homage to their leader, they should build a hospital for the poor on the proposed site.
“At a time when the deprived in the State do not have proper access to medical amenities, how can this [BJP-Sena] government think of wasting money for erecting memorials,” remarked Mr. Jaleel.
The BJP heaped tributes on Mr. Munde, who was the Union Rural Development Minister when he was killed in a road mishap in Delhi in June last year.
Its grandest encomium was in the form of the proposed memorial, the land for which had been earmarked in February this year.
