What vandalism? BJP`s Ram Madhav says Lenin`s statue removed by people who put it

Ram Madhav says no statue has been damaged in Tripura. He clarifies that Lenin`s statue that created an uproar for being taken down was actually on private land and brought down by the property owners.

New Delhi: Terming reports of vandalism in Tripura's Belonia as incorrect, BJP's Ram Madhav said on Friday that the statue of Lenin here was not vandalised but removed by people who had placed it.

A video showing a statue of Vladimir Lenin at Belonia College Square being razed to the ground by a bulldozer made headlines across the country - especially as it reportedly happened just a day after CPM's Manik Sarkar resigned to make way for a BJP government in the state. The BJP had decimated the CPI-M in Tripura - one of the last remaining Left bastions, ousting the party from power after 25 long years. While many criticised the incident, Ram Madhav says it was incorrect to term it as vandalism. "No statue has been broken in Tripura. This is false information. Some people had put a statue on a private land and then removed it. It is not vandalism," he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Madhav also returned fire at those who criticised BJP and RSS for the incident in Tripura - especially West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who had said global leaders must be respected. "Vandalism is happening in West Bengal," accused Ram Madhav. "Mamata ji should worry about her state first before worrying about what is happening in the rest of the country."

Nonetheless, incidents of statue vandalism has seen a spike in recent days with icons like Periyar, Dr BR Ambedkar and even Mahatma Gandhi being targeted. Despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly condemning such dastardly acts, even statues of gods have begun being targeted by miscreants.