The Jan Ashirwad Travel Minister of State for Agriculture, Energy and Petrochemicals Mukesh Patel on Sunday staged a public protest in Surat over the alleged refusal to allow idols to be immersed at Ram Kund in Kuwad village during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in September.
Patel, who was the first minister in the state cabinet from Olpad assembly seat in Surat, started the rally from Kim village in his constituency on Sunday evening. with many BJP Leaders including Surat district BJP president Sandeep Desai and former state ministers Ishwar Parmar, Patel were welcomed with sweets, DJ music and crackers at various places.
However, when the rally reached Kunwad village, where a felicitation ceremony was held at the Siddhanath Mahadev temple, local villagers came out waving black flags and shouting slogans against the minister. Sensing public anger, the rally had to bypass the village and skip the temple ceremony to reach Pinjrat village.
According to villagers, Olpad taluka Judicial Magistrate SM Sutaria denied permission to immerse Ganesh idols in Ram Kund on September 18 and villagers had to immerse the idols in a neighboring village. According to him, Mukesh Patel did not solve the matter for his help.
Village head Jayesh Patel said, “Every year villagers of Kunwad, Saras, Kudiya and Khanchhod immerse Ganesh idols in Ram Kund near the temple. When the judicial magistrate refused permission, we requested our local MLA Mukesh Patel to intervene but he refused.
Mukesh Patel said, “When they called me for permission to immerse the idols in Ram Kund, I told them that the temple and Ram Kund are under the control of the Judicial Magistrate of Olpad court, and I cannot interfere… The villagers were angry with this.”
.