With latest trends projecting Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) landslide victory in the Delhi Assembly election, Arvind Kejriwal said that Tuesday is the day of Lord Hanuman, who has blessed the people of Delhi.
"This is the day of Lord Hanuman who has blessed the people of Delhi. We pray that Hanuman Ji keeps showing the right path to us so that we continue to serve people for the next five years," Kejriwal said while addressing party workers here.
Later in the day, Kejriwal along with family members and party leaders also visited the CP Hanuman Temple and offered prayers.
Earlier, a war of words broke out between the AAP and BJP with BJP's Manoj Tiwari calling Kejriwal a "nakli bhakt".
"Ever since I chanted Hanuman Chalisa on a TV channel, the BJP people are constantly mocking me. Yesterday I went to Hanuman Temple. Today BJP leaders are saying that the temple was defiled by my visit. What kind of politics is this?" Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi.
"God belongs to everyone. God bless everyone, even those in BJP," he said.
A day before the voting for Delhi Assembly elections, Kejriwal had offered prayers at a Hanuman Temple in Connaught Place on Friday.
Mocking Kejriwal over the remarks, Tiwari said this is what happens when a fake devotee goes to offer prayers at a temple.
Tiwari said, "Woh (Arvind Kejriwal) pooja karne gaye the ya Hanuman Ji ko ashudh karne gaye the? Ek haath se joota utaarke, ussi haath se mala lekar...kya kar diya? Jab nakli bhakt aate hain na toh yahi hota hai. Maine pandit ji ko bataya, bahut baar Hanuman Ji ko dhoye hain." (Did Arvind Kejriwal go there to offer prayers or impure the Lord Hanuman? He removed his shoes and held a garland for the deity in the same hand. This happens only when a fake devotee offers prayers. I asked the priest. He told me Lord Hanuman was repeatedly bathed).
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had also mocked Kejriwal for chanting Hanuman Chalisa.
Addressing a rally in Delhi, Adityanath had said that after Kejriwal, AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi will also start chanting Hanuman Chalisa.
Replying to a question on his reciting the Hanuman Chalisa, Kejriwal earlier told , "It was a coincidence. There was an interview going on. He (the interviewer) said that BJP members were saying that I am anti-Hindu. I replied that I help senior citizens to seek blessings at Vaishno Devi, Mathura, Vrindavan, Shirdi, Tirupati, then how am I anti-Hindu? I am a staunch believer of Lord Hanuman."
He added, "When I said this, he asked whether I know Hanuman Chalisa. So, I replied yes and he asked me to recite it. BJP has a problem with this too... I expect the BJP members also to read it (Hanuman Chalisa). I don't think, those from BJP would have read Hanuman Chalisa in their entire life."
( With inputs from ANI )