Uttar Pradesh polls near, Bajrang Dal to shun Valentine's Day moral policing

KANPUR: Call it a bid for image makeover or political exigency ahead of 2017 UP assembly polls, the Bajrang Dal has decided not to do ' moral policing' as it used to do in the past. Instead, the couples would be allowed to freely exchange roses, chocolates and other gifts and roam about in parks and visit eateries.

The outfit has decided to run campaigns on Facebook and WhatsApp to tell the youth that "there is no place for Valentine's Day in Indian culture" and that this day should be celebrated by expressing love for parents, pets and nature. The Bajrang Dal has already launched a 'Jan Jagran Abhiyan' ahead of V-Day for 'educating' the youth.

"Now to avoid any negative publicity, we will not do moral policing on roads or take law into our hand. The youth belong to us. We are reaching out to them through our social campaign and also getting a good response." Bajrang Dal 'prant convenor' Kaushal Pal Singh said.

"We will not give any opportunity to the opposition to attack our PM on this issue," he added.

The Bajrang Dal official said a rally would be taken out on the eve of Valentine's Day to convince the youth "not to fall for this western concept".

Reacting to the outfit's new avatar, UPCC general secretary Shailendra Dikshit said, "The Bajrang Dal is alarmed over the fact that harassing youth on Valentine's Day could hit the prospects of saffron parties in the state assembly elections scheduled for 2017. The state has a large share of youth voters or those who would be voting for the first time. The youth in particular would decide the fate of the next government."