JOIN USDelhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari says Arvind Kejriwal defiled Hanuman temple
Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari on Saturday stoked a controversy amid polling for the Delhi Assembly elections by suggesting that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal "defiled" the Hanuman temple where he visited, prompting the AAP to question whether the saffron party views him as an "untouchable".
Kejriwal and Union Minister Smriti Irani too sparred on Twitter after the former's "special appeal" to woman voters and asked them to discuss with men as to who could be the right choice. Irani asked whether Kejriwal does not consider women capable enough to decide for themselves who to vote for.
Kejriwal had visited Hanuman Temple in Connaught Place in the capital on Friday to seek blessings and had said, "Sought blessings of Hanuman ji at famous Hanuman temple at Connaught Place. Bhagwan-ji said - 'You are doing good work. Continue serving people like this. Leave the outcome to me, all will be fine".
Questioning Kejriwal's visit to the temple, Tiwari was quoted by ANI as saying, "Has he gone to offer prayers or to defile (the diety)? He removed shoes with a hand and then holding a garland in the same hand, what has he done? If your devotion is fake, this happens. I told the priest, the deity was cleaned several times."
Soon after, Kejriwal responded to this questioning what kind of politics was this.
"Ever since I read Hanuman Chalisa on a TV channel, BJP leaders are constantly mocking me. Yesterday, I went to Hanuman temple. Today BJP leaders are saying that the temple was defiled. What kind of politics is this? God belongs to everyone. God bless everyone, even those in BJP," he tweeted.
Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh told reporters that the BJP was trying to fan trouble even on the last day of the electioneering.
"Is the BJP looking at Kejriwal as an untouchable. There can be no worse statement than his," he said.
Recently during a television show, Kejriwal was asked about his faith and he had said that he is a devotee of Hanuman. Then the anchor of the show asked him whether he can recite the 'Hanuman Chalisa', which the Chief Minister recited.
The twitter war between Kejriwal and Irani also attracted eyeballs. Kejriwal first tweeted, “Must go to vote. A special appeal to all women. As you take care of your family, there is another responsibility on your shoulder which is of the country as well as Delhi. All women must vote and also take men of their family for it. You also must discuss with men who will be the right choice (for votes)."
To this, Irani responded with a hashtag suggesting that Kejriwal was anti-women, "Don't you consider women so capable that they could decide themselves who to vote for?"
Kejriwal hit back at her saying, "And this time in Delhi, women have decided their family's choice for votes. After all they have to run their household," he added.