Rajasthan: Deendayal Upadhyay monument faces heat after change of government

Rajasthan: Deendayal Upadhyay monument faces heat after change of government

Sangeeta Pranvendra Updated: Saturday, September 26, 2020, 09:51 PM IST
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Deendayal Upadhyay is once again the subject of a political tussle between the BJP and the Congress in Rajasthan. The issue this time is the monument built at Dhankya village, 35 kilometers from Jaipur where the BJP ideologue was born.

The birthpace of Upadhyay is in utter neglect with fixtures stolen, employees unpaid and phone bills pending. Even the internet at the monument is not working. The Congress government headed by Ashok Gehlot had locked up the monument some time back and shut entry for the public. It has only been opened after the BJP opposed the move. But but no funds has been allocated for the monument built on the birthplace of the BJP ideologue.

Deendayal Upadhyay was born in a two-room railway quarter at Dhankya where his maternal grandfather was the station master. Upadhyay lived here for the first three to four years of his life after which he moved to Sikar in Rajasthan where he got his education. The previous Vasundhara Raje government had issued a budget of Rs 12 crore for the monument.

It had also acquired and demolished 11 railway quarters from the Railways to build the monument.

Built on 4400 sq meters of land, the monument was inaugurated in 2018 by the then BJP president Amit Shah and chief minister Raje. It is a 60-feet-high four-storey monument. It is fully airconditioned and the floors are divided into various sections having 50 panoramas depicting the life events of Upadhyay.

It also has his 15-feet tall statue made of ashthadhatu.

Speaking to The Free Press Journal, BJP state president Satish Poonia came down heavily on the Gehlot government and demanded that funds be allocated and issued immediately.

“The monument has been made at the place where Deendayal Upadhyay was born. It is under the control of the state government. But the government is not allocating any budget for its running and maintenance. Political parties have different ideologies. But, the way this government has been behaving is surprising. They have changed the names of schemes that had the name of Deendayal Upadhyay, But locking up a public monument, not issuing budget for maintenance and salary of staff is shabby behaviour. This is not the way governments should function," he said.

While BJP could not do much to oppose the government’s move of changing the names of schemes named after Deendayal Upadhyay, the issue related to his monument is all set to gain controversy.

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