Udit Raj deletes then restores Kumbh tweet, told to apologise to Dalits
Udit Raj restored his tweet on Kumbh mela on Friday and said he was ready for a debate on his opinion on the matter.
The chairperson of Scheduled Caste Finance and Development Corporation in Uttar Pradesh, Lalji Nirmal, has asked Congress national spokesperson Udit Raj to apologise to Dalits over the latter’s comments questioning state support and funding to 2019 Kumbh Mela.
By criticising the religious event, Nirmal claimed, the Congress leader had hurt the faith of Dalits.
Udit Raj in a tweet on Thursday had questioned government’s spending on Kumbh Mela inviting a counter attack from the BJP. Raj deleted the tweet later on Thursday but restored it on Friday. In the Friday tweet Udit Raj wrote: “I am restoring my tweet & ready to debate. INC wasn’t tagged & it was my personal (comment).”
The restored tweet says: “No religious teachings and rituals to be funded by the government. The state doesn’t have its religion. The UP government spent Rs 4200 crore in organising the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad and that too was wrong.”
After questioning the government expenditure and participation in Kumbh, Udit Raj tweeted to say that Bhim Rao Ambedkar was against the mixing of politics and religion.
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In response, Lalji Nirmal, however, didn’t spare Congress either and claimed that Udit Raj’s statement reflected Congress’ policies and its negative mindset about Hindu religion and culture.
“Mahakumbh (that was organised under the Yogi government in 2019) was historic. In that Mahakumbh, a Dalit seer was bestowed with ‘Mahamandaleshwar’ title and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had honoured Dalit sanitation workers by washing their feet,” Nirmal said.
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Nirmal further added that Udit Raj had done little for Dalits except for politics in their name to get a ticket. He claimed that Raj would have never made it to Lok Sabha had the BJP not given him a ticket once. When the party did not give him a ticket the second time, he went to the Congress, Nirmal stated.
