BJP MLA slams UP CM's remarks on Hanuman

Uttar Pradesh BJP MLA Surendra Singh on Wednesday disapproved of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's reported statement terming Lord Hanuman as Dalit, saying it is "inappropriate" to relate God with a caste.

"God is above caste. There are Gods of all castes... relating them with a particular caste in not appropriate," Singh, who represents Bairia Assembly seat, told reporters here.

At an election meeting in Rajasthan, Adityanath had said, "Bajrang bali hamari bharatiya parampara mein ek aise lokdevta hain jo swayam vanvaasi hai, girvasi hain, Dalit hain, vanchit hai (Hanuman was a forest dweller, a Dalit and deprived)."

Congress leader Pramod Tiwari had condemned Adityanath's remarks, saying the BJP "divides individual and the society but it is for the first time that it has divided gods into castes".

(With inputs from agencies.)