After tweet: Mumbai BJP president Ashish Shelar trolled for inviting people to pre-Christmas programme

Ashish Shelar (File)

Mumbai BJP president and the MLA from Bandra West, Ashish Shelar, was trolled on social media on Saturday for supporting a pre-Christmas event. The programme scheduled for December 17, Prabhu Yeshu Janmotsav, is held annually at Girgaum Chowpatty. Shelar was accused of “betraying core values” and supporting “conversions” after he Tweeted an invitation to his 90,000 followers to the event. The invite also showcased Acharya Vikas Massey, a Hindu preacher known for supporting the view, Jesus is the way to heaven.

While some of Shelar’s followers branded the event a “mass conversion” event, several accused him of supporting an anti-Hindu event. A Tweet by user Ashwini Kandilkar read: “… minority’s votes will never come to you. But you are doing a great job of alienating your own constituency. Keep it up (sic)”.

Another Twitter user, Teja Srinivas, wrote: “Now BJP leaders are openly attending Christian conversion events. This is a direct attack on Hindu civilisation (sic). …” Some others asked the RSS, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis whether Shelar had converted and is receiving his orders from a church. The incident comes close on the heels of Fadnavis’s wife Amruta being trolled for attending a pre-Christmas event. Contacted, Shelar refused to comment and only said: “It’s a democracy.”