'Modi should learn from Shivraj Chouhan, rid aversion to skull cap'

Bollywood actor Raza Murad on Thursday praised Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan for his ‘spirit of secularism’ saying Gujarat CM Narendra Modi should learn from him.

Speaking at an Eid function, Murad reportedly said, “it was time that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi learnt some things from Chouhan and does not show his aversion to skull caps.”

“By participating in someone’s festivities, your religion would not be corrupted. Shivraj is no less popular than any other chief minister but he comes here and wishes us Eid Mubarak every year and wears the topi. Wearing the topi is good but forcing someone else to wear it is wrong,” he said.

Speaking to CNN-IBN earlier today, Murad said he did not intend to compare Modi to Chouhan, but said he would never vote for Modi as prime minister.

“No.. I would be the last person to vote for Modi,” Murad said.

Meanwhile, BJP leader Uma Bharti hit back at Murad saying she was surprised a ‘C grade’ actor was making fun of Modi. “Mujhe ascharya hai ki ek ‘C’ grade actor ne MP ke CM ke saath khade hokar Narendra Modi ka mazak udaya hai,” news agency ANI quoted her as saying.

In September 2011, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi refused to put on a ‘skull cap’ offered by a Muslim cleric during his sadbhavana fast in Ahmedabad.

Sayed Imam Shahi Saiyed, a cleric of a small Dargah in Pirana village on the outskirts of the city, had greeted the chief minister at a Gujarat University Convention hall.

He offered Narendra Modi a ‘skull cap’, but Modi politely refused to wear it, asking him to offer a shawl instead. The imam did so, and Modi was seen accepting it.

“Narendra Modi’s refusal to accept the cap is not my insult but an insult of Islam,” Saiyed had then told reporters.

“I had come to Ahmedabad after hearing about the Sadbhavna Mission fast and went to the stage to felicitate Modi.

“When I offered him the cap he told me that he would not wear it. He might have thought that wearing a skull cap will dent his image…,” the cleric said.

With PTI inputs