Ganeshotsav is ‘a powerful symbol of Hindutva’: Ashish Shelar

According to Shelar there has been a deliberate attempt to dampen Hindu festivals and traditional rituals by ‘urban Naxal elements’ backed by the Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party (sharad Pawar faction) and the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT)

Mumbai: City Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief, and cultural affairs minister Ashish Shelar alleged that ‘urban naxals’, supported by the Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT) were trying to plot a conspiracy against Hindu festivals like Ganeshotsav, Dahi Handi, and Nagpanchami. While being felicitated at Pen, a city known for supplying Ganesh idols to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Shelar urged his audience of various sculptors’ associations and MLAs from Maharashtra, to celebrate Ganeshtosav this year with pomp and show.

Mumbai artists are creating eco-friendly Ganesh idols at Nilesh Niwate`s workshop in Mazgaon. They use clay to build these non-polluting idols. (Photo by Raju Shinde/HT Photo) (Raju Shinde)

“The ban on PoP (plaster of paris) idols was a well orchestrated conspiracy in which the Congress and the MVA (Maha Vikas Aghadi) were complicit,” said Shelar, addressing a crowd of various sculptures’ associations from Hamrapur, Johe, and Kalve–villages in Pen, known for making Ganesh idols. “Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and I stood firmly with the idol makers and fought this battle together and we won,” said Shelar, adding that their victory was crucial in safeguarding the sanctity of the state’s traditional festival.

Shelar’s comments come at a time when the Bombay high court had initially banned Plaster of Paris (POP) Ganesh idols, with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation asking sculptors to use shadu or organic clay instead. The decision left sculptors and politicians afraid that the blanket ban on PoP would impact the sculptor’s ability to produce idols, thereby reducing the scale and grandeur of the festival.

Shelar had then requested the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to report on the use of Pop in idols and check whether they were indeed as harmful as portrayed, and if yes, what were the short-term and long-term solutions at hand. Eventually, the high court said that artisans were permitted to make idols of PoP but the immersion of those idols was banned.

Shelar said that since 2003, when a petition was filed in court seeking a ban on Hindu last rites and other traditional rituals performed at natural water bodies, there had been a deliberate attempt to dampen Hindu festivals and traditional rituals by ‘urban Naxal elements’ backed by the Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party (sharad Pawar faction) and the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT).

Shelar said, “While responding to this petition, the then Congress and NCP (Nationalist Congress Party) coalition government unnecessarily dragged the issue of POP Ganesh idols into it. Had the government opposed the petition back then, we wouldn’t have had to fight such a long and intense battle.” He added that Ganeshotsav was a festival that stood as a “powerful symbol of Hindutva” and the BJP would make sure it was celebrated with great enthusiasm in the state.

After declaring Ganeshotsav as a state festival on July 11 in the legislative assembly, Shelar was also felicitated by the Siddhivinayak temple trust for the decision.

Many BJP functionaries like Raigad BJP president and rajya sabha MP Dhairyashil Patil, MLAs Ravi Patil, Mahesh Baldi, Prashant Thakur, and Maharashtra Ganesh Sculptors’ Association president Abhay Mhatre were present at the event.