A BJP leader lashed out at the actor after the latter reposted Satish Acharya's cartoon which showed Rajinikanth at Yogi Adityanath's feet.
BJP’s spokesperson in Jharkhand Pratul Shah Deo came down heavily on actor Prakash Raj after he shared a South First cartoon drawn by Satish Acharya that showed Rajinikanth at the feet of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
The cartoon, A Deeper Saffron, also showed Prime Minister Narendra Modi wondering, “How is his saffron holier than mine?” South First published the cartoon on Sunday, 20 August.
Incidentally, Rajinikanth was widely criticised for falling at Adityanath’s feet soon after news agency ANI shared the photograph on X, even as the actor’s latest outing, Jailer, has set the cash registers ringing.
Speaking to ANI, Deo said Raj exposed his “distorted mindset” by sharing the cartoon, since saffron has been considered holy in Hinduism.
Deo justified Rajinikant seeking Yogi’s blessings, saying the latter was a saint. The BJP leader also lashed out at Raj for including Prime Minister Modi in the cartoon, saying Modi reflected the unity, diversity and sovereignty of the country.
Apart from reposting, Raj also took a swipe at Modi by commenting, “#MannKiBaat #justasking.”
#MannKiBaat #justasking https://t.co/I1OVuHOg4e
— Prakash Raj (@prakashraaj) August 20, 2023
Meanwhile, Rajnikanth offered a clarification on Monday, 21 August, night. After landing at the Chennai airport, he explained that he always touched the feet of Yogis or Sanyasis in respect, irrespective of their age.
The same day, Raj stirred another controversy by sharing a on X a meme on India’s third lunar mission, Chandrayaan-3.
In his 20 August tweet, Raj shared the caricature of a man in a shirt and lungi making tea and captioned it, “First view just arrived from Chandrayaan .. #VikramLander Wowww #justasking.”
Raj was apparently referring to a humorous take on Malayalis that when Neil Armstrong, the first person to set foot on moon on 20 July, 1969, met a Keralite, Chandran, running a tea stall there.
RT @vodkya: Moon is the only place where humans have set foot & still there are no Malayalee nurses||
well almost 😉 pic.twitter.com/8jWiDkJGMd— Tinu Cherian Abraham (@tinucherian) July 5, 2014
The actor’s reference was to the saying that ‘Wherever you go, you can see at least one Keralite there.’
Hate sees only Hate.. i was referring to a joke of #Armstrong times .. celebrating our kerala Chaiwala .. which Chaiwala did the TROLLS see ?? .. if you dont get a joke then the joke is on you .. GROW UP #justasking https://t.co/NFHkqJy532
— Prakash Raj (@prakashraaj) August 21, 2023
After his tweet, two complaints, including one to the Governor, were lodged against him in Karnataka. The state police said said Hindu organisations leaders complained to the Banahatti police in Bagalkote district against the actor.
A man, identified as Pramod N from Shivamogga, emailed a complaint to Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot seeking action against the Singham actor.
Meanwhile, the 58-year-old actor later issued a clarification while quoting his original post.
“Hate sees only Hate.. i was referring to a joke of #Armstrong times .. celebrating our kerala Chaiwala .. which Chaiwala did the TROLLS see ?? .. if you dont get a joke then the joke is on you .. GROW UP #justasking’,” Jha said.
Co-founder of Alt News, a fact-checking platform, Mohammed Zubair posted a video on X, questioning the media for concluding that Raj was poking fun at Chandrayaan-3.
Hello @IndiaToday, how did you conclude that Prakash Raj was mocking Ex ISRO Chief and Moon Mission? https://t.co/jNVSigoXdo pic.twitter.com/9Rg19EM5Xm
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) August 21, 2023
