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Swami Dayanand, a close aide and assistant of Ganga activist GD Agarwal, alleged on Thursday, 11 October, that he was murdered in ‘a well-planned conspiracy’ by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government. Dayanand held Union Minister Nitin Gadkari responsible for his death.
Speaking exclusively to The Quint, Dayanand alleged foul play behind Agarwal’s death.
Listen to the full interview here:
The IIT professor-turned-environmentalist passed away on Thursday in Haridwar after having given up food and water in his quest to save River Ganga. Agarwal had been consuming only honey and milk for 109 days. On his last two days, he had given up those as well.
Holding Prime Minister Modi indirectly responsible, Dayanand said Water Resources and Ganga River Rejuvenation Minister Nitin Gadkari was primarily responsible for the ‘murder’, and that his ‘greed’ had deeply hurt Agarwal.
“The person responsible for this is BJP's Nitin Gadkari. He has been bestowed the responsibility of Ganga rejuvenation. Gadkari is the person responsible for his murder. Even PM Modi is responsible because Agarwalji had written letters addressing directly to the PM. But the person primarily responsible for this is Gadkari,” Dayanand told The Quint.
Also alleging a foul play in Agarwal’s death is Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, who claims something was “done to him” after he was taken to the hospital that caused his sudden death.
He also told the media that Agarwal knew he was low on potassium according to his doctor's report, and had agreed to a 500ml intake, both orally and through IV.
Agarwal’s aides are now demanding a post mortem, and that his body be handed over so they can donate it to Kashi Hindu University, as per his wishes.
On Wednesday, Gadkari had said, "We have accepted almost all his demands (on cleaning of the Ganga). One demand was to to ensure environmental flow and we have come out with a notification." The government on Tuesday had come out with the e-flow gazette notification.
The second demand, Gadkari said, was to bring legislation to protect the Ganga. He said the legislation has been sent to Cabinet for approval, following which it will be tabled in Parliament.
“The BJP calls itself dharm ka thekedaar. PM Modi had said that mother Ganga has called him and he wants to give the river as much as possible. But Gadkari knows nothing about the Ganga, he doesnt worship it nor have sentiments for it. He only considers it a means of earning money. Agarwalji was very hurt because of his behaviour,” Dayanand said.
(With inputs from PTI)
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