Court corners cops on Raje poster

New Delhi/ Jodhpur: A court in Jodhpur has asked the Rajasthan Police to explain why it has not filed a complaint in connection with a poster showing Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje as a goddess.

The court was listening to a plea filed by Sheetal Kunwar, wife of senior BJP leader and former union minister Jaswant Singh. Kunwar told the court she approached the police on May 25 but they have not filed a complaint.

Kunwar says the poster depicting Raje as goddess Annapurna has hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus. The poster, which was designed by BJP worker Hemant Bohra, shows former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as Lord Vishnu, senior BJP leader L K Advani as Lord Brahma and BJP President Rajnath Singh as Lord Shiva.

“We have told the court that the police didn’t file a complaint though we went to them many times. We have requested the court to ask the police to file a complaint,” said Kunwar’s lawyer Deepak Maneriya.

Raje is reportedly angry with Kunwar for approaching the police and believes her opponents are using the poster to corner her. During the Gurjar community’s agitation for Scheduled Caste status, Jaswant had accused Raje of mishandling the situation and wanted the BJP to remove her.

The party has kept away from the fight between the two leaders and has advised them to patch up. Asked about the poster controversy in May, Jaswant had said: “My wife is a free citizen she takes her own decisions”.