Kejriwal's Remarks On Ramayana Sparks Row, BJP Calls Him 'Chunavi Hindu'

Last Updated:January 21, 2025, 15:35 IST

Kejriwal on Monday compared the BJP to 'Ravana', claiming he kidnapped Goddess Sita in the form of a 'golden deer'. His remarks drew the BJP's ire as the party accused him of misquoting Ramayana.

AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal (File photo: YouTube/AAP)

Ahead of Delhi polls, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) became embroiled in another fresh feud after former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal misquoted Ramayana by comparing BJP to “Ravana".

Speaking on Monday, Kejriwal stoked another controversy while addressing the slum clusters of Vishwas Nagar, when he recited an incident from the Ramayana where Goddess Sita fell victim to Ravana’s ‘golden deer’ tactics. The AAP national convenor compared the BJP to the “golden deer" and warned Delhiites to not fall in their “trap".

“Lord Ram was exiled for 14 years, so one day he went to the forest to arrange for food, left Mata Sita in the hut and told Laxman that you will protect Sita Maa, meanwhile, Ravana came in the form of a golden deer. Sita said to Laxman that I want this deer… Laxman went and Ravan kidnapped Sita Maa, these BJP people are also like that golden deer, do not get involved in their trap," Kejriwal said.

Kejriwal’s remarks drew the ire of the BJP, who accused him of insulting Sanatan Dharma and misinterpreting the sacred text of Ramcharitmanas, labelling him a “Chunavi Hindu". Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva said Kejriwal only remembers temples when elections are approaching.

“The way Arvind Kejriwal has misinterpreted Shri Ramcharitmanas and has tried to insult the Sanatana, this is not the first time. These people are Adharmi. I don’t know what his Nani (grandmother) recited to him, but he (Arvind Kejriwal) used to say that the Ram Temple should not be built. Now that the elections are coming up, he is remembering Ram Temple and all the other temples," Sachdeva told news agency ANI.

Kejriwal Is ‘Chunavi Hindu’: BJP

BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari launched a scathing attack on Kejriwal, calling him a “Chunavi Hindu" for misquoting Ramayana and said his true face had been exposed in front of the people of Delhi and the country.

Bhandari remarked that appeasement runs in the veins of Kejriwal and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and that the AAP supremo was “irritated" with the slogan of ‘Ek hain toh safe hain’ and Lord Shri Ram’s temple in Ayodhya and wants to give lands of Delhi to Waqf.

Another BJP spokesperson Ajay Alok lamented that Kejriwal did not even know the Ramayana despite being an educated man and an IIT graduate. Party leader Tarun Chugh said Kejriwal finally started remembering Lord Ram as he feared defeat in the upcoming polls.

“The people of Delhi are now alert to save themselves from Arvind Kejriwal’s web of lies. The people are asking what he did in 10 years… People are opposing and boycotting him. People have decided ‘Bye Bye Kejriwal’," he said. BJP MP Kamaljeet Sehrawat said Kejriwal himself played the role of ‘Ravana’ by destroying Delhi.

BJP leader Manoj Tiwari also reacted by saying, " am not at all surprised by his statement because we know that during elections Arvind Kejriwal tries to be a ‘Chunavi’ Hindu. All those things he said yesterday prove that he has no connection with the Hindu religion and Sanatan."

Swati Maliwal Reacts, Kejriwal Hits Back

Reacting to Kejriwal’s remarks, rebel AAP MP Swati Maliwal slammed the former CM and echoed BJP’s accusations that Kejriwal turned Hindu only when elections were near.

“When Shri Ram went to the forest to look for food, Ravana came in the form of a golden deer- in which Ramayana is this written @ArvindKejriwal ji? In Ramayana, the demon Marich had come with Ravana and had taken the form of a golden deer. Sita Mata had asked Shri Ram to bring the golden deer, not Lakshman Ji," she said in a post on X.

“You become a Hindu as soon as elections come, today you made a small mistake in memorising," she added.

However, Kejriwal later shot back at the criticism over his remarks on Ramayana, calling BJP “demonic" for admiring Ravana. “Yesterday I said that Ravana came as a golden deer and Mother Sita wanted that deer. They are saying that it was not Ravana (who came as a deer) but it was demon Marichi instead," he said in a presser on Tuesday.

“The entire BJP is protesting outside my house and asking why I insulted Ravana. They love Ravana so much. They are of a demonic nature. I want to warn the people living in slums and poor sections of Delhi that these people will gulp you down like demons if they come to power," he added.

AAP leader Manish Sisodia came out in support of his leader and said that the BJP immediately came out in defence of Ravana, as if they themselves were “descendants of Ravana". BJP leader Amit Malviya reacted by saying only Arvind Kejriwal can have so much respect for demons, again calling him ‘Chunavi Hindu".

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