New Delhi: Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and Congress chief Kamal Nath courted controversy over a ‘temple-shaped’ birthday cake with a picture of Hanuman on Wednesday, news agency PTI reported.
As a video of Nath’s birthday celebration went viral on the social media, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan termed it an “insult of Hindus".
In the video, Kamal Nath, who calls himself “Hanuman-bhakt” (a devotee of Hanuman), is seen with the birthday cake.
Notably, Nath’s supporters decided to mark his birthday in advance, that falls on November 18, during his three-day visit to his hometown Chhindwara. The celebration took place at the former chief minister's house in Chhindwara on Tuesday evening.
When asked about the incident at the BJP office on Wednesday, Chouhan, as quoted by PTI said, “Congress was against the Ram temple. Now they remember Hanuman ji only for votes… They put Hanuman ji's picture on the cake and then cut it. This is an insult to Hindu religion and Sanatan tradition.”
When contacted, Madhya Pradesh Congress Media Department chairman KK Mishra said he was unaware of the controversy.
It is to be noted that recently, a hymn singer (ragi) Manpreet Singh Kanpuri had lashed out at the organisers of a Guru Nanak Jayanti programme in Indore's Khalsa College over an invite to Kamal Nath and honouring him.
While raising the issue of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, the singer had vowed not to return to Indore again.