The Opposition BJP in Chhattisgarh on Tuesday (October 24) posted on social media a cartoon of Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel which portrayed him as 'Ravan', and said the “Ravan of corruption” will be burnt this time.
Reacting to the post, Mr. Baghel said abusing the backward classes, tribals and Dalits has been a tradition of former Chief Minister Raman Singh and his party.
Assembly polls in the Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh will be held next month.
The festival of Dussehra, being celebrated on Tuesday, signifies the victory of Lord Ram over demon king Ravan. On this day, effigies of Ravan are burnt to mark the triumph of good over evil.
The Chhattisgarh BJP unit on Tuesday in a post on X said, “This time 'Ravan of corruption' will be consigned to flames." The post showed a cartoon of Mr. Baghel which portrayed him as Ravan with 10 heads and 'Thagesh' (the one who cheats) written on it. The 10 heads were named after various alleged scams and offences like murder and rape.
The cartoon is also seen holding a weapon with "bhrashtachar" (corruption) written on it.
The illustration also shows a man, depicted as Chhattisgarhiya, shooting with a bow and arrow at the Ravan and saying 'Au nahi sahibo, badal ke rahibo' (we will not tolerate any more, we will definitely bring a change).
Reacting to the poster, Mr. Baghel on his X handle said, “Let it go! Abusing backward people, tribals and Dalits has been the tradition of (former chief minister) Thakur Raman Singh and his party. Earlier, they have used 'chhota aadmi', 'dog', 'cat' and many more terms. I have been continuously receiving feedback from you all after the BJP released the poster showing backward people as Ravan and killing them."
The CM said he would like to tell the people to celebrate the festival of Vijayadashami happily.
"I am answerable to you, their misdeeds do not matter. For me, illiteracy, malnutrition, plight of farmers, Naxalism are the forms of Ravan. We all have to overcome these issues together. We have gradually succeeded in some tasks and we will work together again on the remaining ones. Evil will be defeated, truth will prevail. Chhattisgarhiya will win once again,” he added.
Voting for the 90-member assembly in Chhattisgarh will be held in two phases on November 7 and 17.
In the first phase, 20 Assembly Constituencies will go to polls and voting in the remaining 70 seats will be held in the second phase.
A total of 223 candidates are in the fray for the first phase of polls.
The BJP has so far announced candidates in 86 out of the total 90 seats and the Congress has declared candidates in all 90 seats.
