Highlights
- After Kejriwal's demand, several other leaders jumped in with their suggestions
- The leaders of the BJP, Congress and Shiv Sena have suggested their choices
- The Delhi's CM demand has also sparked a war of words among AAP, Congress and the BJP
Currency note politics: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's demand to print images of Lord Ganesha and Goddess Lakshmi on the currency note has created quite a buzz in the political arena.
Addressing a press briefing on Wednesday, October 26, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener urged the central government to look into his demand, saying the symbol of prosperity will help the country's economy to get back on track.
While the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) criticised Kejriwal for playing the "Hindu card" ahead of the upcoming assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat, a few other political leaders have also jumped into this saga, suggesting their choices for the new series of notes.
Here are suggestions by different leaders
Jumping onto the bandwagon, Senior Congress leader and former union minister Manish Tewari suggested the photo of Dalit leader Bhimrao Ambedkar in a new series of notes. He said one side of the currency note should have the picture of Mahatma Gandhi, whereas, the other side can bear Ambedkar's photo.
"Why not Dr BabaSahib Ambedkar’s photograph on new series of currency notes? One side the great Mahatma the other side Dr Ambedkar. Non violence, Constitutionalism & egalitarianism fusing in a unique Union that would sum up the modern Indian genius perfectly (sic)," Tewari wrote on Twitter.
Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale has also batted for the photo of Ambedkar on the currency notes. Opposing Kejriwal's demand for pictures of Lord Ganesha and Goddess Lakshmi, he contended that Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar's photo deserves to be on the currency notes.
"Honorable Mahatma Gandhiji already has a photograph on all the currency notes but if a person's photograph is to be brought on the currency, Babasaheb Ambedkarji should have his photograph on some currency notes. Similar demand is being made from our Dalit society for a long time," he was quoted as saying by ANI.
Going a step further, Maharastra BJP leader Ram Kadam hai demanded the photos of four different leaders on the currency. According to him, the currency notes should bear the images of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, VD Savarkar and incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Taking to Twitter, Kadam also posted edited images of these leaders on Rs 500 notes. "Akhand Bharat, Naya Bharat... Mahan Bharat... Jai Shriram... Jai Mata Di..," he wrote on Twitter.
Another Maharashtra BJP leader Nitish Rane also advocated for the photo of Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj. He also tweeted an edited photo of a Rs 200 note bearing the image of Shivaji on it, saying "Ye perfect hai!" (This is perfect).
Meanwhile, a leader of the Uddhav Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena has demanded the photo of Bal Thackeray on Indian banknotes. Speaking to the media, former Maharashtra minister Anil Parab batted for the photo of the late Balasaheb Thackeray on currency notes.
It should be mentioned here that Delhi CM Kejriwal's demand has also sparked a war of words among AAP, the BJP and Congress. On one hand, the BJP leaders slammed Kejriwal alleging that his demand was an “attempt to cover up public assertions of his party leaders against Hindu deities”, while the Congress asked the Delhi chief minister to step down for allegedly violating secular principles of the Constitution.
