New Delhi: Hours after AAP's Arvind Kejriwal suggested that the Indian currency notes be printed with pictures of Gods and Goddesses on them, Maharashtra BJP leader Nitish Rane came up with another 'innovative' suggestion. Taking to Twitter on Wednesday, Rane posted a picture of a currency note with the Maratha emperor Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj photoshopped on it. Captioned 'Ye perfect hai!' (This is perfect), the tweet gained traction across social media, deriving mixed responses from the netizens.
While some people hailed the suggestion, others criticised it. One of the Twitter users responded with a similar picture with BR Ambedkar's photo on it, sparking another thread of tweets with people arguing over which one is a better option and why. Several other leaders, including Bhagat Singh, Subhash Chandra Bose and Maharana Pratap also made it to the suggestions list among others. Meanwhile, adding another perspective, a Twitter user pointed out that 'every religion has a different God and money is used by every religion', implying that using Gods, Goddesses or even God figures on currency notes is not a good idea.
Also read: Demand for Lakshmi, Ganesha images on currency notes sparks war of words between AAP, Oppn
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's appeal on Wednesday for printing images of Lord Ganesha and Goddess Lakshmi on currency notes had already triggered a bitter war of words between the ruling AAP and opposition parties BJP and Congress earlier in the day. This suggestion by Rana who represents BJP--the party that AAP is up against in the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections --has further widened the scope of the argument between these parties at loggerheads.
In a media briefing earlier on Wednesday, Kejriwal had appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to have images of Lord Ganesha and Goddess Lakshmi on currency notes in order for the 'country to prosper rapidly. "Despite trying our best, sometimes our efforts do not fructify if the Gods and Goddesses are not blessing us. I appeal to PM (Modi) to have images of Lord Ganesha and Goddess Lakshmi on our currency (notes)."
"If an image of Lakshmi-Ganesha is on our currency (notes), our country will prosper. I will write to (the) Prime Minister in a day or two on this," he said. The BJP leaders, meanwhile, attacked Kejriwal alleging that his demand was an "attempt to cover up public assertions of his party leaders against Hindu deities" while the Congress demanded the Delhi CM's resignation for allegedly violating secular principles of the Constitution.
