A visit by Samajwadi Party candidate Naseem Solanki to a temple in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur has stirred up religious and political tensions, with the temple undergoing a “purification” ritual on Saturday with 1,000 litres of Ganga water after she prayed there on Diwali, reported The Telegraph.
Solanki is contesting the Uttar Pradesh Assembly bye-elections on November 20 from the Sishamau constituency.
She said she had visited the Van-Khandeshwar Temple to honour the wishes of her Hindu supporters by lighting a diya and pouring holy water on a Shivalinga, a representation of the deity Shiva. “God is not anyone’s property; anyone can seek blessings,” The Telegraph quoted Solanki as saying.
However, the All India Muslim Jamaat issued a fatwa against her, describing her participation in idol worship as a “criminal” act under Sharia law, The Hindu reported.
On the Hindu side, chief priest Ram Naresh Mishra said that the entire temple was washed “with 1,000 litres of holy water from the Ganga because Hindus didn’t like her act,” The Telegraph reported.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party also joined the fray, accusing Solanki of staging a “political stunt” to court Hindu votes. “They [Samajwadi Party] remembers temples when election approaches,” BJP MLA Surendra Maithani said.
Sishamau, one of nine constituencies scheduled for bye-elections, became vacant after Irfan Solanki, Naseem Solanki’s husband and a former Samajwadi Party MLA, was jailed on charges of arson.
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