Music composer Vishal Dadlani, who is a vocal supporter of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), has said there must be no place for religion in government at a time when the party is in news for its demand for images of Lord Ganesh and Goddess Lakshmi to be printed on new currency notes.
Without taking names, he tweeted, "The Constitution of India states that we are a Secular Socialist Republic. Hence, religion must have NO PLACE in governance. To be completely clear, I have nothing to do with anyone who brings any part of any religion to any aspect of government. Jai Hind." His tweet is being looked at as a veiled criticism of the AAP's demand.
On Wednesday, Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to consider his suggestion of including images of Lord Ganesha and Goddess Lakshmi on currency notes in India to “improve the economic situation of the country”.
"Today I appeal to the central government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On Indian currency there is a photo of Gandhi ji, let that be, on the other side of currency, a photo of Shri Ganesh Ji and Lakshmi ji should be put,” he said.
"As I said, we have to make a lot of effort to improve the economic situation of our country. But also with that, we need blessings from Gods and Goddesses. The whole country will get blessings if on currency notes, there is a photo of Ganesh Ji and Lakshmi ji on one side and Gandhi ji on the other side," he added.
Kejriwal said that he got this idea while worshipping for peace and prosperity on Diwali.
His statement came ahead of Assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh and is being viewed as a ‘soft Hindutva’ card to woo voters.