Sab ko sanmati de Bhagwan!

Andhra Pradesh seems to be passing through a bad phase as incidents of vandalisation of idols of various gods is being taking place and the worst part is it is snowballing into a major political slugfest between the ruling YSRCP, the main Opposition TDP and the BJP-Janasena combine.

God has been dragged into politics and every party wants to gain political mileage in the name of god. Yes, it is a fact that there has some inaction on the part of the police as it has not been able to pinpoint who the real culprits were in any of the 127 odd incidents of desecration of idols and punish them.

For record sake, they have undoubtedly arrested many. But so far, no stern action which can act as a deterrent to such cowardly actions has been taken. Instead, in case of chariot burning, they said it was job of some lunatic. When the idol of Sitadevi was found broken in Vijayawada on Sunday, they claimed it was made of clay and was put on pedestal in the open air and some cats might have pushed it causing damage.

In Kurnool, when an idol of Lord Anjaneya on the gopuram of the temple was damaged, the police declared that a piece of idol fell on its own. But the priest alleged that he was made to repair it and recolour it. Let's hope that almighty will see that better sense prevails in the society.

The way political parties starting from Ministers to Opposition party leaders are accusing each other only indicates that everyone wants to gain political mileage and want to finish the other parties. The YSRCP accuses the TDP of its involvement and the BJP almost ten days after the incident gives call for 'Chalo Ramathirtham'. The Left parties remain silent on vandalism.

They may not believe in god, but the act of vandalism is something that cannot be condoned. This kind of statements and thoughts are dangerous for any democracy. It is time people should assess each party and if they are convinced that political parties are the real brain behind such acts, that party should be taught a lesson. Such parties have no place in political arena.

The Ministers too should learn to be more responsible. They should display self-restraint and make balanced statements. If the government has evidence to prove that the Opposition leaders were behind the desecration of idols, they deserve no sympathy. Law should take its own course. But simply levelling some allegation and trying to gain political mileage is not a wise move.

No political party should see it as an opportunity to gain political mileage out it. For heavens sake, they should learn to keep god out of narrow politics. In the recent past, a very old chariot was burnt in East Godavari district. BJP leaders made some noise and kept quiet. Later, some more incidents took place but not much noise was made. The slugfest began when the TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu announced that he would visit the 400-year-old Ramathirtham temple in Vizianagaram where idol of Lord Rama was found desecrated.

Before Naidu visited the temple, YSRCP general secretary V Vijay Sai Reddy, along with his party leaders, visited the temple and alleged that the vandalisation of the temple and the desecration of Lord Rama's idol was the handiwork of TDP workers at the behest of Naidu and his son Lokesh to defame the Jagan government. Ministers like Botcha Satyanarayana said they will soon finish the major Opposition.

Not to lag behind, the BJP now jumped into the fray and announced that they will organise 'Chalo Ramathirtham' on Tuesday. They say that in the past the TDP failed to prevent such acts forgetting that they too were part of that government for almost four years and it was their representative who was the Minister for Endowments.

They of course now allege that the YSRCP failed to protect law and order and BJP-Janasena if voted to power will show how law and order is maintained. Their concern is to win the sympathy of the people so that they may get couple of seats in the next elections.

Everyone wants to prove that they are the saviours of gods and goddesses. Common man prays, "God save us," but political parties say that they are the saviours of god. What an irony? Instead of organising prayers, they are organising political rallies. This reminds us of the prayer of Mahatma Gandhi, "Sabko sanmati de Bhagwan."