Pitching for a national role, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal plays the hand of God. At a press meet on Wednesday last, he took many by surprise as he appealed to the Modi government to include photos of Hindu deities Lakshmi and Ganesh on currency notes along with that of Mahatma Gandhi.

He spelled out the reasoning as: “We can all see that our economy is not recovering. We all want India to become a developed country and for that lot of work needs to be done. But all efforts will be only successful when there will be gods and goddesses’ grace on us.”

Political commentators see it as a master stroke trying to get a finger in BJP’s Hindutva pie. The idea, he said came during the Diwali puja at home and his request to the Centre is don’t change currency notes but thatnew notes should include the goddesses of wealth and prosperity.

He also cited the Indonesian currency, wherein, though it’s a Muslim majority country (only 2-3% Hindus) it has Ganesh’s photo on it. ‘When Indonesia can do why can’t we do it?’ he asked.

Rather than having a response, the BJP went on the offensive, such as: He’s trying to side line Mahatma Gandhi; is “anti-Hindu” as he banned fire crackers, and the blessing of these goddesses “are already on India and Modi.. India has risen to becoming the 5^thlargest economy in the world from 11th in the last decade….”

However, to be redfaced in politics is unheard of in India but it has now also been brought to the notice that no Ganesha Photo is carried in Indonesian currency which was discontinued in 2018.