Dharamshala (Himachal Pradesh) [India], December 26 (ANI): Senior BJP leader Anurag Thakur on Friday slammed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Saurabh Bhardwaj for hurting religious sentiments through a social media post featuring a 'Santa Claus skit' on Delhi pollution.

Thakur emphasised the importance of respecting religious and cultural symbols. 'Hurting religious sentiments in any way is not right. In a democracy, you have the right to protest, but you have hurt people's sentiments by making fun of Santa Claus...,' said Anurag Thakur.

Delhi Police have filed an FIR against AAP's Saurabh Bhardwaj and three other leaders for hurting religious sentiments. The complaint alleges they posted videos on December 17-18 mocking Santa Claus, a revered Christian icon, using it as a prop for political messaging. The video showed individuals dressed as Santa 'fainting' and 'collapsing' on the street.

The FIR against the AAP leaders has sparked a political debate, and the BJP leaders have maintained that respect for all religions and beliefs is essential.

Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva also stated that everyone must adhere to a certain level of decorum in politics.

'If you mock the symbols of any religion or try to incite religious hatred, you will have to face the consequences. Politics is a field where everyone involved must adhere to a certain level of decorum... The Delhi Police have registered an FIR, and the law will take its course.' Sachdeva told ANI.

The Delhi AAP chief Saurabh Bharadwaj accused the BJP-led central government of 'suppressing' them and said they are 'not afraid of their cowardly tactics'.

According to the complaint, the AAP leader posted videos on their official social media accounts that featured a political skit about Delhi pollution. In the video, individuals dressed as Santa Claus were allegedly portrayed in a derogatory and mocking manner, as the religious icons were shown 'fainting' and 'collapsing' after hearing about Delhi's AQI and were used merely as props for political messaging.

BJP MP Anurag Thakur also criticised Rahul Gandhi's foreign trips, alleging he aims to tarnish India's image and question its democracy.

'The truth is that whenever Rahul Gandhi goes on a foreign trip, he has only one agenda, to show India in a bad light, to raise a question mark on India's democracy, and to insult constitutional institutions continuously', he criticised.

Thakur further claimed that the Congress party and the Gandhi family, which ruled the country for nearly six decades, are unable to accept repeated electoral losses. 'The family and party that ruled the country for six decades today leave no stone unturned to humiliate India because the public has repeatedly shown them the face of defeat,' he said.

This comes after Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, addressed a gathering at the Hertie School in Berlin during his visit and accused the BJP of a 'wholesale capture' of institutional frameworks, alleging that the party has 'weaponised' investigating agencies. (ANI)