Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has lambasted former Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal over the latter's reference to Ramayana during an election rally. Citing that the context narrated by Kejriwal is completely wrong, the BJP called it an insult to Sanatan Dharma.
Addressing the rally on Monday, Kejriwal said, "When Ramchandra (Lord Ram) went to the forest to arrange food, he left Mata Sita in his hut and told Laxman to protect Sita. Meanwhile, Ravana disguised as a golden deer, lured Mata Sita and kidnapped her."
However, the statements triggered backlash from BJP leaders who pointed that Kejriwal misquoted the mythical story. BJP MP Manoj Tiwari criticised Kejriwal, and labeled him an 'electoral Hindu'.
"Kejriwal is using religion for political gains. His statements yesterday made it clear that he has nothing to do with Satya Sanatan, Hindu religion, and stories of Lord Ram. He said that Ravana came in the form of a deer. In which university did he study this? On February 5, people of Delhi will remove anti-Hindu people like Arvind Kejriwal from Delhi politics forever," said Tiwari.
Former union minister Harsh Vardhan also criticised Kejriwal and reminded him that it was another character ‘Maricha’ who distracted Lord Ram as a golden deer when Ravana abducted Sita.
''History will remember that Kejriwal had also written a Ramayana in which it was not Maricha but Ravana himself who took the form of a deer to kidnap Mata Sita. Such mistakes happen only when electoral Hindus like Kejriwal abandon their appeasement politics and act like Hindus. After spending crores of public funds, he organises Diwali for self PR, and when elections approach, he calls himself a devotee of Hanuman ji and makes fun of Ramayana like this. I am sure that if the entire plot of the speech had been this, Kejriwal would have added the Kauravas to Ravana's army,'' stated Harsh Vardhan.
Similar comments came even from Aam Aadmi Party's Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal. ''In which Ramayana is this written, Kejriwal ji? In Ramayana, the demon Maricha had come with Ravana and he had taken the form of a golden deer. Sita Mata had asked Shri Ram to bring the golden deer, not Lakshman Ji. You become a Hindu as soon as elections come, today you made a mistake in memorising,'' she commented.
In response, Kejriwal said that the BJP is focusing on petty issues rather than addressing public concerns. He said, "Yesterday I said that Ravana came as a golden deer and Mata Sita wanted that deer. BJP is saying that Ravana did not come as a deer, but it was demon Maricha. BJP is protesting outside my house and asking why I insulted Ravana. They love Ravana more than Ram. They are demonic in nature. I want to warn the slum dwellers and poor people of Delhi that if BJP comes to power, they will swallow you like demons."
