LUCKNOW: The Bajrang Dal has announced that it will hold Hanuman Chalisa recitals in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday to protest remarks by a few Congress leaders in poll-bound Karnataka.
This coincides with the 'Bada Mangal’ festival which is held on all Tuesdays of the Hindu month of Jyestha.
The mass recitals of Hanuman Chalisa would take place just ahead of the May 10 Assembly bypolls in the Suar Assembly seat of Rampur and the Chhanbey seat in Mirzapur. The second phase of polls in municipal elections is also scheduled to be held on May 11.
The Congress has said that the Bajrang Dal has taken the decision to hold recitals of Hanuman Chalisa with an aim to polarise people along communal lines.
“Everyone is welcome to recite Hanuman Chalisa. They (Bajrang Dal leaders) are objecting to Bajrang Dal and the Popular Front of India being spoken in the same light. Well, I guess the real objection should be about them making it appear that they have a copyright on Lord Bajrang Bali. No one has a problem with Bajrang Bali, but the Bharatiya Janata Party and its organisations must realise that the problem is with those who do politics in His name, ” said Congress spokesperson Ashok Singh.
Countering allegations from the Congress, Milan Som, the senior Bajrang Dal functionary from west Uttar Pradesh, said, “The Congress has a habit of belittling the Hindu community and their sentiments. What is the logic behind comparing an anti-national banned organisation like the Popular Front of India with a patriotic organisation into social service like Bajrang Dal. Clearly, they seem to have a problem with the name of our organisation and so to register our protest and drive home our point, we will all be reciting Hanuman Chalisa on May 9 and pray to Lord Hanuman to put some sense into Congress leaders.”
Interestingly, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, during his Karnataka Assembly campaign, had touched upon the issue and described the issue of banning Bajrang Dal as the ‘mockery of the Hindu faith'.
Many leaders of the saffron party, when asked if they would join Bajrang Dal’s ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ recital said, “Like most Hindus, recitation of Hanuman Chalisa comes naturally to us. Most of us do it daily and especially on Tuesdays.”