(From Left) Cricketer-turned-politician Harbhajan Singh, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Maan and former Delhi minister Rajendra Pal Gautam. Cricketer-turned-politician Harbhajan Singh, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Maan and former Delhi minister Rajendra Pal Gautam are among the 30 star campaigners announced by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for the upcoming Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) polls.
Gautam had resigned as social welfare minister last month following a controversy over a ‘conversion event’ where around 10,000 people had embraced Buddhism. His appointment by the AAP as its star campaigner sparked a controversy, with BJP MP Manoj Tiwari calling Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal “anti-Hindu”.
“Arvind Kejriwal, ji you are caught now. You are anti-Hindu and are against Hindu gods and goddesses because today you made Rajendra Pal Gautam, who abused Hindu gods Brahma, Vishnu, Ram, in your list of star campaigners. It clearly shows that those words of Gautam were also Kejriwal’s words. You give him respect but very soon the people of this country and society will show you the result of abusing Hindu gods and goddesses,” said Tiwari.
AAP did not respond to the controversy.
Other names mentioned in AAP’s star campaigners list are Kejriwal himself, Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab Raghav Chadha and other party leaders and MLAs, including the newly appointed social welfare minister Raj Kumar Anand.