Mumbai News: BJP Govt Under Fire After BMC Demolishes Vile Parle Jain Temple; Backlash Mounts Over Alleged Hotelier Influence

Mumbai: The demolition of a Jain temple in Vile Parle by the BMC has become a major embarrassment for the ruling BJP-led government in Maharashtra. And what is proving to be more embarrassing is the allegation by Jain leader Anil Shah that the temple was demolished at the instance of a hotelier who wanted to open a bar in the area.

Shah told the FPJ on Saturday that "the hotelier himself has done a lot of illegal construction and despite court order for the demolition of these structures, nothing was done by the BMC. But the civic authorities promptly demolished an old Jain temple without even waiting for a court order. The entire Jain community is now against this hotelier who used his clout to demolish the temple."

The BJP did send its minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha, who is a Jain, to the site but by then the demolition was completed by the local ward office. It was a case of too little too late. The BMC is directly under the BJP-controlled state government and the local MLA Parad Alavani is also from the BJP and yet the demolition was carried out.

Alavani told the FPJ that the matter has been pending for a long time. He said the occupation certificate (OC) of the redeveloped building was being held up because of the private structure which was later converted into a temple.

"The builder has reserved a 1,000 sqft flat for the plot owner and even deposited the key with the BMC. The matter was embroiled in litigation for quite long and the temple authorities finally lost the case. Nevertheless a solution could have been found," Alavani observed.

A little while before the civic demolition squad arrived at the temple site, the trustees had moved the court afresh. But even as the legal proceedings were going on the temple was demolished, he added.

भाजपा सरकार के तहत मुंबई में तोड़े गये जैन मंदिर के विरोध में उमड़ा ये जैन समाज, देश में भाजपा सरकारों द्वारा अल्पसंख्यकों के उत्पीड़न के ख़िलाफ़ उफान पर आया वो क्रोध, रोष और आक्रोश है जिसका ज्वालामुखी बहुत दिनों से सुलग रहा था।

आज ये तस्वीरें पूरी दुनिया में देखी जा रही हैं।… pic.twitter.com/nExrMKoAYu

— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) April 19, 2025

Interestingly, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Singh Yadav, who is based in Lucknow, was the first to condemn the demolition. In an X post, he slammed the BJP of "selectively targetting religious minorities to usurp their land and property."

He said the attacks on Jain monks and their religious places in different parts of the country showed that the Jains were being singled out. "In the prevailing times being a minority is a curse. Today, a feeling of fear, insecurity and uncertainty is writ large across the minority Jain community."

He pointed out that the violent attacks on Jains in Singoli, M.P., demolition of the temple in Vile Parle, the controversy over Shri Girnarji and the central government's interference on the Sammed Shikar issue in Giridih, Jharkhand and the opposition to the installation of a Jain idol in Bhagpat, U.P. was also indicative of a campaign against Jains. He accused the BJP of indulging in land-grabbing. He sarcastically suggested that the party be renamed as Bharatiya Jameen Party.

Demolition has galvanised the Jains at the national level. They want the temple to be rebuilt at the same site and also all the illegal construction of the hotelier concerned demolished immediately.