Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Thursday slammed his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal for demanding images of Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Ganesh on currency notes and described his statement as a tactic to garner votes.
Talking to reporters here, the senior Congress leader accused Kejriwal of raising emotive issues just for votes.
Asked about the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader's controversial statement, Baghel said, “At different times the Government of India decides whose photos will appear on currency notes and coins. But to gain votes Kejriwal has used this tactic."
“I was watching in the news yesterday, photos of great leaders Ambedkar ji and Bhagat Singh ji were kept where he (Kejriwal) was addressing a press conference (where he made the statement). Had they been alive, could Kejriwal have said these things in front of them? Was his statement motivated by their ideology?" he asked.
Baghel further said wherever Kejriwal fights elections he just plays the emotional card to garner votes
“He (Kejriwal) had said he will clean the Yamuna river and he had also told journalists that they would be able to take a dip into it, but what happened?'' he said.
“He doesn't do what he says. He removed Gandhi ji's portraits from his offices and then he went to Sabarmati Ashram (in
Ahmedabad) and was spinning charkha. He wants to cross the river by holding the feet of Lakshmi ji and Ganesh ji. Whose photos will appear on notes, what colors will they be are all decided by the RBI and the Government of India,” the Chhattisgarh CM added.
Claiming that the Indian economy was not in a good shape, Kejriwal on Wednesday said at a press conference that the country needed a lot of effort to get the economy back on track along with the “blessings of our gods and goddesses”.
The Delhi CM also suggested that currency notes should have the images of Lord Ganesh and Goddess Lakshmi along with Mahatma Gandhi.
(Inputs from PTI)
