Shortly after a trial court in Jodhpur on Wednesday sentenced self-styled godman Asaram Bapu to life imprisonment for raping a teenage female devotee at his ashram, Congress released a video showing a younger Narendra Modi keeping the company of the convict.
The caption of the video was a proverb from 'Aesop's Fables' - "A man is known by the company he keeps."
The video shows a younger Narendra Modi, in a speech, saying: “From the time when no one knew me I got the blessings of Bapu.”
The video also shows Asaram embracing Modi and talking about the merging of politics and spirituality.
Following the release of the video, Twitter was flooded with comments. One of the tweets showed an old picture of Digvijay Singh paying his respects to Asaram. However, in 2013, Digvijay had expressed regret on his association with the self-styled godman and allotting him land when he was the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh.
Another tweet said “Rahul Gandhi Boston Airport arrest on 3 Sep 2001, when he was illegally carrying US $ 160,000 and in the company of a girlfriend. Rahul Gandhi was saved by the PM Vajpayee’s intervention. Can Rahul come out with all facts as Indians have serious doubts?
People even tweeted with pictures of Indira Gandhi and Dhirendra Brahmachari showcasing Congress’s association with spiritual leaders.
In all this buzz, Bollywood actor-director Farhan Akhtar came out with his tweet: “So, Asaram is a child rapist. And he has been found guilty. Good. But can people please stop sharing images of him with PM Modi. Patronising him before he was exposed to be a pervert is no crime. Let’s be fair and give him the benefit of doubt that he, like us, did not know.”
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