"Some People Doing Tantric Rituals For Election Victory": Shivraj Chouhan

While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is reaching out to the people to seek votes, "some people" are resorting to tantric rituals for victory in the Madhya Pradesh assembly elections, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Thursday.

His comment came a day after some photographs from a crematorium in Ujjain showing purported tantric rituals being performed around state Congress chief Kamal Nath's photograph surfaced on social media.

The state Congress, however, dismissed the Chief Minister's swipe.

“We are reaching out to the people and informing them about our work, while some people are doing `tantric kriya' at crematorium. Is this democracy? In democracy, the public is worshipped. It is the way to win the people's faith, serve them," Mr Chouhan said.

The Chief Minister was speaking after flagging off, along with state BJP chief VD Sharma, his party's hi-tech `raths' or campaign vehicles. Assembly polls will be held in Madhya Pradesh on November 17.

“We have done all this work and on that basis we are seeking votes. You are doing tantric kriya in the crematorium, will your action help the country or the state and its people? Perform a puja of Lord Mahakal (in Ujjain). I had also prayed to Mahakal…," Chouhan further said.

The BJP leader also said that he was surprised as those who have no faith in tantric rituals were now resorting to such things.

When asked for reaction, state Congress spokesperson K K Mishra said the BJP had no right to talk about `tantric kriya' as "it has literally turned the state into a crematorium politically."

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)