BJP charges Kejriwal insulted Lord Ram-Sita, AAP supremo hits back

The BJP slammed AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday accusing him of misquoting the Ramayan and "insulting" Lord Ram and Sita, with its Delhi unit president Virendra Sachdeva holding a fast as a mark of absolution.

Kejriwal reacted sharply to the charge alleging the BJP was protesting against him in the honour of demon king Ravana and accused the party leaders of having "demonic tendencies".

The two parties are indulged in an intense war of words, a blame game over a range of issues with Delhi Assembly polls just around the corner. Voting for 70 Assembly seats will be held on February 5.

Sachdeva, who started his fast after a visit to Prachin Hanuman temple, called Kejriwal a "Chunavi Hindu" and sought forgiveness for "disrespect" shown by him to Sita-Ram.

"It is regrettable that Chunavi Hindus like Arvind Kejriwal mention deities in their election rallies but hurt Hindu sentiments by narrating inaccurate stories due to ignorance,” he said.

Kejriwal in an election meeting on Monday, quoted Ramayana saying Sita was abducted by Ravan who appeared as a golden deer, when Lord Ram went out in search of food.

The BJP leaders objected to it, alleging Kejriwal misquoted the Ramayan story and pointed out that it was another character in the epic, 'Mama Marich" who distracted Lord Rama as a golden deer when Ravan abducted Sita.

"I said yesterday that Ravan took the form of a golden deer. The BJP leaders are sitting on dharna outside my house for why I insulted Ravan," he claimed.

They have so much love for Ravan, they have "demonic tendencies", he charged and added, "I want to warn the slum dwellers and poor in Delhi that they will devour them if they come to power."

Sachdeva hit out at Kejriwal saying he was the same leader who previously quoting his grand mother tried to create an "anti-Ram Mandir" narrative and advocated hospitals and schools in place of the temple.

"The Hindu community will never forgive Kejriwal for hurting their sentiments," he said.

Senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia also attacked the BJP over the issue in a post on X, saying the party leaders were "defending" Ravan as if they were also "descendants" of the demon king.

He alleged the BJP's politics stooped so low that its leaders were using symbols like Ravan to justify their false statements.