Arvind Kejriwal on 'anti-Hindu' allegations: 'Was born on Janmashtami, will finish off Kansa'

Reacting to the posters that accused him of being anti-Hindu, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal said on Saturday that he was born on Janmashtami and God has given him the task of finishing off descendants of Kansa. 

"I would like to tell them that I was born on Krishna Janmashtami. And God has sent me with a special task-- to finish off these descendants of Kansa, to rid the public of corruption and hooligans," he said.

"We will work together to fulfill God's desire. God is with me. People are with me. People want a change, which is why they are so upset," he added. 

Kejriwal, who addressed a public meeting in Dahod, promised that the AAP government would bear the expenses of pilgrims visiting Ayodhya to pay respects to Lord Ram. 

"Lord Shri Ram's temple in Ayodhya will get ready next year. Who all want to visit the temple? All of you want to do so. But the trip, stay, food and lodging is very costly, isn't it? And if you take your entire family, then it costs a lot," he said.

Several posters calling AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal "anti-Hindu" surfaced all across Gujarat, a day after AAP's Delhi MLA Rajendra Pal Gautam courted controversy by attending a "religious conversion" event. While some posters quote Kejriwal allegedly saying "I consider Hindu religion madness", others demand the "anti-Hindu" AAP leader go back. The posters have come up in prominent cities like Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Surat and Vadodara.

In Rajkot, the posters targeting Kejriwal were torn away by AAP workers. In Dahod, the posters asked the leader to go back to the national capital.

Some posters with Kejriwal's photograph say 'I will not believe in Brahma, Vishnu, Ram and Krishna'. Other posters said, "I will not do 'shraddha pind daan' or any other Hindu ritual".

In a clarification later, Gautam said it was BJP propaganda. He said he never spoke against any religion and his speech centered around development issues.

With inputs from PTI