Lucknow, Jun 2 (NIE): A BJP MLA’s act of cleaning an Ambedkar statue in Ambedkar Nagar district Thursday has stirred controversy. Sanju Devi, an MLA from Tanda, washed the statue with milk, applied tika on its forehead and covered it with a saffron-coloured cloth. The BSP alleged she disrespected B R Ambedkar and demanded that she be booked.

“If someone wants to show respect to Ambedkar, they should follow his path,” said BSP national general secretary Lalji Verma, also an MLA from the same district. “If someone wants to clean the statue, they can clean the area and garland it. But what she did is against what he had taught or believed… I have spoken to officers in the district and have requested them to lodge an FIR against her,” he said.

“He was a mahapurush… Under Swachch Bharat Mission we are cleaning several areas and decided to clean the area surrounding this statue as well and to pay him respect,” said Devi. “We washed it with milk, put tika, garlanded it and covered it with a cloth.”

Backing his party MLA, BJP state general secretary Vijay Bahadur Pathak said it was wrong to politicise someone paying their respects.