"Abusing Sanatana...": Ex Cricketer's Dig At Congress Amid Poll Results

Former cricketer Venkatesh Prasad cited the Santana row today to take a veiled dig at the Congress as trends show the party trailing in three out of the four states that went to polls recently. "Abusing Sanatana Dharma was bound to have its consequences," Mr Prasad posted on X, formerly Twitter.

Tamil Nadu Minister and DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin stirred up a major political controversy when he said "Sanatana Dharma should be eradicated". Ally Congress, which largely avoided wading into the controversy, said the party believed in "sarvadharma sambhav" (equal respect to all religions).

The former bowler also congratulated the BJP as it surged ahead in three states - Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh - in trends so far.

"Many congratulations to the BJP for a landslide victory. Just another testimony of the amazing leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji and Amit Shah and great work by the party cadre at grassroots levels," he wrote.

The BJP is comfortably leading in the Hindi heartland states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. The only spark of joy for the Congress is Telangana where it was surging ahead of the ruling BRS.

As the results trickled in, Rajasthan seemed to stay true to its revolving door trend with the ruling Congress appearing on the verge of being voted out. In Chhattisgarh, where most of the exit polls gave edge to the Congress, the BJP was poised to race ahead.

Madhya Pradesh turned out to be another disappointment for the Congress where earlier in the day posters congratulating Kamal Nath for becoming the Chief Minister popped up in Bhopal.