The politics of castes, gotra and religion does not seem to be over yet in this election season. With the election in Rajasthan scheduled to be held on December 7, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath sparked another controversy after he dragged the “caste” of Lord Hanuman on Wednesday.

During a poll rally in Alwar, Adityanath said that Lord Hanuman was a Dalit tribal while appealing to people to vote for BJP’candidates in Alwar. The CM added that Lord Hanuman was a tribal and was deprived. Adityanath further went on to say that Lord Hanuman worked to connect all communities in India together from across the country.

The UP Chief minister said that while Ram bhakts would vote for BJP, those who pray Ravana will vote for the Congress. Amid increasing cries by Hindu outfits for construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Yogi Adityanath has been increasingly invoking Lord Ram in election-bound states.

Earlier, while criticising Congress leader Kamal Nath over a video showing him seeking 90 per cent of the Muslim votes for his party. Adityanath had said during a rally in Madhya Pradesh, “Keep your Ali, Bajrang Bali is enough for us.”

This isn’t the first time that Lord Hanuman’s caste has been dragged into by politicians. Earlier in May, Gyan Dev Ahuja, BJP MLA from Ramgarh had said that Lord Hanuman was world’s first tribal leader.

At the party office, the MLA had said that Lord Hanuman was the world’s first tribal leader and was the first saint among the Adivasis. He further pointed out that when Lord Ram going from Chitrakoot to the southern part of the country during the exile, Lord Hanuman made his army of tribals and received training from Lord Ram.

He had also said that looking at the picture of Lord Hanuman placed under Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar’s idol, was disrespectful to the God. In a video during April 2 Bharat Bandh protests, he slammed BJP MP from Rajasthan Kirodi Lal Meena saying he should be ashamed for the disrespect.