The opposition Congress termed on Sunday Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s act of sporting a skull cap on the occasion of Eid as a “politically motivated gesture” in the election year.
Congress spokesman Mukesh Nayak said Chouhan’s act was aimed at attracting Muslim votes in Madhya Pradesh, where Assembly election was due by the year-end. Chouhan’s gesture on Friday triggered a controversy and he faced criticism both within his party BJP and outside. This was not the first time Chouhan had sported a skull cap but the controversy arose due to comments made by film actor Raza Murad, who was present at the Bhopal Eidgah where the Chief Minister was seen wearing the cap.
Murad, while appreciating Chouhan, said people should learn from the BJP leader and understood that merely wearing a cap did not defile anyone’s religion. While the Bollywood actor did not name anyone, his barbs were apparently directed at Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who had in the past refused to don skull cap. Murad’s remarks triggered a war of words between him and BJP leader Uma Bharti, who did not appreciate Chouhan’s Eid gesture, terming it as “cheap”.
A State BJP spokesman, reacting to Murad’s comments, said on Saturday that if wearing a skull cap did not defile one’s religion then why did the members of a community object with the singing of “Vande Mataram”. The Congress used the controversy to take potshots at Chouhan and Modi, saying both BJP Chief Ministers had used the skull cap for political reasons. In 2011, the Gujarat’s Narendra Modi had refused to put on a skull cap offered by a Muslim cleric during his ‘sadbhavana’ fast. While Modi had refused to wear the cap in order to appease his Hindu vote bank, Chouhan’s move was aimed at attracting Muslim votes, Nayak said on Saturday. Chouhan himself had tried to put a “cap” on the controversy, saying an occasion like Eid should not be politicised.