In what is seen as a big Hindutva push by the Aam Aadmi Party ahead of the Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat assembly elections, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to include the pictures of Lord Ganesha and Goddess Lakshmi in currency notes in a bid to fight the economic downturn.

Addressing the media, the AAP national convener said that India could look at printing the pictures of Lord Ganesha and Goddess Lakshmi on one side, and the usual Mahatma Gandhi’s face on the other side on fresh currency notes.

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“Despite making efforts, sometimes our efforts do not fructify if gods and goddesses are not blessing us. I appeal to PM (Modi) to have photos of Lord Ganesha and Goddess Lakshmi on our currency (notes)…If there is a photo of Lakshmi-Ganesha on our currency (notes), our country will prosper. I will write to (the) prime minister in a day or two on this,” Kejriwal said.

Citing the example of a Muslim nation like Indonesia, which has a picture of Lord Ganesha on its currency note, Kejriwal asked, “When Indonesia can, why can’t we? The photos can be printed on fresh (currency) notes.”

Kejriwal believed that including the faces of deities on currency notes can bring about a change of fortunes for the nation, which he noted has been witnessing a sharp fall as compared to the American dollar in recent weeks.

“We all want India to be rich and every family here to be prosperous. We have to open schools and hospitals on a large scale,” he further stated.

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Kejriwal also sounded confident ahead of the Delhi Municipal Corporation elections and predicted that the people will vote against the BJP.

Talking about the Gujarat state assembly elections, where Kejriwal has promised unemployment allowance and free education, the Delhi CM asked BJP to point out at any good thing it had achieved in the state in last 27 years of power.

“All demonic powers have aligned against us,” Kejriwal claimed ahead of the Gujarat polls.