Numerous Cases of Temple Land Grabbing Exposed in Maharashtra!
Several incidents of illegal land grabbing of temple properties have surfaced across the state. Maharashtra Mandir Mahasangh’s demand to enact an ‘Anti-Land Grabbing Act’ to address this issue is justified. Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Shri Devendra Fadnavis, assured the delegation of Maharashtra Mandir Mahasangh of government action on the matter during a meeting at Nagpur Vidhan Bhavan.
Speaking on temple-related issues, Deputy Chief Minister Shri Eknath Shinde said that the government is serious about encroachments on temple lands and will act promptly. During this meeting, invitations were extended to both the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister for the ‘Maharashtra Mandir Nyas Parishad’ to be held in Shirdi on December 24 and 25.
Cases have been reported, such as 50-crore land of Someshwar Devasthan in Amravati being sold for just ₹960, 30-crore land of Balaji Devasthan in Akola sold for ₹10,000, and crores worth of Shri Kaleshwar Devasthan land in Amravati being sold at throwaway prices. These transactions reportedly involve collusion between government officials and land mafias, with no stringent action taken against the culprits. Many cases remain unresolved due to prolonged civil suits. Maharashtra Mandir Mahasangh has demanded a stringent law on the lines of the ‘Anti-Land Grabbing Act’ implemented in states like Gujarat, Odisha, Karnataka, and Assam.
Present during the meeting were National Coordinator of Mandir Mahasangh Shri Sunil Ghanwat; State Core Committee Member, Shri Anup Jaiswal; Trustee of Shri Brihaspati Mandir, Nagpur, and Vidarbha Coordinator of the Mahasangh, Shri Ramnarayan Mishra; Trustee of Shri Panchmukhi Hanuman Mandir and Nagpur District Coordinator, Shri Dilip Kukde; Shri Ganesh Mahajan of Wazirabad Hanuman Mandir, Nanded; Trustee of Shri Bhavanimata Mandir, Ahilyanagar, Advocate Abhishek Bhagat; Shri Vineet Pakhode of Shri Pingladevi Sansthan, Amravati; BJP Yavatmal District Vice President, Shri Ravi Gyanchandani; Priest of Hilltop Durga Mata Mandir, Nagpur, Shri Pradeep Pandey; Shri Prakash Tapaswi of Shri Siddharudh Shiv Mandir, Nagpur; Vidarbha Coordinator of Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, Shri Shrikant Pisolkar; and Nagpur Coordinator of the Samiti, Shri Abhijit Polke, along with other temple trustees.
