BJP, Congress lock horns over Shivlinga on Salman's 'Dabangg' sets
BJP and Congress got embroiled in a war of words on Thursday and this time it wasn't related to political issues but to Salman Khan. It so happened that on the sets of Dabangg 3, for which Salman is shooting in Madhya Pradesh, a Shivlinga was kept under wooden planks. Soon, BJP criticized state government and Congress shot back. Here's what happened.
Shivlinga was kept under wooden plank
Salman started the first schedule of his cop drama in Maheshwar in Madhya Pradesh. On the sets, the film crew kept a wooden plank on Shivlinga and some people stood on it. As pictures of the sets went viral, a group of locals reached the sets to protest against the shooting. Subsequently, BJP, which is in Opposition, also jumped into the issue.
BJP leader said FIR should be lodged, Congress slammed him
Rameshwar Sharma, the BJP lawmaker from Huzur in Bhopal district, claimed religious sentiments of Hindus were deliberately being hurt after Kamal Nath came to power. He said FIR should be lodged and proper action should be taken against the "guilty". But Congress claimed BJP isn't left with real issues. Spokesperson Shobha Oza said BJP's narrow mindset stopped development in the state for 15 years.
BJP creating divide between Hindus and Muslims: Congress spokesperson
"The BJP has no real issue to contest the Lok Sabha election. The then BJP government in the state hardly did any development work. That is why they are desperately looking for such issues, which creates a divide between Hindus and Muslims," said Congress spokesperson.
Khan said no one intended to hurt religious sentiments
Notably, Sports and Youth Welfare Minister Jitu Patwari said Khan was a wonderful actor who promoted religious harmony but spewing hatred was BJP's job. As the controversy raged, Khan said wooden plank was placed to ensure the safety of Shivlinga. "The wooden plank was later removed. There was no intention to hurt anyone's sentiments," he reportedly said and added he might shift to Uttar Pradesh if "harassment" continued.
