Former UP chief minister Mayawati had her statues and now Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav will have a temple for himself.
Samajwadi Party leader Rajesh Saini is building a temple for Mulayam Singh Yadav in Aligarh.
The foundation stone for the temple was laid amidst chanting of mantras on November 22 which was the 74th birthday of Mr Yadav, in Nagla Mali near Dhanipur in Aligarh district.
According to Rajesh Saini, the temple will be 10 feet x 12 feet and the statue of the SP leader will be five feet tall.
The temple is estimated to cost around `10 lakhs and will be completed within one year.
It is likely to be thrown open to the public on the senior SP leader’s birthday in 2013.
According to Rajesh Saini, the decision to build a temple dedicated to Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav was taken after assessing his contribution towards upliftment of backward and Dalit classes. “It is my personal decision and I have not taken any favours for it,” says Rajesh Saini.
The land for the temple has been donated by Prahlad Saini, Chandra Pal Saini, Ram Prasad Saini, Om Prakash Saini and Bunty Saini while their supporters are happily donating money for the construction too.
Though the local SP unit is said to be opposing the temple and district president of Samajwadi Party, Rakshpal Singh, said that installing statue of living party leaders or the temple in their name was totally anti-socialist thinking and also against Lohia’s philosophy.
He said that he would send a report in this regard, if the party’s state unit asked him to.
However, there is no word on the temple from the Samajwadi Party yet.