New Delhi, Aug. 28: Celebrity Aam Aadmi Party supporter, music director and singer Vishal Dadlani has announced his resignation from all political work after his tweet on Jain religious leader Tarun Sagar created an uproar.
Dadlani faced a barrage of attacks after he mocked the Jain leader's address to the Haryana Assembly on Friday on Twitter. He deleted his tweet and apologised several times and then announced he was quitting "all political work/affiliation" after AAP boss Arvind Kejriwal too slammed him and asked him to stop.
"It feel bad that I hurt my Jain friends & my friends @ArvindKejriwal& @SatyendarJain. I hereby quit all active political work/affiliation," Dadlani tweeted on Saturday night.
Dadlani's announcement to quit "all political work" comes as a blow to the AAP that was planning to use him for campaigning in the Punjab and Goa elections. The Bollywood music director and singer had not enrolled as an AAP member but had actively campaigned for the party in Delhi. He had composed the AAP's Delhi election jingle, "Paanch Saal Kejriwal", a huge hit among the people.
"If you voted for these people, you are responsible for this absurd nonsense! No #AchcheDin, just #NoKachcheDin", Dadlani had tweeted on Saturday with a graphic card of the Jain monk attached to the tweet.
He deleted the tweet after it triggered outrage.
Dadlani's tweet was in response to Jain religious leader Tarun Sagar's address to the Haryana Assembly on Friday.
In the first instance of its kind, the religious leader was invited by the state government to address the Assembly on the first day of the monsoon session. The monk, like all Digambar Jain religious leaders, appeared in the nude. He was seated on a dais above the seats of the governor, chief minister and MLAs.
Amid the outrage on Twitter, Kejriwal washed his hands of the controversy and sought to slam Dadlani's tweet. "Tarun Sagar Ji Maharaj is a very revered saint, not just for Jains but everyone. Those showing disrespect is unfortunate and should stop", Kejriwal tweeted. The Delhi chief minister also added that he had met the Jain monk and pointed out how his family members regularly listen to his discourse on TV.
Dadlani put out several tweets to tender apology after the issue started trending but underlined that his intention was not to hurt any religious feelings but against mixing governance and religion.
"I'm happy to apologise, as long as people can see that mixing religion in governance is a serious problem!", he said in one of the many tweets.
After a flurry of tweets on the issue Dadlani announced his resignation from political work.
He also put out a Facebook post to express his outrage: "Done with political activism. Bas. Keep the country. You deserve it, exactly the way you choose for it to be. Cowards."
Dadlani, however, reposed his faith in the AAP and the leadership of Arvind Kejriwal. "A lot is being said against AAP because I chose to quit. I just want to say, AAP is a family. Please keep faith in AK & the party", he said in a tweet.
