Placing Hindu religious idols on banknotes. This is not the latest discovery of the Hindu nationalists of the BJP, in power in India, but a proposal of the opposition party AAP. As the important legislative elections of Gujarat open, he does not hesitate to hunt on the lands of Hindu populism, at the risk of causing people to jump.
With our correspondent in Bangalore, Como Bastin
Alongside Gandhi, why not the elephant god Ganesh or the money goddess Lakshmi on banknotes? The preposterous proposal has little chance of succeeding. Especially since it does not come from the central government, but from Arvind Kejriwal, mayor of Delhi and figure of the Ordinary Man’s Party, the AAP.
This exit was surprising from a movement that was built more on anti-corruption than bigotry. According to the leader of the Congress party, Sandeep Dikshit, this volte-face shows that the AAP is ready to do anything to win votes.
It must be said that the AAP, on the strength of a recent victory in Punjab, is launching its forces in the legislative elections of Gujarat. This state, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi cut his teeth, is reputed to have been acquired by Hindu nationalists. The AAP first campaigns there on education and development.
Still, the displayed secularism of the AAP is regularly questioned. Recently, one of his ministers was kicked out for attending a Buddhist conversion event. Electoral tactic or ideological drift? The question rages.
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