The BJP leaders of Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday directed the government of Prime Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy on the attack on a famous Hindu religious area in Edlapadu in Guntur district. However, the administration dismissed the charge, pointing out that the Christian religious area was not in the same place as a temple, but more than a mile away.
The controversy began with a series of tweets posted by Bharatiya Janata Party leaders claiming that a Christian Cross was being built on a hill near a Hindu religious site in Edlapadu in the Narasaraopet block in Guntur district. The BJP Secretary of State, S Vishnuvardhan Reddy, was one of the first to post a message with some photos on his Twitter handle, claiming that the ‘Christian conversion mafia’ infringes on the place where goddess Sita’s footprints and carvings of Lord Narasimha exists.
‘No place for Hindus in AP under @ysjagan government. Attacks on Hindu temples continue, “he tweeted.
Soon, Reddy’s tweet was again tweeted by BJP state president Somu Veerraju, who claims that illegal construction is taking place at the Hindu religious site.
‘It all happens with the support of the government and the @ysjagan government. “@ BJP4Andhra and @RSSorg have protested against illegal construction in the past, but the government is not at all keen on standing up for Hindus,” he tweeted.
Later, the national secretary of the BJP and co-head of the Andhra Pradesh affairs, Sunil Deodhar also raised the issue. “See the enormous illegal Cross in Edlapadu, AP, where footprints of #SitaMata once existed. Carved by Lord Narasimha exists at the back. In the Guntur district, Christian mafias wreaked havoc. @ BJP4Andhra and @friendsofrss protested, but the administration tacitly supported. # Encroachment4ChristinAP. ”
The tweets went viral among BJP and other Sangh groups, sparking loud protests during a YSR congress party campaigning for the election of municipalities and municipal enterprises in the state.
A party leader from the Guntur YSR Congress, who refused to be quoted, said the controversy over Edlapadu hills was completely unfounded and that the BJP, which has little interest in the municipal election, was only trying to win political miles has.
Police in Guntur (rural) released an explanation via Twitter on Wednesday. “FACT CHECK: THEY ARE COMPLETELY 2 DIFFERENT HILLOCKS and there is absolutely NO intrusion on the hill where Narasimha Swami idol is there. (Watch videos by our SHO) Request to use Twitter to spread love, unity and peace,” he said. the tweet said.
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Srivas Nupur, sub-collector of Narasaraopet, said there is absolutely no truth in the allegation about the intrusion of the hill that houses the Hindu religious sites. He said there was an old Mother Mary temple at an adjacent hill at Yerragonda Hill in the same town, and local authorities of the RCM church have asked permission from the district administration to build steps for the dedicated ones around the temple to reach.
‘Even before the government gave permission, however, the church authorities began to build stairs and erect a large cross. When the police and revenue authorities took notice, they went there and stopped the works. Appropriate steps will be taken on behalf of the government, ”said Nupur.
He explained that both the hills where religious sites of the Hindus and the Christians are offered were located at a distance of one and a half kilometers. “I urge people not to believe in rumors, but to maintain self-control,” the collector said.