Devotees thronged in large numbers for darshan of Lord Ganesha at Lalbaugcha Raja
Two lawyers of the Bombay High Court have filed a complaint with the Mumbai Police over what they claimed was the different treatment meted out to the common people and VIPs when they come to offer prayers at the feet of Lord Ganesha at Lalbaugcha Raja.
A video of pandal staff pushing people the moment they offered prayers at the feet of Lord Ganesha has gone viral on social media. Behind the staff, another group of people were seen standing calmly and smiling for cameras. The pandal staff did not ask them to leave immediately or push them.
"During darshan, children, women, senior citizens and the differently abled are discriminated against... Common citizens are mistreated, insulted and beaten up by managers and employees... Such a system is extremely bad," the lawyers, Ashish Rai and Pankajkumar Mishra, said in the complaint to the Mumbai Police.
Such treatment of the common people have been happening year after year during darshan of Lord Ganesha at Lalbaugcha Raja, the lawyers said.
Devotees thronged in large numbers for darshan and offered prayers on Saturday. Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and wife Sudesh Dhankhar, BJP national chief JP Nadda, and Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and Bhupendra Yadav were among the leaders who offered prayers on Saturday.
The iconic Lord Ganesha idol, housed at the Lalbaugcha Raja Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal, is a central attraction during this vibrant festival, drawing thousands of worshippers.
On September 5, the first look of this year's Lalbaugcha Raja was unveiled. The history of Lalbaugcha Raja is well-known, as it is the popular Lord Ganesha idol of the Lalbaugcha Raja Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal, located at Putlabai Chawl, a place of worship founded in 1934.
The idol and its celebrations have been managed by the Kambli family, custodians of this revered image for over 80 years.