While the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Chhattisgarh has declared Valentine’s Day Parents’ Worship Day, neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, also ruled by the party, is in no mood to follow in its footsteps.

“We don’t have any such plans for Madhya Pradesh,” Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan told The Hindu on Sunday.

“Valentine’s Day is a private affair ... it is not a State festival; so there is no reason for the government to be involved in it,” he said.

Since 2012, the Chhattisgarh government has been observing Valentine’s Day as Parents’ Worship Day. Every February 14, activists of Hindu right-wing organisations, including the Bajrang Dal and the Shiv Sena, disrupt Valentine’s Day celebrations across India.

This time, the social media is another space where the message of an alternative celebration of the day of love is being propagated.