BTP disturbing religious, social amity in tribal areas: Kataria

Leader of Opposition in the Rajasthan Assembly Gulab Chand Kataria on Tuesday accused the BTP of disturbing religious and social amity in tribal areas, a charge denied by the party. The allegations came days after some Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) workers tried to replace a religious flag with that of a tribal community at a temple in Udaipur's Salumber area.

Leader of Opposition in the Rajasthan Assembly Gulab Chand Kataria on Tuesday accused the BTP of disturbing religious and social amity in tribal areas, a charge denied by the party. The allegations came days after some Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) workers tried to replace a religious flag with that of a tribal community at a temple in Udaipur's Salumber area. The party has two MLAs, who had backed Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot during a power tussle with Congress leader Sachin Pilot. Criticising the party, the BJP leader said, "The BTP is disturbing religious and social harmony in tribal areas by misleading people. Their workers are involved in spreading messages on social media platforms against temples, worship of Hindu gods and goddesses for the past several months. He alleged that BTP workers have been removing religious flags from temples and hoisting their party flags in tribal areas for the past some time. It is an alarming trend, he said, demanding from the state DGP to look into the matter seriously. On August 30, police had dispersed nearly 50 BTP workers from the Sonar Mata temple in Salumber when they removed the temple flag. Kataria, who is from Udaipur, said the way party is functioning and “brainwashing people”, it will be “dangerous” for Rajasthan in coming years and police should take timely action in containing such activities. Kataria said the BTP made inroads into Rajasthan's tribal areas ahead of the 2018-assembly elections but now it is carrying out a “communist agenda” and “brainwashing” of tribal people. The BTP, on the other hand, denied the charges. It also justified the bid to replace the temple flag, arguing that the shrine belonged to the tribal community, whose flag should be hoisted there.

“It is a temple of the deity of tribal people and hence a community flag is always hoisted there.But the RSS had hoisted a bhagwa (saffron) flag in the temple, which was being opposed by community members. Since it is a temple of the tribals, a community flag is justified. What is the need of a bhagwa flag there,” Rameshbhai Vasava, state in charge of the BTP, said. He said no party flag was hoisted in any temple. Vasava also accused the BJP of misleading people on the issue while claiming that the party is losing ground in the tribal region. Commenting on the issue, Salumber SHO Hanvant Singh Sodha said “The temple priest had registered an FIR after the incident and the matter is being investigated,” PTI SDA RDK RDK