The CPI and RJD workers on Saturday washed a statue of BR Ambedkar with 'Gangajal' in Begusarai's Ballia, a day after Union Minister Giriraj Singh garlanded it during Bharatvanshi Jagriti Yatra.
"We did the purification of the statue because the MP that came yesterday was talking communalism, he was speaking of Hindus and Muslims. We did the purification for brotherhood. We follow Baba Saheb's principles and his Constitution which have no place for communalism," Saroj Kumar, a Communist Party of India (CPI) activist, told ANI.
"We speak of people and humanity and not of caste and religion," he added.
Vikas, a Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) worker, said, "We have purified the statue because Baba Saheb was garlanded by a rioter who instigates Hindus and Muslims. I want to tell him that he doesn't have the power to break the bond that people here have."
"Through this message, I want to give the message that Hindus and Muslims were united before, are united and will still be united," he said.