UP BJP president Keshav Prasad Maurya appears as Krishna in poster in Varanasi

VARANASI: Ahead of the visit of BJP’s newly appointed UP president Keshav Prasad Maurya to Varanasi on Friday, a poster depicting Maurya as Krishna went viral on social media when the city was celebrating Ramnavami. However, the BJP categorically denied its association with the poster saying the party has nothing to do with the poster.

With a tag line –‘Rakshamam Keshah’ (Save me Keshav) the poster says –“Kaliyug mein Keshav (Krishna) updesh hi nahin dete Ranbhoomi mein yudh bhi karte hain” (In Kaliyuga Krishna not only preaches but also fights in the battlefield). At the backdrop of Mahabharata war Uttar Pradesh is shown as a helpless woman and victim of ‘chirharan’ (stripping) by evil forces –corruption, poverty and unemployment, communalism, goonda raj, and treason.

The poster also displays leaders including BSP supremo Mayawati, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, UP minister Azam Khan, chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, and AIMM MP Asaduddin Owaisi indulged in UP chirharan. Maurya is shown as Krishna with the ‘Sudarshan Chakra’ in his hand. On the top in left corner there are pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah, while the picture of Rupesh Pandey, who issued the poster, is in the bottom. Condemning it the UPPC spokesperson Satish Rai accused BJP of misusing religious symbols intentionally for political gain. “It is the modus operandi of BJP for cheap punlicity,” said Rai adding that such tactics would not benefit BJP to hide the criminal background of its new UP president.

The BJP MLC and president of Varanasi region Laxman Acharya said that the party has nothing to do with the poster. “The party as well as Maurya is away from such things. He has already made it clear that he will serve the party to gain 265 plus seats in the 2017 assembly elections,” said Acharya.

Pandey, who issued the poster, said that he chose this way to welcome the new president on his first visit to the city. Every worker has right to welcome the leader in his own way, he said adding, “I strongly believe that Maurya will able to defeat the evil forces in the state”.