Unnati Sharma
New Delhi: Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya Wednesday tweeted saying control over the state by Hindus was “absolutely essential” for the “sustenance of dharma”.
The BJP MP also said Hindus “lost” the temple earlier because they had no power over the state. “When we regained, we rebuilt,” he added.
According to the legislator, the election victory of the Narendra Modi government in 2014 and 2019 made the building of the Ram temple a possibility.
In another tweet, hours later, Surya also quoted Indian philosopher Sri Aurobindo’s Uttarapara speech equating Sanatan dharma with nationalism. The MP went on to add: “If Dharma survives, India survives.”
Surya’s comments came when the bhoomi pujan (ground breaking ceremony) of the Ram temple was taking place in Ayodhya Wednesday. Prime Minister Modi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat were among those at the function.
Tejasvi Surya’s Twitter record
The young MP has stirred controversy in the past for some his statements on Twitter. Just this April, a five-year-old tweet by him resurfaced in which he quoted “objectionable” comments about Arab women, drawing flak.
Earlier, he had described critics of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens as “puncture wallahs and illiterates“.
He had also taken a swipe at the Shaheen Bagh protest against CAA by saying the Mughal raj would return if the “majority community” was not “vigilant”.
This story first appeared in The Print here.
