Varanasi, Jan 19 (NationPress) In light of escalating tensions regarding claims that temples and statues were destroyed during road expansion in Varanasi's Dal Mandi area, situated near Manikarnika Ghat, the president of the Samajwadi Party (SP), Akhilesh Yadav, criticized the Uttar Pradesh government on Monday, emphasizing that heritage structures must be safeguarded, not razed.

In a cryptic social media post in Hindi, Yadav stated, “Heritages are threaded like pearls; they are not demolished, they are cherished.”

The former chief minister supplemented his post with images allegedly depicting statues before and after the redevelopment efforts. One image was captioned, “Ahilyabai statue in debris.”

These comments from Yadav follow a recent political attack on the BJP regarding the Dal Mandi redevelopment project. Just days prior, Yadav accused the ruling party of undermining local traders and residents.

He stated, “The BJP, in its zeal to favor its associates, is oppressing every shopkeeper and family in Kashi’s Dal Mandi. The public will no longer endure this oppression and tyranny,” asserting that the BJP has “become synonymous with betrayal.”

This controversy has provoked strong responses from the UP government and local authorities, who dismissed the allegations as unfounded and misleading. Officials claimed that images of Hindu deities are being circulated intentionally to incite religious sentiments, spread falsehoods, and disrupt public peace.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath firmly refuted claims of broken statues or demolished temples in the Dal Mandi redevelopment project.

During a press conference on Saturday, the Chief Minister accused the Congress and other opposition parties of disseminating “false propaganda” regarding alleged temple demolitions in Varanasi.

CM Yogi asserted that remnants of broken idols from idol-manufacturing workshops were being selectively photographed and shared on social media to misleadingly depict them as demolished temple idols. He further alleged that AI-generated images were being employed to mislead the public and hinder ongoing development.

“Everyone knows that the temples at Manikarnika Ghat remain exactly where they have always been,” the Chief Minister remarked.

The controversy revolves around the Varanasi administration’s ambitious initiative to widen the 650-meter-long Dal Mandi road from its initial width of approximately 3.5 meters to nearly 17.5 meters (around 60 feet). This project aims to alleviate congestion and enhance access to Gate No. 4 of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple.

As a part of this redevelopment, numerous shops and buildings along the route have been earmarked for demolition, inciting protests and political debates regarding heritage preservation, the displacement of local traders, and the alleged repercussions on religious structures.