Now AAP Mumbai joins Hanuman Chalisa row, organises recital on Twitter Spaces

AAP leaders said it was pained by the attempts of the BJP and its proxies to misuse the devotional hymn to foment trouble in the city. The party, however, invited former BJP chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and MNS chief Raj Thackeray to join its recital, besides chief minister Uddhav Thackeray.

“Hanuman Chalisa is a pivotal part of the Hindu Dharam. The AAP is pained that the BJP and its proxies, the Ranas and the MNS, are misusing this peaceful and spiritual practice to disrupt Mumbai to further their politics. To misuse the Hanuman Chalisa to create disruptions in Mumbai and create a law-and-order issue is not the way a true Hanuman bhakt behaves,” AAP national executive member Preeti Sharma Menon said.

The chanting was led by Menon, the party’s working president in the city Sumitra Shrivastava, Mumbai youth wing chief Aditya Manjrekar, AAP Mumbai joint secretary Raj Sharma and volunteers.

“It is telling of the insecurity and insincerity of the BJP that they would ignore an invite to chant the Hanuman Chalisa and their IT cell would actively sabotage this activity,” said Shrivastava. “But their cheap tricks and antics can never stop the true bhakts of Bajrang Bali,” the AAP leader added.

“Lord Hanuman lives in our hearts, just like Lord Ram lives in Lord Hanuman’s heart. A person who has the Bajrang Bali in his heart will never use his name to cause distress to others. This is why we thought of using an innovative way to remind political parties about the true meaning of the Hanuman Chalisa, ” Menon said. “We think it is time they (the Ranas and Raj Thackeray) meditate on Hanuman,” she added.