Facing flak over his presence at a religious conversion event where Hindu deities were allegedly denounced, Delhi minister Rajendra Pal Gautam resigned from the party.
During the programme on October 5, the day of Dussehra, around 10,000 people purportedly took vows to convert to Buddhism, follow Lord Buddha’s teachings and give up the worship of Hindu deities.
Four days after the event, a purported video went viral in which Gautam can be seen sharing the dais with other persons attending the programme. He could also be seen standing in the pledge gesture.
The pledge was: “I will never hold Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh as gods and worship them. I will neither hold Ram and Krishna as God nor worship them ever. I will not believe in or worship Gauri, Ganapti or any other deity of the Hindu religion.”
Earlier, as the video sparked a controversy, Gautam issued a clarification, saying he personally respects all the deities and would not even dream of insulting them.
“Today in the media I saw that BJP is spreading some rumors about me. I am a very religious person. I personally respect all the deities and would not even dream of insulting the deities by my actions or words,” he said in his statement.
He further said, “I did not utter any words towards anyone’s faith, I respect everyone’s faith. In my speech, I spoke on education, health, employment, inflation and social equality.”
As the video went viral, the BJP demanded to sack Gautam.
