A viral video has stirred controversy as it shows a BJP worker from Madhya Pradesh’s Sagar district asking a woman to vote for BJP in the name of Ram temple in ensuing bypoll to Surkhi assembly seat in the district.
In the video, that went viral on Sunday, a local BJP worker Narendra Athiya, a resident of Jaisingh Nagar of Sagar district, is seen showing a calendar having picture of Lord Ram to the woman and saying that “Modiji is constructing temple of Lord Ram. You will cast a vote on the symbol of lotus here and one brick will be fitted in the temple. With the vote, you will earn ‘punya’ also.”
According to locals, the video was shot when Athiya was campaigning for his party in a village in support of transport minister Govind Singh Rajput, who is likely to contest the by-election from Surkhi assembly constituency in Sagar district. The by-election is going to be held in Madhya Pradesh on 28 seats of assembly constituency by November end as announced by the Election Commission.
Govind Singh Rajput is among 22 MLAs who resigned in March to join BJP. He was inducted in the state cabinet of Shivraj Singh Chouhan on April 21 without being a member of the state assembly.
After the video went viral, Athiya refused to talk to the media. Govind Singh Rajput said he won’t comment as he had not seen any such video.
BJP state spokesperson Dhairyavardhan Singh said, “Lord Ram is a matter of faith. The BJP worker might get emotional while talking with people. But we are not sure about the authenticity of the video so we will also check the credentials of the video.”
Congress said the BJP was trying to get votes in the name of Lord Ram as they failed to do any development work.
MP Congress committee spokesperson Ajay Singh Yadav said, “BJP leaders realized that they are going to lose by-elections so they are using the name of Lord Ram. The Election Commission should take action against them because they are politicizing the matter of faith of people and misleading them while playing with their religious sentiments.”
