Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait urged his supporters not to let Mathura become another Muzaffarnagar.
“They are looking for votes which they are not finding from other places. Thus, they might look towards Mathura,” Tikait said in a veiled attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Mathura on Monday.
Tikait warned that riots could be instigated in Mathura and said if that happens it will affect jobs and work in the peaceful city.
Tikait who was in Mathura on to end a more than 400-day old agitation in the district offered juice to agitating farmer and then addressed farmers who had gathered to hear him.
“Beware of them and do not allow Mathura to become another Muzaffarnagar. They might instigate riots here to generate votes in their favour but this would bring business, jobs and day to day life to a halt,” the BKU leader said without naming any party.
“They are looking for votes these days but are not finding them elsewhere. As such they are eyeing Mathura whose residents love peace and prayers and want things to remain that way,” he said.
Political equations had changed drastically after the infamous Muzaffarnagar riots in 2013.
About 150 kilometers from Delhi, Mathura is home to birthplace of Lord Krishna and where various litigations in Mathura courts have been filed by different organisations and individuals who claim that the Shahi Eidgah adjoining Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi was built by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb by demolishing a temple in the 17th century.
BJP leader and Mathura MP Hema Malini was the latest to demand a grand temple in Mathura.
UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath, during his frequent visits to Mathura has however not spoken on the subject yet though earlier in December, deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya had stirred a row saying preparations were underway for the construction of a grand temple in Mathura on the lines of Ayodhya and Varanasi.
UP minister and Mathura MLA Chaudhary Laxmi Narain also justified the demand for a grand temple at Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi. “If Sri Krishna’s temple will not be built in Mathura, then would it be built in Lahore or Rawalpindi in Pakistan,” he had asked.
The Mathura administration however did not allow various right-wing organisations including the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha (ABHM), Narayani Sena and the Janmabhoomi Mukti Dal to proceed with their ‘jalabhishek’ programme at the Shahi Eidgah on December 6.
