A video of Naresh Agrawal saying, “Whiskey mein Vishnu base, Rum mein Shri Ram, gin mein Mata Janki, tharre mein Hanuman, bolo Siyavar Ramchandra ki jai” (Vishnu resides in whiskey, Ram resides in rum, Janaki (Sita) in gin, and Hanuman in local liquor. Hail Lord Ramachandra) is making rounds on X. In this video, Naresh was anthropomorphizing Hindu deities by associating them with alcoholic beverages. This video is being circulated with a claim that Naresh Agarwal, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), made this controversial statement inside Parliament and that despite being a BJP member, he was not opposed by the BJP for this statement.
Congress worker Munish Kumar Verma sharing the video of Naresh Agrawal wrote, “BJP MP Naresh Aggarwal said this Speaking in the parliament about the Hindu Gods and our Had insulted the idol ,,, At that time even Modi, Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh did not oppose him.” (Archived link)
बीजेपी सांसद नरेश अग्रवाल ने ये बात
— Munish Kumar Verma (@MunishKumarVe17) July 2, 2024
संसद में बोलकर हिंदू देवताओं का और हमारे
आराध्य का अपमान किया था,,,
उस वक्त इनको मोदी, अमित शाह,और राजनाथ सिंह ने भी नही विरोध किया।था pic.twitter.com/rvW0E59a3h
Handle Raj Meena wrote, “BJP MP Naresh Aggarwal said this Speaking in the parliament about the Hindu Gods and our Had insulted the idol ,,, At that time even Modi, Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh did not oppose him!” (Archived link)
बीजेपी सांसद नरेश अग्रवाल ने ये बात
— Raj Meena (@RajMeen71537353) July 3, 2024
संसद में बोलकर हिंदू देवताओं का और हमारे
आराध्य का अपमान किया था,,,
उस वक्त इनको मोदी, अमित शाह,और राजनाथ सिंह ने भी नही विरोध किया था! pic.twitter.com/WSwhNgFffW
Manish Tiwari wrote, “BJP MP Naresh Aggarwal said this Speaking in the parliament about the Hindu Gods and our Had insulted the idol. Now this khaki underwear wearers did not have any problem, nor was his speech removed.” (Archived link)
बीजेपी सांसद नरेश अग्रवाल ने ये बात
— Manish Tiwari (@livemanish_) July 2, 2024
संसद में बोलकर हिंदू देवताओं का और हमारे
आराध्य का अपमान किया था,,,
तब खाकी चड्डी धारियों को कोई प्रॉब्लम नहीं हुआ, और ना ही उनकी इस स्पीच को हटाया गया, pic.twitter.com/TO8yEsy4Z0
User Saurabh Sinha wrote, “BJP MP Naresh Aggarwal said this Speaking in the parliament about the Hindu Gods and our Had insulted the idol ,,, At that time even Modi, Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh did not oppose him.” (Archived link)
बीजेपी सांसद नरेश अग्रवाल ने ये बात
— Saurabh Sinha 🇮🇳 (@Saurrabhsinha) July 2, 2024
संसद में बोलकर हिंदू देवताओं का और हमारे
आराध्य का अपमान किया था,,,
उस वक्त इनको मोदी, अमित शाह,और राजनाथ सिंह ने भी नही विरोध किया।था
pic.twitter.com/r30n6iJuAO
Also Read: Exposing Hindenburg: Baseless Accusations and Malicious Agendas Against SEBI
Fact Check
In our fact-check research, we ran a keyword search on YouTube and found a video by Total TV uploaded on July 20, 2017. At the start of the video, the reporter, while talking about the controversial statement made by Naresh Agrawal anthropomorphizing Hindu deities by associating them with alcoholic beverages, addresses him as a Samajwadi Party leader.
Moreover, the video was shared on ABP News YouTube channel with a headline “Samajwadi party MP Naresh Aggarwal takes back his statement over God and alcohol in RS.”
Further, we learned that when Naresh Agrawal made this remark about Hindu deities in 2017, he was a member of the Samajwadi Party. According to Navbharat Times, Naresh, who had been a Samajwadi Party member since 1997, left the party and joined hands with BJP in 2018. Naresh left the party citing his anger over more preference being given to Jaya Bachchan for the Rajya Sabha. He had also expressed his displeasure by saying, “My status was reduced to that of a film actress; our ticket was cut in her name. I did not find this very fair. I did not join BJP on any condition. I am not demanding any Rajya Sabha ticket.”
Moreover, back in 2017, when Naresh Agrawal made this statement inside Parliament, there was an uproar with loud chants of ‘maafi maango’, ‘maafi maango’. The late BJP member Arun Jaitley had asked Agrawal to apologize for his statement in the Rajya Sabha. The controversial statement was also removed from the Rajya Sabha channel.
Conclusion: The statement linking Hindu deities to alcoholic beverages, made by former Samajwadi Party member Naresh Agrawal, dates back to 2017 when he was affiliated with the Samajwadi Party. The claim suggesting that this statement was made during his tenure as a BJP member is misleading.
