CM: Great men can’t be confined to 1 caste

Noida: Ahead of next year’s assembly polls, chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday did a balancing act during a visit to

Dadri

to inaugurate a statue of Samrat

Mihir Bhoj

amid an ongoing tussle between

Gurjars

and

Rajputs

on the ninth-century ruler’s identity.

Describing Mihir Bhoj as a ‘national leader’ and ‘mahapurush’ in his speech at the Mihir Bhoj Postgraduate College, Adityanath said, “Samrat Mihir Bhoj is a mahapurush (great man) and not only the Gurjars, but all communities should be proud of a national leader like him. Great men cannot be confined to any particular caste. We were enslaved for several years because we were divided in the name of caste and religion. It led to our defeat several times in the past by foreign invaders and the

British

. We need to believe in rashtra dharma (duty towards nation).”

The identity of Samrat Mihir Bhoj has been a bone of contention between Gurjars and Rajputs, with both claiming that the king belonged to their respective communities. From youths tearing down posters that omitted the word ‘Gurjar’ before his name to outfits allegedly smearing ink on the statue’s foundation stone (later cleaned in time for the event), the unveiling of the 15-foot statue and the CM’s visit to Dadri were mired in controversy.

The CM is a popular leader among

Rajputs

in the state, the community he belongs to. With elections approaching, wooing Gurjars and Jats in western UP and Brahmans and Bhumihars in the eastern parts will be key for BJP as they form a sizable vote bank.

In Gurjar-dominated Dadri, the CM took note of the contribution of former MP Surendra Singh Nagar, who belongs to the community, by saying that one of the first decisions of the BJP-led government in the state was taken in consultation with him. “Surendra Nagar has dairies and he complained about how the cows were illegally butchered. Shutting down all illegal slaughterhouses and ensuring safety of women were the first two tasks that our government undertook in the state,” said Adityanath.

He also went on to mention Rao Umrao Singh, another Gurjar leader from Dadri who fought in the 1857 battle for independence.

At the same time, the CM invoked examples of Rajput freedom fighters like Roshan Singh in his speech. Roshan Singh, who hailed from present-day Shahjahanpur, was a contemporary of Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekhar Azad and was sentenced to death following the non-cooperation movement.

Local MPs and MLAs, meanwhile, skipped all mention of caste and stuck to development issues in their speeches, highlighting the upcoming international airport at Jewar and new investment in the district.

Pankaj Singh and Dhirendra Singh, the Noida and Jewar MLAs, respectively, addressed the gathering for barely a few minutes.

Although the statue of Mihir Bhoj was completed about two years ago, its inauguration was delayed by the pandemic. Installed on a 10-foot-high platform that is accessible through stairs, it has been designed by sculptor Ram V Sutar, a Padma Bhushan awardee who also designed the Statue of Unity.

Officials from Vidya Sabha, which manages the six Mihir Bhoj institutions in Dadri, told TOI the statue is made of ashtadhatu – an alloy of eight metals considered auspicious.

The sculpture, made at a cost of Rs 40 lakh, was the contribution of Chaudhary Vidyaram Pradhan, who was chairman and president of the parents’ body for more than 15 years.

“He collected the money and made all arrangements to ensure its completion. He saw it through till its installation in the PG College premises,” said Lajjaram Bhati, assistant secretary and Vidya Sabha member.

After Pradhan died in June this year during the second wave, Vidya Sabha members met the CM and asked him to inaugurate the statue, added Bhati.


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