On polling day, Cong chief 'worships' LPG cylinder, BJP seeks Lord's blessings

Even as Karnataka votes to elect a new government, Congress leaders resorted to staging a political drama while their BJP counterparts sought divine intervention to win over the voters.

Taking a subtle jibe at the ruling BJP over inflation, State Congress president D.K. Shivakumar posted a video on the party's official Twitter handle where he was seen performing a 'puja' in front of an LPG cylinder in an obvious reference to rising cooking gas prices in the State. "Kannadigas! Before you go to cast your vote, don't forget to perform this ritual. Watch the video," the caption read.

Top BJP leaders, on their part, sought to invoke Lord Anjaneya (Hanuman) on the polling day to make a political point. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai offered a special pooja with his family at the Anjaneya temple in Ashok Nagar before casting his vote for the Assembly polls.

Lord Hanuman, one of the most revered Hindu god who symbolises strength, has taken centrestage in the Karnataka elections after the Congress in its manifesto said that if voted to power, it would ban Bajrang Dal, the youth front of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).

The issue has since snowballed into a major controversy. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi likened the promised ban on Bajrang Dal to locking up Bajrangwali (Lord Hanuman) and his devotees, former Deputy Chief Minister K.S. Eshwarappa burnt the Congress manifesto. Bajrang Dal activists too held protest demonstrations in several parts of the State, tore the document down and hit it with slippers.

Coming out in its support, other Hindutva outfits have also started organising mass chanting of 'Hanuman Chalisa', the 40 couplets written in praise of the Lord authored by 16th Century saint-poet Goswami Tulsidas in Awadhi dialect, throughout the State as a mark of protest against the Congress move.